OK, clearly this light patch is going to continue for a bit, so let’s see what my blogging compatriots are up to: Let’s lead with pianist George Colligan, who has a few words on practicing: […]
Category: practicing
Metronome perspectives
There’s an excellent piece on the Modern Drummer site getting views on metronome use from a number of top drummers and educators. I’ve excerpted some of the best bits, but go read the whole thing. […]
Tom moves
This Elvin thing is turning into a real epic– well, a very small epic, maybe, if you think about it- and I still have to complete the transcription. Here are the tom moves I would […]
How much to practice something
1. Get wood chisel. 2. Remove everything that doesn’t look like Billy the Kid deftly gunning down Bat Masterson before the throng of stunned onlookers, a yapping yellow hound at his feet. 3. SUCCESS! One […]
How to be a jazz drummer
Here are some tips for a rock drummer who wrote to me wanting to begin learning jazz, but is unsure how to go about it: 1. Play a lot. With people. Everything you do as […]
The great Jeff Berlin metronome controversy
This has been floating around for some time. His observations are mostly good, but I don’t happen to agree with his conclusion. Watch the video, and I’ll give a few thoughts about it: His major […]
Kenny Washington overheard
Or the cyber-equivalent. Mark Feldman at the Bang! the drum school blog features a Facebook post by jazz drummer and scholar Kenny Washington, in response to a question about how to take one’s drumming “to […]
Talent and practice
I guess the “Gen Y Entrepreneur and Investor” author of this piece Why natural talent is overrated knows this stuff from reading a book, but there are some good things in here about practice. Maybe […]
Things I like: drum writing
Here’s a new feature: things I like about things. Today we’ll talk about something I’m seeing a lot of currently: practice materials. 1. Things that fit on a single page. It’s nice aesthetically. Give me […]
Playing quieter
Miles is going to have to ask you to CTFO. In the past I was regarded as a loud player— I forgot how much, until recently a club owner asked if we would please keep the […]
Cherished notions bite the dust
I need a bushier goatee for this gig. I’ve been experiencing all kinds of growth with my playing in recent years, which I attribute partly to me forgetting things I for years thought were really […]
Pad practice survival
When I first started I used to practice the rudiments while watching TV, I found it boring so TV helped distract me. –Jack Dejohnette One of the harder things for me to master was the […]