| How much should I practice? What should I practice to get better? |
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I like to practice 4-6 days a week, 3-4 hours a day, when I'm not on the road. Of course it's not how much you practice that matters - it's WHAT you practice and if you are learning something and progressing. I don't have a specific regiment that I follow every day but I think there are few essentials of drumming that every drummer should include in their practice routine. 1) Tempo - Practice playing beats and fills with a metronome. Also work with very slow tempos, focusing on your spacing between notes. 2) Groove - Listen to recordings of other drummers and emulate their feel, beats, and style. Also work on your groove playing, trying to make your playing sound authoritative, flowing, and musical as possible. 3) Ideas and Concepts - I think every drummer should explore areas to find things that are uniquely their own and spend time developing those ideas. I do quite a bit of this and it's truly my favorite aspect of being a musician. 4) Improvisation - this could include improvising beats, fills, whatever. Practice improvising so that you are not so ‘locked in’ to just playing songs. When I was teaching, it was always a little sad to me that young drummers would come in and their only goal was to play one certain song. I know it's not their fault and it's just a part of learning to play music and being a musician but, I would always think, "drumming is so much more than that!" 5) Soloing - Not that every drummer needs or wants to be a great soloist. Some drummers will go through their whole life and possibly never play a solo but I think it's important to learn to express yourself on your instrument without accompaniment. |
