Can Everlong be played relaxed?

Jeff Graw said:
Won't sound good, unless you're doing a fusion or a funk cover of the song.
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You just use a heavyish front-weighted stick, and throw a little loose arm action in there, and keep the stick heights up. It’s certainly not BEGINNER-level push-pull, but it can be made to sound good
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
while I get what you are saying, I have been playing the way those guys play now for 48 years, and have no issue with tendonitis or joint pain. Playing like that without the development and definition of using rebound, flow, and muscle groups correctly will definitely lead to issues, but if you train correctly, it is not that hard to play like that and be ok. In my case, the training to play that aggressive came from marching band/drum corps work/study of how to get speed and volume properly.

I also play with lighter touch when needed, so I am not just a one trick pony...AND, the training I did to play aggressively has also really helped me in my touch for softer, or lighter techniques as well. It has definitely allowed me to know how to manipulate muscle groups to get the effects I need
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I agree.
I have been playing for over 35 years with very adequate volume (Fairly loud but not bashing the drums so hard as to dent the heads).
The way that I approach it is by utilizing.. Fulcrum?? not sure if that is the correct term, but what I mean to say is that I use my fingers to hold the stick and allow it to pivot and hit the drum, and return to the starting position without using my wrists that much at all. (This [the wrist use] varies with the music speed and power needs).
Anyway I do agree as well that if the wrong technique is employed (using too much wrist and not avoiding the shock from the stick hitting the head) yes you WILL hurt yourself sooner rather than later.
 
Yes, it's ironic that a relaxed technique is tremendously helpful to pull off a very driving, forceful part with enough velocity to pull the appropriate tone out of the drums & cymbals. I suppose one could do it with a "stiffer" technique and enough stamina to make it through; that's not "wrong", but definitely makes the player work harder to accomplish the same task. Good technique = more endurance, fewer broken sticks/heads/cymbals, fewer physical health problems, etc. I maintain good technique and posture from day 1 with every student of mine, until I don't have to remind him/her anymore.

But playing the song with a relaxed feel- uh, no, unless it's a funkier/jazzier version.
 
dcrigger said:
I some folks may be conflating "playing relaxed" and "playing with a relaxed feel". IMO Two very different things. I think when we start stiffening up - it starts feeling forced - it can heaven start feeling leaden. Which can start to be a drag on the ability to keep the tempo up - which to me, is when we can start losing all sense of energy.
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Agree with this as well.
For example David Diepold plays relaxed (but NOT with a relaxed feel because the music is just too fast for that). Jonathan Moffet plays relaxed AND with a relaxed feel.
 
Not that I can play this song all that well, but I do find that the thing that helps the most with keeping tempo on fast songs is actually just doing a good warmup. Trying to play Everlong cold is basically asking to hurt myself. If I do a good warmup for 20 minutes or so doing mixed singles and doubles at a tempo that speeds up over time, it helps tremendously to feel more relaxed whenever I need to play uptempo tunes. If you can end a warmup playing singles at 180 bpm then it lends to reason that the 158bpm Everlong won't feel so stiff.
 
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