[Pauly]

Hey everyone my names Paul and ive been playing drums for 10 years and im in desperate need of help and advice, if someone could please take the time to read this thread it would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Recently i've have no inspiration to play my drums due to many things.

Since i stopped having lessons 4 years ago i've been in several bands. Nothing serious, just with a few of my mates. I noticed the more i played in my bands the more confident i became and i could introduce what i had learnt into my playing. However ive hit a barrier which i cant seem to breakthrough, im not happy with my drumming anymore, i cant see any improvement. I dont know what to practice, theres so many techniques and styles i want to learn and i just dont know where to begin... i find now that my lack of lessons has made me a lazy drummer and i go through phases of practicing rudiments non stop for a week before i lose interest again, even though i can see improvement i get distracted by things like neighbours coming over and having a go at me for playing my drums and it just puts me down.

about 8 months ago i applied to do a degree in jazz drumming. I realised too late that i was not prepared for it.. i mean what was i thinking, i barely play jazz at all. I was just caught up in my dream of becoming an amazing drummer i was oblivious... When i failed to get in it hit me incredibly hard and ive been extremely depressed about playing my drums since. A year ago i decided i needed lessons and went to find a teacher. After being assesed by a decent professional and finding out i couldnt even play in time to a click track i just turned my back on it and denied that i was that bad..and i now realise what a mistake that was.

What makes it worse is how everyone says i have so much talent for the kit and how good i am.. it makes it 100 times worse when a person says how bloody awesome you are.. and you know that you dont even put any work into it.. sure i may have been good 4 years ago, but i feel like ive just wasted 4 years of my life that i could have spent becoming a more advanced drummer

My music teacher says if that when i go to uni i should go get a drum teacher and that he knows if i practice through uni i can do a post degree drum course... he may be right but i have absolutely no inspiration at the moment... right now my kit is upstairs in my room covered with clothes.. a skin on my high tom is broken and all my sticks are in disrepair. I take one look at it and turn back around and walk downstairs again. I dont know what to do. How can i get my inspiration back? How can i forget about the 4 years ive wasted and start fresh? I dont even know if my hand grip is right anymore... when i think of my drums it depresses me.. I need to change that, a few months ago i seriously considered giving up after my failure to get into a conservatoire. I used to love my drums more than anything and i know this has been nothing but my fault.. but i dont know what to do. Please help

/Paul

[mouse]

Simple , go back and find the reson you started to play in the first place, and carry on from there with re-kindled interest.

The band that has always inspired me was Deep Purple and whenever i want to get away from reality, the routine or whatever i dig into my large collection of DP and go back 30 years. I never bored from listening to them.
Iv'e never forgotten the few albums as a youth that inspired me to pick up the drum sticks. One was DP MkI and MkII double album, The Beatles Rock and Roll Music double album, and the other a Mowtown greatest hits album with songs the likes of River Deep Mountain High, Papa was a Rolling Stone, etc.

Don't get hung up on how good or bad you are, the important thing is to have fun with it. I know exactly how you feel, iv'e had a few nights where iv'e nearly chucked it in and people have said how good i was, but i was feeling i wasn't giving it all and in a rut playing same songs in same band over and over and getting annoyed at fellow musicians for their faults. You have to stick in there no matter what and make it fun and interesting whatever it takes to do that.
I started working on not just playing with good time but playing to suit the song with groove, and making the most of bad situations, thinking about the big picture instead of myself when playing. I have stacks of un-learnt instructional material, DVD,s and books etc, i'm never going to get through it so will do what i do the best at the best and work on the rest when i get round to it.Probally because i get by with what i have a grasp of makes it a bit harder to learn new stuff, but to keep interst and match fit i still plod at rudiments and try to listen to as many diferent types of music that interest me ( have a great drum sound, drummer, beat) over an above the band work.
Last few years i have gone right back to basics to work on groove and i think i am a better drummer for it, at least more musical player for it , i even think it has rubbed off on the rest of the band raising the performance level.

Stick at it, pull your kit apart, treat it to a new set of skins, tune them up nice, and have some fun.

Hope of some help.

[Zand]

Buy a nice shiny new cymbal, new tom or something along those lines. Maybe having something new will help you get out of the hole you are in.

Also, what I would do is probably just stop for a bit. just listen to music that you love, that inspires you or whatever. If you are anything like me, you will after awhile just want play a certain part of one song, or whatever. Drumming to me seems like something that cannot be forced, you gotta feel like doing it.

[skinslapper]

I agree with mouse. Find what made you start and immerse yourself in it. Also I'd suggest getting into another band. I was having a simmilar funk when I hooked with a new bunch of guys I'd never met before. All new songs to write to and new friends depending on me gave me a whole new perspective and new reasons to keep playing.

don't get hung up on how "good" you are. Success comes from practice and application. If you want to be able to play in time with click tracks, then simply start playing along to your metronome and eventually you'll get it.

Don't stress too much dude. It'll cloud all your abilities. Clean up that room, fix up that kit and find out from your council when you're legelly aloud to practice so you can tell your neighbours to bite the big one!

Get back on that saddle soldier. You're doing this for the credability of all drummers!! They may take your sticks, but they'll never take, OUR FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!

[toxsic]

Don't give up, play to your own beat. They're only others opinions. Screw
them. I listen to different type of music just to check out the drumming
styles. Get mutes or put towels on your kit to tone them down at your pad.
That way you can still play them.

[Pauly]

hey guys thank you all for your replies especially mouse. I think after my exams finish i'm just gonna relax and slowly get back into my drumming through the holidays and when i get to uni im looking forward to making a couple of bands.

If i give up i would be letting myself down and drummers all around. I know i would never forgive myself. Thank you all again for some good advice, will let you all know how its going after the holidays

cheers

Paul

[HxCdrummerKID]

Well...dont just expect to hop on your drumset...what you need to do is go see a concert/show of you favorite bands...listen to them rock out...watch the drummer have fun and go crazy...and then you will realize i wanna rock out like that...and then get a group of guys who know the guitar and just mess around and create songs or something...just dont make playing drums a chore make it something you can have fun with friends

[Saint]

If you read my " new to this site". post ... You'll see that I've been around for awhile, and that I have been blessed with having had some great drummers help me with instruction, and advise. This is what I've gleened form this experience. Vetran drummers can look at you while you play, and tell you in a minute what you need to work on, and give a hint about what you can do to correct something that may be holding you back. Jimmy Cobb, in the first moments told me that the way I was holding my left stick was inhibiting my performance not only speed wise but in the over all excecution on the especially the snare. Jimmy also showed me a technique for playing a very fast up tempo swing beat on the ride cymbal. These things all have made it possible for me to improve wuickly and to be able to perform without struggling. Elvin told the first time I played for him in the basement of Groth Music in Minneapolis where I was teaching, and he was doing the first drum clinic he ever did, {arranged by me,} that speed on the kit was not the end all technique necessarily to dwell on, and that a great double stroke rooll was one of the most important tools especially while playing jazz. He also told me that if you vocalize what you are playing, even in your mind or under your breath that is will keep you in the pocket ... he told me that when I took fours , played an extended solo to sing to tune while your playing your solo, and you won't have to count 32 bars and worry about when your solo should end.... These things have all worked for me. I personally listen to a lot of drummers live and on recordings, I watch how they stick particular things .., it can open the door to something that can seem impossible to understand, and I find challenging rhythms and drum fills, chart them out as best as I can and do them over and over untill I feel I've got it ... then you use that and put your own slant on their thing. Play with a recording, music minus one recordings are great, ... In the end, concerning the will to play, to study, to practice depends ultimately on how bad you want it. Playing drums is a life thing, and not something for most of us that comes over night, unless your Tony Williams possibly, but Elvin told me when he was learning at an early age he practiced 8, 10 hours a day... me too.... Go get it, the more you get into it the more you'll practice and then the more you'll ultimately play.

[Lukeykookey]

Hey Pauly.

I think you have answered your own question about why you should continue playing

I used to love my drums more than anything

I am the same. My missus and two children always being asleep at the wrong time doesn't let me get on them as much as I want to but I can feel a real passion inside for them.

In regards to timing etc, why not buy a metronome and practice with it on? You may have not felt comfortable, or even nervous last time causing the lack of coordination.

I can imagine a few years down the line I might feel like I am getting in a rut. Why not watch some quality videos of drummers to inspire you again.
The following two always get me thinking 'thats ace, I want to do that'
I think these two might just start you off:

YouTube - carter beauford - #41 uttad

YouTube - Dave Matthews Band - Carter Beauford...

Both Carter Beauford, amazing inspiration to me.

[TerenceM]

Hi Pauly, every drummer 'hits a wall' at sometime or other. This is nothing to worry about at all, it just means you are ready for a new challenge like learning a different style of drumming or percussion.
All the suggestions above are excellent and the only weak link in the chain is you, it is up to you to decide what to do next. Buying new gear is always great but if that is not an option then there are other avenues to explore like changing your set-up,if you play right handed, set it up for left handed players and have a go, this helps with strengthening your less dominant side and adds the challenge I mentioned earlier. Of course the opposite applies, if you are already a 'lefty' then set the kit up for 'righty'.
Watching other drummers is always inspirational,I do that a lot to learn new tricks and fuel my own 'drum-brain' with ideas on set-up and techniques.
Another option would be to teach someone else how to play drums.
Passing on the knowledge and regressing back to basic stuff can have its' advantages. Remember we all had to learn once and no matter how good we get there is always someone better.
Take Tony Royster for instance, I watched his YouTube vid from when he was just 11 years old and I have to tell you I wanted to burn my own kit there and then as I thought there is no way on this green earth I will ever be as good.
But when you actually study great players and take apart what they are doing around the kit then you begin to appreciate how important practice is and developing your own style along the way.
Best of luck and keep drumming