If you happened to catch Wednesday's email, or my recent text post on YouTube, I was describing some of the recent backlash I've received, and describing my mission to educate any drummers who will listen...
...in the same lessons I learned all those years ago. (i.e. that if you take away chops, great drummers are still better than us, and we ought to be investigating the reasons why.)
Today's lesson was an effort to make rubber-hit-road.
The idea occurred to me as I was driving and listening to my Spotify playlist, when I happened on a Tom Misch tune. (Maybe it was Colors of Freedom?)
The beat was super simple, and repeated throughout the tune, which is in 4.
But I remembered how, just over a decade ago, I would have played along with that tune, gleefully unaware I sounded like garbage.
-My kick was in the wrong place, and inconsistent
-My sounds were sloppy
-The overall tempo would be rushing and dragging, especially if I had to play it with a real band
Just recently, I'd recorded a very simple drum cover, that was little other than kick and snare, and finally been happy that I was locking up with the recording decently.
After ten years of practicing it every day.
And (Obama voice) let me be clear: 95% of comments I get on my videos are either supportive or constructive criticism.
But that other 5%...haha.
And, as I hinted on my channel, when, on occasion, I follow the commenter back to the source, I do not discover somebody who's spending a decade getting his timing and lockup better.
"What if I could incept them with the feeling I had, all those years ago, listening along to a recording of myself playing with a track, after I thought I'd nailed it."
And, in reality, it'll probably be the people already self-aware of their stage of the journey, already practicing productively, who will take it up...
...but so was born the #8020challenge
In [today's lesson], six tracks, over five "levels" of drumming.
Watch just for fun.
Or, if you want, take me up on a couple of these levels. Upload the results to IGTV with the hashtag...you guessed it. #8020challenge
Presenting, le lesson.
See you next week,
N