playdrumsforlife.com

Percussionists play a large number of instruments, and have to know something about a lot of things, including what to do to keep the instruments in top playing condition. If your drums, keyboards, timpani or whatever you are playing isn’t in top working condition, you won’t sound as good as you want, and the music will suffer as a result. I am currently working with a local college to replace timpani heads and get the drums in proper working order. All of the drums were out of tune and the pedal mechanisms were out of adjustment, making it impossible for the students to correctly execute some tuning changes and glissandi in a piece to be played for the final concert of the semester. What a disappointment. It really pays to keep up with your instruments’ playing condition, and to make sure that they all do what you need and want them to do.

I have a student who is working through “Groove Alchemy” by Stanton Moore. The book is great for building funky grooves and developing the feel and style that many of the great funk drummers played. Some of the patterns are simple and quickly mastered. Others, not so much!! The other day, we went through one groove that had a tricky snare drum part at the end of the fourth bar. At first, it was “my hands don’t move that fast”. After about ten minutes of taking apart the lick, isolating the parts that repeat (ostinatos), then filling the snare drum parts around them, my student had the pattern near tempo. Short periods of focused effort working on a technique can yield great results, particularly when working with a new concept, or something that is different than what you have stored in muscle memory previously. I use a cheap kitchen timer to work on three, five, or ten minute periods, and only move the metronome by a few clicks (no more than 5 at a time!!) to slowly work the passage or figure up to speed. For busy high school and middle school drum and percussion students, this type of rehearsal is essential. And, it’s fun to master something!! Have a great week drumming!

I always encourage every student to play all the instruments in the studio, regardless of their immediate interest. If my memory serves me correctly, Kenny Aronoff (studio drummer extraordinaire, and drummer for John Mellencamp) started his college career at Indiana University wanting to be a timpanist or percussionist in an orchestra. His teacher encouraged him to work at the drum set to become a more well rounded percussionist. I think the advice paid off. Most students do a number of different musical activities in school, church, and on their own, which I encourage. We never know when we might need to play a particular instrument or style, so the more we do, the better. Eventually we may find one instrument or style of music that we prefer over others, but all of our experiences contribute to who we are when we play. My recent experience with Irish music caused me to think about how I feel time when I play jazz. Who would have thought? Every musical experience counts!