Subscribe or I'll steal your cymbals: bit.ly/2AyH1Fb Ever wonder if there is a drumming secret that all professional drummers know? Well...there is actually. So what do Vinnie Colaiuta, Buddy Rich, Benny Greb, Matt Garstka, Steve Gadd, Antonio Sanchez, and every other pro know? It's not so much a secret as it is the entire reason why we consider them to be a professional drummer... Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts! Have you checked out 40 Years of Video Game Drumming yet? 32 video game themes, 23 tempo changes, in one take: th-cam.com/video/s0h4sCbSZx4/w-d-xo.html
Yeh some of what U said puzzles me a bit?. I went to all the trouble to help my niece so she could play in the church band for Sue Edwards,,, but because sue the lady is so strict. I don't bother with Drums much now so if open mic calls me down the track I go but other then that drums & DrumTek are just history for me???,,, I think it's because I just don't really care any more about Drumming because at the end of the day people don't really give a two hoots... So as much as I love Drumming & Helping my 11 year old niece Stephanie. But Thank 🙋♂️👍🙏 Steve for your history on Drumming Legends?...
That’s good point you make I remember a Gadd clinic I was at and someone asked him about difficult time signatures ... He replied ...I don’t get hired to do difficult time signatures ...
I only know you from your YT videos, but honestly I have so much respect for how you come across and conduct yourself, as well of course as the content you produce.
Vinnie is a chameleon of styles though. From jazz to pop to metal to fusion. I guess there are 3 groups: amateur, professional and Vinnie Colaiuta lol.
... love to hear him play!! I have heard one, maybe two errors, but they were covered so masterfully he could probably say, "no, I meant to do that".... 😉😬
He sucks at a specific Reggae situation... (When he tries to cover Carlton's famous hi-hat figure, but within a shuffle; that simply HAS to go wrong without switching out of shuffle...but he doesn't and it keeps sounding "ahrrrgh!"-ward!)
Hey Stephen! Played my first house party recently and all of your videos absolutely motivated me to follow through and get good enough to make it happen! So thank you sir
I’ve studied a lot of languages, and people hear that and are like “Ooh, say something in Chinese,” and I can’t just do that if I haven’t been using it conversationally for months or years.
Right on Stephen. I over prepare for any upcoming gig, when I can. The band or musicians are blown away and say I'm great. What they don't realize is that I've been using all of the time since I've heard about the gig until that time preparing. Great video and great advice!
I didn’t know you were going to go in this direction after reading the title. Very cool. There’s an interview with Jeff Paccaro, and he said he refused to take a Zappa gig. He felt his reading wasn’t up to snuff, and would get tore up. I liked Jeff’s honesty in that vid.
yep, I just finished a production with the NDR BigBand. For this session I listened to the demos & played along to them for about 4 weeks every single day. So being prepared is the key to succeed when you do anything professionally. And of course you have to love doing it 😎
Robert Plant has talked about how toward the end of John Bonham’s life, Bonham was so insecure about his own playing. John freakin’ Bonahm. Phil Collins has been open about how when Peter Gabriel and Genesis played a one-off concert together in 1982, he (Collins) started making mistakes left and right, the kind of mistakes he hadn’t made in years. Stewart Copeland wrote on his blog about how many mistakes all three members of the Police made the first few concerts of their reunion tour. Bonham, Collins and Copeland. Three monsters of drumming. And even they made mistakes (or thought they did).
What is worst than an off nite is two off nites in a row. We all have them and never know when they will take place. I can usually avoid them but they still occur especially after missing a week or two of playing. There are some things I just can not do. I will still attempt to do them and even if I never succeed, the few attempts help broaden my playing ability.
I remember reading Neil Peart's book 'Ghost Rider', where following the passing of both his wife and daughter in a small period of time, he stopped playing in Rush and commenced riding many thousands of miles for a couple of years. When he contacted bass player/singer Geddy Lee about returning to music, he outlined the results of the bands first rehearsal; he said they sounded like the worlds worst ever Rush tribute band! Just appalling.
You talk about things that no other drummer on TH-cam talks about, and time and time again your videos hit home with me. Love your work. I watch your videos every week but somehow wasn't subscribed? I fixed that now!
Great video! When I was younger, I would take A LOT of gigs wherein I didn't love the music, but felt I needed experience doing everything I could. I realized that I had created a professional situation where I wasn't getting to do the things I loved musically, was loosing territory on the skills involved in playing things I cared about deeply and I was still struggling to get by every month. After about 15 years of that, I got a day job and now only take gigs that I really love. My point is that if when I was younger I didn't put that kind of pressure on myself to be the "jack of all trades" and just focused on the music I really cared about, I still may have had to get a day job, but I would have been happier in my 20's!
I’ve just picked up the sticks as a 55 year old mum of two teenagers in the UK and was finding making time to practice a challenge as well as knowing what to practice as well and this has struck a chord with me. I am working with a teacher but find that he gives me lots of material and I end up just working through lots of different things each practice session so focusing on just a few on each session until I have them down then moving on might work better for me. I’m doing this for fun not at my age to join a band but I want to it as well as I can so practice time needs to work for me. Thank you Stephen for your lessons. I find them informative and they inspire me to keep at something that I’m realising has so much more to it then I thought!
Keep going Karen ! At the age of 50 and after playing drums for 37 years now, I learn so much from Steve and all the other Resources on the internet. It's a never ending journey.
Great explanation. Need to share this with a couple of bandleaders. Five or six players in the swing band I play with weekly also play with a rock cover band. They asked me to step in on two gigs when their drummer went on vacation. They thought drummers could instantly switch modes. When I asked for the set list and version they used, I told them drummers need repetitive practice on whatever new mode a band wants or even if it's just refreshing an anciently learned pattern.
This clip couldn't have come at a better time. Having this issue with a session and a suggestion was asked of me that's a bit out of my wheelhouse. So instead of beating myself up thinking I should already be a beast in this certain style, I can be honest with myself and woodshed it and nail it when I'm ready. Thanks for this. S
Stephen is absolutely correct. Hoping, wishing and praying won’t do it. - and most certainly guessing won’t help you too. It’s work...it’s that simple...
Then there’s Vinnie, who certainly doesn’t prepare for the sessions he’s on! A Chameleon with an extreme versatility in style and who can obviously read anything put in front of him. Let alone the fills and frills he goes for :) he is the exception!
Great video, Stephen. Definitely needed to hear this today. Lately I've been playing a lot of country/pop gigs (which are new to me) and felt like my playing has declined in other areas, so it feels like there's never enough practice time to keep everything in top shape while also learning new things. Time to re-focus.
What a great lesson Stephen! So often it’s not what you can do - it’s what you WILL do. I remember hearing Jeff Porcaro talk about how he practiced something like a wrist motion 20-30 minutes a day for several months before he would even begin to feel like he owned it. Made me realize I was giving up way too early on some things. If it took Jeff with all his gifts that long then I better be willing to work at least as long and hard as he did. Pros WILL do what others don’t or won’t. So inspiring.
I think another part of this is your level of awareness to where you need to brush up on something. I had a drum teacher that explained that saying you’re booked or just not the right fit for a gig could cost less than taking a gig that you can’t be ready for.
I’m more of a pro guitarist than a pro drummer but I’ll tell you my embarrassing little secret. About 90% of my tone cost me about $500, tops....you could piece together a rig for $500 and get about 90% of my sound. That final 10%...the “polish” and the “things I break out here and there to make my colleagues go ‘hehe’”. That stuff probably cost me around 20 grand over the course of a decade or so. Know this...it also applies to drums. Gear acquisition works much in the same way that learning how to play works. There are major, major plateaus that form between “the place I am” and “the place I want to be”. You just have to learn which ones are worth traversing and I’ll tell you this much. The ones which involve playing, developing your ear and forming your style are the most important. Everything else is trivial by comparison.
That is right on point,I got hired for a music awards show in my neck of the woods, so I went from playing rock and roll to big band,luckily I have experience in both styles,as a professional drummer,it took us 3 months of rehersals,learn the music for 8 artists that we backed up, put the show together,get the different time,ryhtms etc.etc.youre correct in saying about the preparation it takes behind all the flash at show time,keep on educating us on all these actual facts
Oh Dude, this video really helped me! I was so paranoid in try to learn every little drum topic at the same time, but is impossible to be prepared for every drum situation at the same time.
This video popped up just as I was prepping up about 15 tunes for a band that invited me to join based only my rep. I have my big green notebook with my drum cheats/charts with arrangements. I like to focus on the arrangements first so I can know what I'm talking about at the rehearsal and, mostly, not look stupid! I'll put the cool fills in later. Another spot on video! Thanks Stephan.
That’s kind of obvious, because, yeah, no one is “perfect” 100% of the time on everything, however it is always good to be reminded of that. Loved the video!
I agree with a lot of what your saying. In college it was easier to jump from musical rehearsal to jazz band, to marching, etc, because you do it everyday. After I got out of school i noticed that same feeling of"idk that I'm that good at this particular thing anymore." My fix was to continue to study different genres, techniques, etc. But a majority of my practice is coordination, that way if i ever get thrown into something hopefully my have are comfortable enough to fulfill what needs to be done.
Stephen I’m a new drummer and new follower of yours. Keep it up man, your videos are such high quality for so many reasons in that we can see how much care and heart you put into every single one. You are an amazing teacher for us beginners, you’re kind, smart, thoughtful, patient, and very very talented. Thank you you for being apart of my journey into drums, I’m very grateful for your videos man 🤙
So true: what we see and hear gives us some kind of illusion. We want to learn this and this, but the main practice will go away so we can be stacked into knowing only what our favourite drummer made. At least this is my biggest mistake in my drumming. I want to work more hard to be more and more ‘open ear’-ed, and to focus on my weaknesses and goods to be better. Thank you for sharing this!
Absolutely right! I’m a former professional double bassist and it’s the same attitude needed by any professional: to know what I have to practice to nail the quested gig!
I agree. I play in a metal band, I do worship and play with a country/modern rock band. The metal band has been on hiatus for close to a year, so I have not even touched a double bass pedal in that time. So when we started rehearsing for a handful of shows we have coming up, YIKES!! Needless to say, I’m not gonna shelf metal for that long again. Thanks for the video, sir!
You make great points! I have a Portuguese Christmas party in December and I’ve never played or even listened to any of that style of music, I have to learn 10 songs and I’m already prepping now and hopefully will feel comfortable gig night! Great insight!
I'm retired from live drumming now,i practice more now and have more fun with old band mates,also my gear doesn't get damaged any more.Great video all young drummers should watch this.
Thanks, man! I feel the same way. I am finally starting my pro career and focusing on the main points for making the groove bounce. Really dissecting it. It is paying off. One year of this and it is a visible evolution. 😎🥁
This a great video man - a lot of drummers need to hear this so they stop comparing themselves to guys who've put WAY more hours work into their playing over weeks, months and years! Great job! ... Steve
It's easy to get caught up in the "gotta know everything" mindset. I want to say, I think you remind us of this about every 3 months. Why is it so hard to stay focused on one thing? Because there are so many options out there and we want to learn it all.
I remember an interview with Pete Townshend after the late, great Keith Moon died and it had been devastating for The Who. But Pete, trying to be positive and "always look on the bright side of life' (shades of Monty Python), said that Keith's death would open the door to exploring new rhythms and types of drumming. Keith had definite drumming styles and presumably that boxed the shape of Who songs. Despite that, the replacement was Kenney Jones ex Small Faces and Faces as The Who moved towards a relatively straight beat new wave style eg You Better You Bet. Pete also reminisced that Keith had a pet comedic beat interlude he tried to fit somewhere into a song wherever possible, especially in live concerts. According to Pete it went "Rum tum, tum tum, tiddle-iddle-umtum" (It started while recording I'm A Boy or Happy Jack - I forget which for now but its on the recording. Listen for them !) It became an in joke between Keith and Pete especially. Pete would be playing and half listening for it. Then 'Ah there we go' as Keith played it !
So true...so true Mr. Steve. Had my own experience with this last century playing the Ocean live which had never laid sticks on before. Taking quick direction from the guitar player we were off in a place I didn't want to be musically, let a lone live; just say it was a flipping train wreck at best. Learned my limits on being so accommodating to everything right quick, not to mention taking on the fly direction can be extremely subjective in a live sit in/sub setting.
Stephen, really glad you brought this up and discussed this because a scatterbrain like me tends to overwhelm myself when I see so many great drummers do so many great things sort of made me realize some things that bring me Comfort here so I can calm down it just focus one thing at a time without worrying about anything else and that just build on that really a great pep talk thank you! Bob M.
My biggest weakness is trying to play double bass. I can get it going but can’t keep it up. I’ll try and do a mediocre speed and then it’s like my reflexes or something kicks in and I start to speed up inadvertently. I can’t seem to keep the same pace because my legs start to spaz out.
You absolutely right. So that's why I think it's better work on things that you need anywhere and anytime. Things like sense of time, dynamic and sightreading.
Yes you are absolutely correct!! I’m a drummer, but also an instructor of Argentine Tango and guess what?? It’s the same thing in Tango. Thanks for making this video. Now I can show this to my students. They think I’m trying to make them feel better about they’re attempts.
No drummer can play everything but Vinnie is Obsessed with Practicing read about him taking a practice pad shopping and it shows why he’s on another level
Thanks for this. As a pretty new drummer, I have been practicing for about a year (not solid either). I am 42 and have played music all my life but drums have always been intimidating. I am having fun but find myself getting discouraged when I don't pick something up right away.
this is a great video,. there are a lot of drum instructional video on youtube but this one is actually a motivational video. the drumming world needs this badly.
So I shouldn't feel bad that it takes me a month to learn to (sort of) play a samba groove? I'm figuring out that if I can get something up to say, 75% speed, that is 90% of the work. If I ever really get a chance to play it I can bring the tempo up fairly easily. It's the transition from "my brain is exploding" to "okay, I get it' that takes hours and hours.
Chris Ferrall you should never feel bad about how long it takes your brain to go through the natural learning process. We can fight it or we can flow with it. Work more efficiently? Yes, always try to do that. But it simply takes time to carve new neural pathways in the brain. No way around that. Once we accept that, practice becomes much less stressful. At least for me it is.
Thank you for this. It's easy to forget in the TH-cam generation that the 8-year-old virtuoso musician probably put a thousand hours into getting that one 3-minute take perfect. You don't see the thousand hours; you only see the 3 minutes of perfection. I think it first got out of hand with the "Idol/Voice/etc." shows, where you see someone go from a nobody to a household name in a matter of weeks... the thousands of practice hours those people put in be damned. Thank you also for talking about not trying to cram every style into every practice session. It is confusing and frustrating as a musician to want to play a hundred different styles, and then not know what to practice first. Love your videos.
Thanks for reminding all of us that no matter who you are , you are always gonna need to woodshed! I've been drumming for 48 yrs, started at 5 yrs old with all styles, Im comfortable with most, but if im playing Fusion mixes I have to grind it out in practice, same for multiple style mixes and progressive metal and Jazz. Good job! love Bonham too, also a fan of Billy Cobham, mike portnoy, gene krupa, buddy rich, neil pert, lenny white....., and dozens of Jazz, Fusion, Skaw, and progressive drummers. Godbless! truly: Joe Zimbbello
That’s quite profound Stephen. Also, the more you learn the more you realise things relate to each other. For example, some of the stuff I play on the floor Tom at church, is a straightened out version of a swing floor Tom Krupa rhythm lol.
I recently played with a band last minute (night of) having never heard their songs or covers. My nightmare... but it went fine... these scenarios just make you like preparation even more. But also be able to go with the flow. After all the show must go on!
Just listen to the Buddy Rich and Allah Rakha album they did together. I can't get through it. It feels as though Buddy's having a hard day. The content here was fantastic! Keep up the great work Stephen..
Glad you addressed this, a reminder that all drummers need to practice and prepare to create quality, and need even more practice and preparation for the rusty and/or unfamiliar situations/styles.
I think Vinnie sometimes just rocks up and does it with very little or no rehearsal, Herbie, Sting, Metallica, Country, Jazz, RnB...doesn’t matter. Not only does he adequately fit the genre, but he blitzes it. I think 99% of gigs in front of a general audience, or in a studio don’t require amazing chops, just a good honest understanding of the genre and what the artists expects, and a level of mastery on your instrument to pull it off, in other words, to play simple things-really well, rinse, repeat. Now say Weckl, he’s not really conditioned to anything outside of his chosen genres of jazz, funk and is still a phenomenal drummer, he would be a fish out of water on a lot of work Vinnie’s chosen to partake over the years. That, by definition, makes Vinnie a lot more versatile, which gets him more work because he can accommodate more artists. Vinnie would never admit that, nor would Dave, but the evidence is very clear. I’m a fan of them both, for different reasons.
Excellent video! I have a tendency to 'hoard' practice licks. Trying to get away from that at the moment. This video amongst others has helped. Tbe wedding band in which I play are great. Always adding little jazz or latin breaks in the songs to keep me on my toes.
Great video Stephen. Wow. Does this ever hit home for me. I been playing with some really good musicians at open mike nights for a year now at a small intimate bistro with other good musicians in the audience waiting for their turn to play. These musicians really love my playing and sometimes give me some heads up on what covers we will play that night so I have a few days to listen to them and learn all the breaks and fills to make the music feel great. A lot of the time I don't get the set list until I show up to play that night. This is stressful if I have not heard the number for a long time and I have to learn it and play on the fly. Very challenging and takes me out of my comfort zone for sure. I get through the night but I am not happy with my performance as I know that if I had notice I could have played those songs so much better. I am quite anal on being very prepared to perform covers close to, if not exact to the original. My personal curse I suppose. I feel when doing covers that it is important to play as close to the original track so the audience can relate and enjoy the experience as if they were listening to the original band. Rock On Stephen.
Peter.....first off. TAKE IT EASY ON YOURSELF. I'm in the same boat as you are. House drummer for open mic night and get thrown under the bus every wed night. However, realise that you are a great player otherwise you wouldn't be there. Just do your best and understand that it's open mic not Madison Square Garden. Lol. Ps... this is how we grow and become better drummers.
Thanks Stephen for your support and encouraging coaching. I really appreciate it. I will have a new approach to the Open Mike Nights from now on. I agree that this is how we grow as drummers/musicians. I will do my best. Kind regards.
grandtheftaudio3 Here are my 2 cents, if you want :) ... “open mic nights” or subbing for a drummer with half a day notice, scrambling to make 30 charts that somewhat makes sense when you get behind the kit.... will make your ears, instinct and alertness grow tenfold in 1 gig!! I’ve done hundreds of those kind of gigs, in the beginning I was crapping my pants, now I actually really enjoy those gigs and never turn them down. Those gigs can certainly be stressful and taxing on the mind, 1 of those gigs, is easy worth 10 regular gigs, in terms of the experience you get as a MUSICIAN, not just as a drummer. Keep doing those gigs, embrace the challenge and rock on 🤘🏼 !!
One truth I took out of college for how to be a pro musician "An amateur practices until they get it right, a pro practices until they can't get it wrong." Then to add to that, Bob Ross, “We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”
Subscribe or I'll steal your cymbals: bit.ly/2AyH1Fb
Ever wonder if there is a drumming secret that all professional drummers know? Well...there is actually. So what do Vinnie Colaiuta, Buddy Rich, Benny Greb, Matt Garstka, Steve Gadd, Antonio Sanchez, and every other pro know? It's not so much a secret as it is the entire reason why we consider them to be a professional drummer...
Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!
Have you checked out 40 Years of Video Game Drumming yet? 32 video game themes, 23 tempo changes, in one take: th-cam.com/video/s0h4sCbSZx4/w-d-xo.html
Stephen Taylor I literally had this conversation about a month ago with a good friend mine and this is sooo true I’m glad you covered it .
Yeh some of what U said puzzles me a bit?. I went to all the trouble to help my niece so she could play in the church band for Sue Edwards,,, but because sue the lady is so strict. I don't bother with Drums much now so if open mic calls me down the track I go but other then that drums & DrumTek are just history for me???,,, I think it's because I just don't really care any more about Drumming because at the end of the day people don't really give a two hoots... So as much as I love Drumming & Helping my 11 year old niece Stephanie. But Thank 🙋♂️👍🙏 Steve for your history on Drumming Legends?...
For your Epic & Extreme events in reply to Steve Taylor 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏?.
I don't have cymbals :(
You will need a big truck to steal my cymbals Lol
That’s good point you make
I remember a Gadd clinic I was at and someone asked him about difficult time signatures ...
He replied ...I don’t get hired to do difficult time signatures ...
@@hanzschwanns7511 Songo is a style rather than a specific rhythm,the beat one is missing and thats whats make it hard to learn for some.
I only know you from your YT videos, but honestly I have so much respect for how you come across and conduct yourself, as well of course as the content you produce.
GMak81 thank you my friend. That really does mean a lot.
Vinnie is a chameleon of styles though. From jazz to pop to metal to fusion. I guess there are 3 groups: amateur, professional and Vinnie Colaiuta lol.
... love to hear him play!! I have heard one, maybe two errors, but they were covered so masterfully he could probably say, "no, I meant to do that".... 😉😬
_Many_ are called, but _Vinnie_ is chosen.
He sucks at a specific Reggae situation...
(When he tries to cover Carlton's famous hi-hat figure, but within a shuffle; that simply HAS to go wrong without switching out of shuffle...but he doesn't and it keeps sounding "ahrrrgh!"-ward!)
fucking vinnie!
Hey Stephen! Played my first house party recently and all of your videos absolutely motivated me to follow through and get good enough to make it happen! So thank you sir
I’ve studied a lot of languages, and people hear that and are like “Ooh, say something in Chinese,” and I can’t just do that if I haven’t been using it conversationally for months or years.
That's a really good example. Thanks!
Ok, Chinese u said? Than say something in coronavirus😏
Right on Stephen. I over prepare for any upcoming gig, when I can. The band or musicians are blown away and say I'm great. What they don't realize is that I've been using all of the time since I've heard about the gig until that time preparing. Great video and great advice!
I didn’t know you were going to go in this direction after reading the title. Very cool. There’s an interview with Jeff Paccaro, and he said he refused to take a Zappa gig. He felt his reading wasn’t up to snuff, and would get tore up. I liked Jeff’s honesty in that vid.
yep, I just finished a production with the NDR BigBand. For this session I listened to the demos & played along to them for about 4 weeks every single day. So being prepared is the key to succeed when you do anything professionally. And of course you have to love doing it 😎
Feel like you could rename this Secret all *humans* don't want you to know.
Yes! I'm a caricature artist and I draw live most of the time. This resonated with me in a lot of ways.
Robert Plant has talked about how toward the end of John Bonham’s life, Bonham was so insecure about his own playing. John freakin’ Bonahm.
Phil Collins has been open about how when Peter Gabriel and Genesis played a one-off concert together in 1982, he (Collins) started making mistakes left and right, the kind of mistakes he hadn’t made in years.
Stewart Copeland wrote on his blog about how many mistakes all three members of the Police made the first few concerts of their reunion tour.
Bonham, Collins and Copeland. Three monsters of drumming. And even they made mistakes (or thought they did).
What is worst than an off nite is two off nites in a row. We all have them and never know when they will take place. I can usually avoid them but they still occur especially after missing a week or two of playing. There are some things I just can not do. I will still attempt to do them and even if I never succeed, the few attempts help broaden my playing ability.
Vinnie had a stint as well, in the insecure world of drumming. We are often our own worst enemy !!
Stewart Copeland admits he's better at feel than precise timing because it wasn't as big of a deal in the 70s.
Insecure? Never new!! Checked your channel and youve got cool stuff. Subbed!
I remember reading Neil Peart's book 'Ghost Rider', where following the passing of both his wife and daughter in a small period of time, he stopped playing in Rush and commenced riding many thousands of miles for a couple of years.
When he contacted bass player/singer Geddy Lee about returning to music, he outlined the results of the bands first rehearsal; he said they sounded like the worlds worst ever Rush tribute band! Just appalling.
Stephen this was one of your best videos ever. So true on every topic. You are the man.
I can’t count how many uncomfortable moments I’ve experienced performing. 😆
You talk about things that no other drummer on TH-cam talks about, and time and time again your videos hit home with me. Love your work. I watch your videos every week but somehow wasn't subscribed? I fixed that now!
Thank you my friend!
Great video! When I was younger, I would take A LOT of gigs wherein I didn't love the music, but felt I needed experience doing everything I could. I realized that I had created a professional situation where I wasn't getting to do the things I loved musically, was loosing territory on the skills involved in playing things I cared about deeply and I was still struggling to get by every month. After about 15 years of that, I got a day job and now only take gigs that I really love. My point is that if when I was younger I didn't put that kind of pressure on myself to be the "jack of all trades" and just focused on the music I really cared about, I still may have had to get a day job, but I would have been happier in my 20's!
As a drummer and an attorney, I can definitely attest to the message in this video. I know only one area of the law by design. Excellent message!
I’ve just picked up the sticks as a 55 year old mum of two teenagers in the UK and was finding making time to practice a challenge as well as knowing what to practice as well and this has struck a chord with me. I am working with a teacher but find that he gives me lots of material and I end up just working through lots of different things each practice session so focusing on just a few on each session until I have them down then moving on might work better for me. I’m doing this for fun not at my age to join a band but I want to it as well as I can so practice time needs to work for me. Thank you Stephen for your lessons. I find them informative and they inspire me to keep at something that I’m realising has so much more to it then I thought!
Keep going Karen ! At the age of 50 and after playing drums for 37 years now, I learn so much from Steve and all the other Resources on the internet. It's a never ending journey.
Great explanation. Need to share this with a couple of bandleaders.
Five or six players in the swing band I play with weekly also play with a rock cover band. They asked me to step in on two gigs when their drummer went on vacation. They thought drummers could instantly switch modes. When I asked for the set list and version they used, I told them drummers need repetitive practice on whatever new mode a band wants or even if it's just refreshing an anciently learned pattern.
This clip couldn't have come at a better time. Having this issue with a session and a suggestion was asked of me that's a bit out of my wheelhouse. So instead of beating myself up thinking I should already be a beast in this certain style, I can be honest with myself and woodshed it and nail it when I'm ready. Thanks for this.
S
I guess Neil Peart would have felt that he "fell on his face" playing with the Buddy Rich band. I wish I could fall on my face so well!
@Stork Legs His problem was that he never practised (or usually applied with Rush) anything even close to a shuffle beat...
Love that you are dropping frequent chestnuts of wisdom.
Stephen is absolutely correct. Hoping, wishing and praying won’t do it. - and most certainly guessing won’t help you too. It’s work...it’s that simple...
Then there’s Vinnie, who certainly doesn’t prepare for the sessions he’s on! A Chameleon with an extreme versatility in style and who can obviously read anything put in front of him. Let alone the fills and frills he goes for :) he is the exception!
Great video, Stephen. Definitely needed to hear this today. Lately I've been playing a lot of country/pop gigs (which are new to me) and felt like my playing has declined in other areas, so it feels like there's never enough practice time to keep everything in top shape while also learning new things. Time to re-focus.
What a great lesson Stephen! So often it’s not what you can do - it’s what you WILL do. I remember hearing Jeff Porcaro talk about how he practiced something like a wrist motion 20-30 minutes a day for several months before he would even begin to feel like he owned it. Made me realize I was giving up way too early on some things. If it took Jeff with all his gifts that long then I better be willing to work at least as long and hard as he did. Pros WILL do what others don’t or won’t. So inspiring.
I think another part of this is your level of awareness to where you need to brush up on something. I had a drum teacher that explained that saying you’re booked or just not the right fit for a gig could cost less than taking a gig that you can’t be ready for.
I’m more of a pro guitarist than a pro drummer but I’ll tell you my embarrassing little secret.
About 90% of my tone cost me about $500, tops....you could piece together a rig for $500 and get about 90% of my sound. That final 10%...the “polish” and the “things I break out here and there to make my colleagues go ‘hehe’”. That stuff probably cost me around 20 grand over the course of a decade or so. Know this...it also applies to drums. Gear acquisition works much in the same way that learning how to play works. There are major, major plateaus that form between “the place I am” and “the place I want to be”. You just have to learn which ones are worth traversing and I’ll tell you this much. The ones which involve playing, developing your ear and forming your style are the most important. Everything else is trivial by comparison.
That is right on point,I got hired for a music awards show in my neck of the woods, so I went from playing rock and roll to big band,luckily I have experience in both styles,as a professional drummer,it took us 3 months of rehersals,learn the music for 8 artists that we backed up, put the show together,get the different time,ryhtms etc.etc.youre correct in saying about the preparation it takes behind all the flash at show time,keep on educating us on all these actual facts
Oh Dude, this video really helped me! I was so paranoid in try to learn every little drum topic at the same time, but is impossible to be prepared for every drum situation at the same time.
Knowing when to have enough humility to say no is a good thing. It also saves a lot of peoples time and is greatly appreciated.
Excellent video!! Yours content makes perfect sense and I believe many of US drummers need to be reminded of this quite frequent.
This video popped up just as I was prepping up about 15 tunes for a band that invited me to join based only my rep. I have my big green notebook with my drum cheats/charts with arrangements. I like to focus on the arrangements first so I can know what I'm talking about at the rehearsal and, mostly, not look stupid! I'll put the cool fills in later. Another spot on video! Thanks Stephan.
That’s kind of obvious, because, yeah, no one is “perfect” 100% of the time on everything, however it is always good to be reminded of that. Loved the video!
Dam straight
We have to be ourselves,but it's okay to use others techniques or good ideas.
I agree with a lot of what your saying. In college it was easier to jump from musical rehearsal to jazz band, to marching, etc, because you do it everyday. After I got out of school i noticed that same feeling of"idk that I'm that good at this particular thing anymore."
My fix was to continue to study different genres, techniques, etc. But a majority of my practice is coordination, that way if i ever get thrown into something hopefully my have are comfortable enough to fulfill what needs to be done.
Stephen I’m a new drummer and new follower of yours. Keep it up man, your videos are such high quality for so many reasons in that we can see how much care and heart you put into every single one. You are an amazing teacher for us beginners, you’re kind, smart, thoughtful, patient, and very very talented.
Thank you you for being apart of my journey into drums, I’m very grateful for your videos man 🤙
So true: what we see and hear gives us some kind of illusion. We want to learn this and this, but the main practice will go away so we can be stacked into knowing only what our favourite drummer made. At least this is my biggest mistake in my drumming. I want to work more hard to be more and more ‘open ear’-ed, and to focus on my weaknesses and goods to be better. Thank you for sharing this!
This video is gold!! Thank you Stephen!!! 🙏🏽🙏🏽
Absolutely right! I’m a former professional double bassist and it’s the same attitude needed by any professional: to know what I have to practice to nail the quested gig!
that kit is sounding so good...i lit could loop a groove and listen to it for hours
I agree. I play in a metal band, I do worship and play with a country/modern rock band. The metal band has been on hiatus for close to a year, so I have not even touched a double bass pedal in that time. So when we started rehearsing for a handful of shows we have coming up, YIKES!! Needless to say, I’m not gonna shelf metal for that long again. Thanks for the video, sir!
You make great points! I have a Portuguese Christmas party in December and I’ve never played or even listened to any of that style of music, I have to learn 10 songs and I’m already prepping now and hopefully will feel comfortable gig night! Great insight!
I’m a simple man, when I see a Stephen Taylor video I click, when I see buddy rich in the thumbnail I click.
But today you have thrown me a curveball
Every now and then gotta learn a new pitch 🕺🏻
I'm retired from live drumming now,i practice more now and have more fun with old band mates,also my gear doesn't get damaged any more.Great video all young drummers should watch this.
Useful and most comforting information. Thank you sir.. appreciated!
Thanks, man! I feel the same way. I am finally starting my pro career and focusing on the main points for making the groove bounce. Really dissecting it. It is paying off. One year of this and it is a visible evolution. 😎🥁
GREAT VIDEO.....this really hit home for me.
This a great video man - a lot of drummers need to hear this so they stop comparing themselves to guys who've put WAY more hours work into their playing over weeks, months and years! Great job! ... Steve
It's easy to get caught up in the "gotta know everything" mindset. I want to say, I think you remind us of this about every 3 months. Why is it so hard to stay focused on one thing? Because there are so many options out there and we want to learn it all.
I remember an interview with Pete Townshend after the late, great Keith Moon died and it had been devastating for The Who. But Pete, trying to be positive and "always look on the bright side of life' (shades of Monty Python), said that Keith's death would open the door to exploring new rhythms and types of drumming. Keith had definite drumming styles and presumably that boxed the shape of Who songs. Despite that, the replacement was Kenney Jones ex Small Faces and Faces as The Who moved towards a relatively straight beat new wave style eg You Better You Bet.
Pete also reminisced that Keith had a pet comedic beat interlude he tried to fit somewhere into a song wherever possible, especially in live concerts. According to Pete it went "Rum tum, tum tum, tiddle-iddle-umtum" (It started while recording I'm A Boy or Happy Jack - I forget which for now but its on the recording. Listen for them !) It became an in joke between Keith and Pete especially. Pete would be playing and half listening for it. Then 'Ah there we go' as Keith played it !
So true...so true Mr. Steve. Had my own experience with this last century playing the Ocean live which had never laid sticks on before. Taking quick direction from the guitar player we were off in a place I didn't want to be musically, let a lone live; just say it was a flipping train wreck at best. Learned my limits on being so accommodating to everything right quick, not to mention taking on the fly direction can be extremely subjective in a live sit in/sub setting.
Stephen, really glad you brought this up and discussed this because a scatterbrain like me tends to overwhelm myself when I see so many great drummers do so many great things sort of made me realize some things that bring me Comfort here so I can calm down it just focus one thing at a time without worrying about anything else and that just build on that really a great pep talk thank you! Bob M.
My biggest weakness is trying to play double bass. I can get it going but can’t keep it up. I’ll try and do a mediocre speed and then it’s like my reflexes or something kicks in and I start to speed up inadvertently. I can’t seem to keep the same pace because my legs start to spaz out.
Actually that's kind of comforting to know.
Enjoyed that. Do you find older players still keeping up their skills despite less gigs for them?
U should do a collaboration with the 8Bit drummer. Check out his videos.
PS. I am not working for, advertising or a crazy fan of him.
Cryoax varnes love what he does. A collab would def be fun...
You absolutely right. So that's why I think it's better work on things that you need anywhere and anytime. Things like sense of time, dynamic and sightreading.
Really good video! Thanks man.
You bet!
Yes you are absolutely correct!! I’m a drummer, but also an instructor of Argentine Tango and guess what?? It’s the same thing in Tango. Thanks for making this video. Now I can show this to my students. They think I’m trying to make them feel better about they’re attempts.
Just saw Vinny Appice- amazing! Thanks for this video!
Vinny is the master monster, ploughing through the rocky fields heavy rock!
No drummer can play everything but Vinnie is Obsessed with Practicing read about him taking a practice pad shopping and it shows why he’s on another level
Thanks for this. As a pretty new drummer, I have been practicing for about a year (not solid either). I am 42 and have played music all my life but drums have always been intimidating. I am having fun but find myself getting discouraged when I don't pick something up right away.
Just found your channel. Great stuff. Thanks very much.
Thanks for your honesty. Great vid. You are awesome. Thanks for all your hard work too.
needed this video.. thanks dude.
this is a great video,. there are a lot of drum instructional video on youtube but this one is actually a motivational video. the drumming world needs this badly.
So I shouldn't feel bad that it takes me a month to learn to (sort of) play a samba groove? I'm figuring out that if I can get something up to say, 75% speed, that is 90% of the work. If I ever really get a chance to play it I can bring the tempo up fairly easily. It's the transition from "my brain is exploding" to "okay, I get it' that takes hours and hours.
Chris Ferrall you should never feel bad about how long it takes your brain to go through the natural learning process. We can fight it or we can flow with it. Work more efficiently? Yes, always try to do that. But it simply takes time to carve new neural pathways in the brain. No way around that. Once we accept that, practice becomes much less stressful. At least for me it is.
really good. gives you a good feeling to watch that, thank you
Great talk! Thanks for sharing your perspective. Refreshing to be reminded even our role models are human. Inspiring talk.
Enjoyable video. Spot on buddy. Merry Christmas
Thank you for this. It's easy to forget in the TH-cam generation that the 8-year-old virtuoso musician probably put a thousand hours into getting that one 3-minute take perfect. You don't see the thousand hours; you only see the 3 minutes of perfection. I think it first got out of hand with the "Idol/Voice/etc." shows, where you see someone go from a nobody to a household name in a matter of weeks... the thousands of practice hours those people put in be damned.
Thank you also for talking about not trying to cram every style into every practice session. It is confusing and frustrating as a musician to want to play a hundred different styles, and then not know what to practice first. Love your videos.
absolutely true...except for Vinnie ;)
Thanks for reminding all of us that no matter who you are , you are always gonna need to woodshed! I've been drumming for 48 yrs, started at 5 yrs old with all styles, Im comfortable with most, but if im playing Fusion mixes I have to grind it out in practice, same for multiple style mixes and progressive metal and Jazz. Good job! love Bonham too, also a fan of Billy Cobham, mike portnoy, gene krupa, buddy rich, neil pert, lenny white....., and dozens of Jazz, Fusion, Skaw, and progressive drummers. Godbless! truly: Joe Zimbbello
Excellent explanation very true full
That first groove was like a Steve Jordan thing. Very, very cool. 😊
That’s quite profound Stephen. Also, the more you learn the more you realise things relate to each other. For example, some of the stuff I play on the floor Tom at church, is a straightened out version of a swing floor Tom Krupa rhythm lol.
I recently played with a band last minute (night of) having never heard their songs or covers. My nightmare... but it went fine... these scenarios just make you like preparation even more. But also be able to go with the flow. After all the show must go on!
This is so pertinent regardless of your instrument, your teaching is inspiring!
Incredibly valuable thank you
You forgot to mention (as you always do) the importance of stick trixx & speeding up on live performances.
Oh, I don’t mention it because I assume it’s common knowledge. Just check out Instagram. Everyone seems to know this one intuitively now.....
Thanks for that. It helped to hear that.
Just listen to the Buddy Rich and Allah Rakha album they did together. I can't get through it. It feels as though Buddy's having a hard day.
The content here was fantastic! Keep up the great work Stephen..
Glad you addressed this, a reminder that all drummers need to practice and prepare to create quality, and need even more practice and preparation for the rusty and/or unfamiliar situations/styles.
I think Vinnie sometimes just rocks up and does it with very little or no rehearsal, Herbie, Sting, Metallica, Country, Jazz, RnB...doesn’t matter. Not only does he adequately fit the genre, but he blitzes it. I think 99% of gigs in front of a general audience, or in a studio don’t require amazing chops, just a good honest understanding of the genre and what the artists expects, and a level of mastery on your instrument to pull it off, in other words, to play simple things-really well, rinse, repeat. Now say Weckl, he’s not really conditioned to anything outside of his chosen genres of jazz, funk and is still a phenomenal drummer, he would be a fish out of water on a lot of work Vinnie’s chosen to partake over the years. That, by definition, makes Vinnie a lot more versatile, which gets him more work because he can accommodate more artists. Vinnie would never admit that, nor would Dave, but the evidence is very clear. I’m a fan of them both, for different reasons.
You’re an incredible drummer and your videos are incredibly helpful and insightful!
Thanks so much danny
Stephen Taylor thank YOU for all your work and videos they help tremendously
I know that your groove sounds good,Thanks.
Excellent video! I have a tendency to 'hoard' practice licks. Trying to get away from that at the moment. This video amongst others has helped. Tbe wedding band in which I play are great. Always adding little jazz or latin breaks in the songs to keep me on my toes.
Thank-you very much for this good advice
Buddy Rich wasn't too keen on playing Bebop drums, he played what he thought was his idea of Bebop!
Agree. Buddy played Buddy
100% correct
Really nice and useful to hear as an intermediate drummer
Great point of view. love your advices !
Great video Stephen. Wow. Does this ever hit home for me. I been playing with some really good musicians at open mike nights for a year now at a small intimate bistro with other good musicians in the audience waiting for their turn to play. These musicians really love my playing and sometimes give me some heads up on what covers we will play that night so I have a few days to listen to them and learn all the breaks and fills to make the music feel great. A lot of the time I don't get the set list until I show up to play that night. This is stressful if I have not heard the number for a long time and I have to learn it and play on the fly. Very challenging and takes me out of my comfort zone for sure. I get through the night but I am not happy with my performance as I know that if I had notice I could have played those songs so much better. I am quite anal on being very prepared to perform covers close to, if not exact to the original. My personal curse I suppose. I feel when doing covers that it is important to play as close to the original track so the audience can relate and enjoy the experience as if they were listening to the original band. Rock On Stephen.
Peter.....first off. TAKE IT EASY ON YOURSELF. I'm in the same boat as you are. House drummer for open mic night and get thrown under the bus every wed night. However, realise that you are a great player otherwise you wouldn't be there. Just do your best and understand that it's open mic not Madison Square Garden. Lol. Ps... this is how we grow and become better drummers.
Thanks Stephen for your support and encouraging coaching. I really appreciate it. I will have a new approach to the Open Mike Nights from now on. I agree that this is how we grow as drummers/musicians. I will do my best. Kind regards.
grandtheftaudio3 Here are my 2 cents, if you want :) ... “open mic nights” or subbing for a drummer with half a day notice, scrambling to make 30 charts that somewhat makes sense when you get behind the kit.... will make your ears, instinct and alertness grow tenfold in 1 gig!! I’ve done hundreds of those kind of gigs, in the beginning I was crapping my pants, now I actually really enjoy those gigs and never turn them down. Those gigs can certainly be stressful and taxing on the mind, 1 of those gigs, is easy worth 10 regular gigs, in terms of the experience you get as a MUSICIAN, not just as a drummer.
Keep doing those gigs, embrace the challenge and rock on 🤘🏼 !!
Thanks Jesper, I appreciate your comments and support.@@norskov
I am sorry grandtheftaudio3. I realized that it was you that gave me the encouragement and not Stephen . I thank you for your kind words of support.
That's fantastic insight!! .. Thanks so much .... I thought I must have been crap!!
Thanks love it, very interesting real and eye opening
Thank you for this encouraging video.
Yep great advice and message !!
Except Vinnie Colaiuta. He is always better than your favorite drummer.
Federico Canuti vinnie is the Chuck Norris of drums
Vinnie isn't human ok? haha
Virgil donati
No, he isn't.
Better? Lol
Great video.. Much needed!!!
What a useful video mate. Thanks!
Yup...the point is...you need preparation before the show!...
Thanks a million Stephen....you made my weekend!
One truth I took out of college for how to be a pro musician "An amateur practices until they get it right, a pro practices until they can't get it wrong."
Then to add to that, Bob Ross, “We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”