The vital flailing stage- part 2

I’m always interested in people pulling music out of nothing. Here another young person [see update] has shared a video on social media, which not everyone will want to listen to, but which shows something important.

That’s about as pure music as there is; he’s composing with pure sound, based on no education, and no technique, and on no listening— I very much doubt he’s listening to music that sounds anything like this. While learning all the sounds a drum set can make, while also developing a real playing technique— we’ve talked about “dependent” or “non-independent” drumming before— that’s what he’s doing here. I don’t see someone worrying about his lack of technique and all the things he can’t do. He’s working creatively with what he has, which is what we’re supposed to be doing our entire playing life.

There are ideas here, that he develops a moment before easing into the next one. The pacing, moving from idea to idea, is similar to what a lot of real players do; he could go longer developing them, but so could a lot of people. The thinking is the same, there’s a direct line from this to real improvised percussion music made by adults.

I try to get my students to do this, on their own, away from the lesson— some of them can, some of them can’t, or don’t. We need have to have some direct contact with this instrument that isn’t mediated by Haskell Harr, whatever foreign entity is on your back telling you how you’re supposed to play the drums. Tommy Igoe.

Re: this drummer’s continuing development: if he were my student, we’d be working on all the things he clearly needs to work on to do music with people, while exposing him to a lot of music of this type, for which he clearly has an ear. He’s doing something real that is fully creative, that gives him satisfaction now, which is the most important thing for anyone doing music in any form. Whatever else he does with music, I would want him to develop in a way that he can continue that, and not become bored with it, or decide that it’s bad.

With any music where someone doesn’t know what they’re doing, they don’t actually know why it’s good. So there’s a danger that as they become more self-aware about it, they get some totally wrong idea about why its good, which takes them in a wrong direction. Or their ear doesn’t develop the way it would need to to do other music. Or they decide that this is bad and embarrassing— they begin taking on a lot of frankly very chickenshit ideas by which a lot of drummers live, and they turn into that, one of those thousands of players on social media who aren’t interesting enough to say anything about.

UPDATE: Actually I found out he’s not such a young person, he just looks young. Which is even better for him, no pressure to become something. He’s got a thing he enjoys doing with the drums, he’s set. I haven’t updated the text, which assumes he’s a teenager.

I am happy to help you with any of the materials on the site, and with anything else drumming related— contact me for private lessons, online world wide, or in person in Portland, Oregon. All levels of players, and all people, are welcome.

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