Practice Experiences

Here's a potentially interesting muse:

when I'm spending 3 - 6 hours in a room practicing, there is a slight feeling of isolation. The practice regimen is a very singular activity, as it should be. However, I find myself wishing for a larger perspective on the very one exercise I'm hammering away at for 20 - 40 minutes.

For example: when I'm working out of Morgenstein's book, I wish he would have included a paragraph or two describing someone's experience (his? a student's?) with that exercise. Maybe it would be an anecdote of some sort. Maybe it would be a simple account of: how long, how often, or what tempo range this pattern was played. Maybe a description of the difficulties they encountered or what went through their mind. To hear about how they worked through the difficulties would be most helpful. Maybe it would be note about how they were able to apply it in a musical situation. Anything to PERSONALIZE it and put a human face on it, if you will. This can be a very encouraging thing. This is your strong point, Steve, I think. You are extremely positive and encouraging.

The cool thing about a music school, is that you have a community of drummers that can exchange ideas and share experiences (blue man also has this potential). So this 'dialog' I'm describing may already exist in an informal way as students discuss there practice experiences with each other. However, this may not exist for the general drum book buying public. So to bring a communal experience to the larger, perhaps more isolated audience, could prove to be valuable.

I always liked it when I would hear Gottlieb talk about how Morello showed him stuff. Then to hear Morello talk about his experiences learning from Stone made it even more interesting. I always liked it when I heard drummers talk at their drum clinics. The playing was always cool, of course (remember DeJohnette's 90 minute drum solo??), but to hear them recount experiences made them seem more human or more real . . . or more like me!. It made what they do seem just a little more doable. I guess what I'm getting at is that it's more interesting to practice when I hear about other guys experience with a given exercise.

You have at your fingertips dozens if not hundreds of students' experience to draw from. That's a cool resource. Over the years, you've had the chance to witness first hand the degree to which guys are able to bring their own personal spirit into their playing. This could also be one of the goals of a drum book: to give accounts of how individuals were able to personalize an otherwise dry exercise.

OK, I've run out of time and focus. I have to go downstairs and practice !!!!

Jeff Quay