Re: Going from playng the drums to being a drummer
This is a very good question and I have been thinking about how to answer for a few days.
Here's my take on when you go from playing drums to being a drummer.
You have to experiment and try different things to know what you like and what works for your needs. What you want to get out of playing an instrument.
When you first start out you want to emulate those drummers that you like. As you learn more and more you start to want to find out the how and why of exactly what they are playing. During this process you get comfortable with the foundation of music. Keeping solid time, making sure the other musicians can count on you to keep the foundation solid.
As time goes on you weed out the things you don't want and keep the things you do want.
The moment you can take something you've learned and put your personality to it is the moment you become a drummer/musician. Everything before that was just spitting out what has been done a thousand times before.
Does this make sense to you?
There are thousands of players out there and many outstanding "parrots", people who can listen to and emulate a particular drummer. That only makes them a mimic.
What makes you a drummer is your own voice, your own unique take on what has come before you.
I think this goes for any type of creative endeavor. Be it drumming, guitar playing, writing or painting.
It's where you go beyond what you've learned that makes you a musician.  |