Smiling Upon Entrance!
Entry posted by Donna
1,039 views
Hey All,
I've graciously been given a vehicle -- this! -- more precise for those vain musical reflections I like to write,
specifically "drumming conclusions" (as the Giver, John Moxey, has called them).
Songstuff has been a huge help to me. It's not everywhere where one is welcomed, accepted, helped,
encouraged to become and develop. From that, I was enabled to develop an introspection.
Blogging or writing ongoing posts have been a map & guide: to confer with myself so to speak, with you all,
along this road of music - aye, not luxury but necessity to this musician. And now it seems at this point in the
study, things learned can be passed along to others.
I will try to stay on task! Meaning, to focus on percussion.
This first entry is a long piece, and I don't expect that will be the norm.
Gig Conclusions
Latest gig a number of breakthroughs for me. Since I also play guitar/sing a few originals in the cover band I'm
singing-drummer with, there are multiple layers of attn, triumph, or bum out! It happened that there were
triumphs in every area.
The breakthroughs (drumming) came spontaneously. They are significant for me.
I drummed an entire song w/ left hand (not my dominant hand!). Song's intro & groove so nice, I spied
my little shaker like a toddler grabbing that candy. Of course by the 8th bar I realized there was no way out
(actually there was...I could at least throw the shaker down). I didn't want a way out. But I'd never done it before.
There is video/audio of this moment (not publishable) and I was delighted by solid time, tasty fills, and that
my left hand had a cool mind of its own.
The second breakthrough -- due to crowd soaking up the sound and me unmiced, at some point I ditched
most of the kick drum stuffing, also some of the drum gel mufflers. Ooh it sounded so nice and FAT - of course
the heads were then way easier to play. So in the midst of a tune I yelled out (in time) "let me solo".
I am not a soloist, I have never been so publicly per se -- my friends may have different memories in my
younger drumming years, but for a long time I'd zero interest in it and the main memories are the few times
I'd been compelled to "have" to solo. But this last gig I wanted to solo and did so.
I enjoyed it so much that I am working on a solo. But giving myself lots of room, minimal pressure to get it done.
And I am approaching it as a song, in phrases, and notes or melodic sounds from the drums themselves. When
I was little, my 1st attempts at songwriting were on the drums. I tuned my toms to a chord (I think) - not knowing
what a chord was. It made sense to me, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed those melodic notes and making
musical motifs. I was about 9 years old at the time.
Teaching & Practicing Conclusions
I began teaching drums this year. It's beautiful. Simultaneously I've been teaching myself drums, which certainly
hasn't been a norm for me in recent years due to the singer/songwriting thing, time constraints of having a family
but also because I'd been able to glide along w/ a respectable drumming vocabulary.
I turned to drums again this year because the repetition of "drills" calmed my mind and heart and gave me exercise.
My beloved mainstay, triplets with two hands ending in kick drum is incredibly calming and invigorating at the same time.
Well, my eldest began commenting ("Mom! Aren't you tired? You've been playing for over an hour straight!" He wasn't
complaining, btw). These sessions became increasingly regular - re: which this same child pointed out to me that I do nothing
but solo.
Heh. Two results became clear: A) The lightbulb went on that I love drumming and want to keep exploring. It took quite awhile
for this to manifest because the singer/songwriting thing (and recording/engineering/physical music notation plus now connecting
w/ producer/studio/real life musicians and so on) was all encompassing. 
I was improving.
Becoming aware of how I practice and figuring out ways to learn whatever skill I want has enabled me to better achieve personal
drumming results and also to teach my students (while the main framework has been decades in the making). I take a rounded
approach w/ the students - for example, early on I began talking to one while he played, giving direction ("line 6!") at the end of
the phrase, or in playing with him (clapping, shaker, cowbell). So that we don't stay only focused on our little selves.
On the other hand (there are always two), self-awareness is exactly what I want to teach.
The 10 yr old student, last lesson he went through the short exercises in a row. But when it came to the long "piece" at page's
end, I directed him thus: I want you to reflect here and look through this music to figure out which tempo you can maintain at the
same speed, all the way through -- can you hear what's written by just looking at it? OK, now when you get to this phrase that trips
you up, consider that: you set the tempo in a thoughtful way, judge your own abilities.
The youngster brought tears to my eyes. He did it. And wow, what a difference. It was day 3 of quite a heat wave, it was the end of
the day, it's the very boring part of summer vacation, and this child's home has been through many days of upheaval because of a
flood. He pulled off a centered and authoritative piece. He was recollected and there was a grace. I couldn't praise him enough and
ended the lesson by letting him choose whatever he wanted to do.
The other student (his father), same thing! We work on drumset, not easy to begin w/ all those limbs (even though he did have
some knowledge of the kit prior to instruction and could play certain beats). It's easier to be alive to this in teaching whether hands/
rudiments or drumkit because I am facing the same challenges, just at a different level.
One thing lacking in my own formal instruction IF I'm recalling correctly: is that I was not taught to practice around something,
or to break it down in specifically being aware of what exactly the problem was. Because in my experience, it is usually something
small or minute. (I'm talking once past the completely beginning stage). There's no sense in focusing on whole phrases when the
real obstacle is three 16th notes in the center of that phrase. The goal then becomes familiarity w/ those three notes, to play them in
loop, then to work on transitioning both into, and out of, those three notes. Doing this can seem overly involved, a tangent, especially
with drums, because limbs will need to be dropped out, practiced separately, and so on.
Teaching myself has convinced me that practicing around something (as I refer to it) is effective. The drumkit student is responding
very well to this instruction, and went away last lesson sounding almost bedrocked in something that 1/2 hour before had him
paralyzed. That's what it is, when we really struggle or are obstical-ized, it's a paralysis. The mind cannot think beyond, it
cannot hear, the limbs stutter or are frozen.
And that's a sad, unnecessary way to leave things, my friends.
To see this student calmed and happy where before a confusion had reigned, I'm left feeling grateful to have witnessed this, to
have a hand in helping it come about.
Final Conclusion
Trust thyself.
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