My name is Chris. I've been playing drums on-off for years, but I feel that every time I listen to a song (either known or unknown), I learn something absolutely new for myself (and wonder how many others it would be useful to. I had aspirations of writing a book about my learning experience on the drums, but as with everything I think about, it's usually a "hey that'd be cool", and then I get bored with it (or distracted by something else). This blog will be my periodic expose about some of the stuff that is frying my brain at the moment.
So far, I wouldn't consider myself anywhere near the drummers I'd like to emulate. I have a ton of "favorite drummers" out there, though the consistent top guys are Jon Theodore (Mars Volta), John Bonham (Led Zeppelin), and Danny Carey (Tool). But then when asked, I have a tendency to vacillate between all kinds of other types of drummers for all kinds of different reasons (David Sanstrom to David Garibaldi, Clyde Stubblefield and Derrick McKensie to Gene Hoglan) and I never really can seem to just nail it down to one guy. There are so many great drummers that have something to contribute to the greater, larger picture of where I'd pull ideas from. Like Paul Rudd. That guy can sit back on a groove all day. Probably doesn't even break a sweat.
Anyhow, I think a right-handed drummer's biggest issue is the left side. There are many drummers who are not afraid of the left side, but I think that has most to do with their inclusion in some kind of high-school drum corps program and from that they've worked out of the George Stone manual and the dexterity isn't suffering as bad as a recreational player like me that started out listening to When The Levee Breaks and wanted to just bash out the beat on a full kit. I think Travis Barker is one of these kats. I saw him play on the Craig Kilbourne show years ago in a drummer tribute to drum corps (Mike from AAF and Chad from 311 and I think Adrian from No Doubt were also in this), so they were all playing marching snares and striking with traditional grip. I'm not one of these types. My left hand sucks. I mean, I'm able to do doubles, but very very slowly. Anyhow, I tried working out of the George Stone book, but found it to not be as helpful as just generally playing around the kit.
I think my favorite book is still Progressive Steps to Syncopation by Ted Reed. That book was phenomenal in introducing new concepts slowly. That's the only book that I've been able to work out of without getting bored. I just got a new book recently called "4 -way Coordination" that I've worked out of (just the first page), but it's got progressive steps like Syncopation, which is awesome and I'm stoked about. It's really kept my playing from deteriorating, and given me a better approach to the drum kit than stuff like the Stone book.
So I got on the kit on Saturday, which was the first time since April 28th (Trunk's Glasshouse show), and there was a little bit of rust that I worked out, but I could feel my mind still being agile, so I was excited that I hadn't lost the fluency of ideas around the kit (I mean, whatever fluency I DID have... there's a bunch of stuff I still need to learn). One of the things I noticed was that my left-side (which usually suffers for my right-side dominance) was actually more comfortable to play with, and that I was starting to get some more ideas out that way. I think one of the things that was key was the fact that I was practicing playing double strokes to a song's tempo (I'd done that about 3 times the week prior). I don't know what the tempo of the song is, but it's "Behind Closed Eyelids" by Shpongle. It's a consistent beat, so I'm not worrying about the tempo/time changes in the song. So, I'm happy that it worked out to where my left hand was actually more developed than before.
Another tactic that I've been using is getting my feet to operate while at work. Pulling the toes up while in a seated position is not something my body is used to, so I'm trying to get it more used to it, akin to playing heel-down (where normally I play heel up). Yesterday on my friend Kit's drumkit, I was able to play some 32nd notes (in a quad roll around the kit) for the first time. Though he is rocking a DW 9000 pedal (where I have some old Iron Cobra with wood beaters), I think playing heel-down definitely contributed to the coordination in the lower leg.
Kemo brought me my kick drum pad back, so all I have to do is steal some used carpeting to save the wood floor in the room from my double pedals and I've got me a cool practice location!
Anyways, I'm just rambling. Hopefully I can keep up the blogging. We'll see.
So right now, the drumming that is occupying my brain (that I'm trying to emulate) is thanks to Gary Novak on Chick Corea's Elektrik Band II - Paint The World. Kind of a corny group, but his work on "Ished" is some of the most fluid left-hand work I've ever heard. He plays with such control of his dynamics, it's not even funny. I think I may have to transcribe that track before I can really know what to do (or what he's even doing).
OH! I almost forgot... something else I'm trying to kind of work on is hand-foot combos. RH-RF 16ths at 80bpm. I've been trying to do that while I work (well, when I'm reading a protocol or something). And left hand lead rudiments.
Alright, that's it so far. I'll try to keep myself updated with my progress.
Later.
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