How do you expand your playing?

Jivi

Senior Member
I learn a lot of patterns, grooves, techniques and such which I do fine when playing just those by themselves but I find that I barely use the majority of what I have learned in my playing.

How does everyone like to incorporate the stuff that they have learnt in there playing?
How do you evolve a new idea into your playing so that you don't have to consciously think about using that idea?
 
My practice time and my giging time are usually pretty different from each other playingwise. I practice stuff I don't use at gigs. The reason for this is if I ever get a drum solo, that's when I can incorporate stuff I do at practice. But I rarely if ever get a drum spot all to myself, but one must be ready when the situation arises.....
 
I learn a lot of patterns, grooves, techniques and such which I do fine when playing just those by themselves but I find that I barely use the majority of what I have learned in my playing.

How does everyone like to incorporate the stuff that they have learnt in there playing?
How do you evolve a new idea into your playing so that you don't have to consciously think about using that idea?

I think it's the right idea to not think about it. To me, you might as well be playing by (with) yourself if you are going to sit and figure it out.

In my own experience, I find myself using material I practiced a year or more ago. It does enter the subconscious and becomes part of your vocabulary. So, obviously, the trick is to really ingrain it in your brain, and that is done via a lot of repetitions. I find that doing a lot of reps (simple stuff..) gets great results.

John Riley has a different take on it. He says practice difficult material, so that the stuff you encounter on the gig will be so easy for you you can do it completely confidently. Then use the extra brain power to be with the band.

So, to recap: 1) practice long and hard the things you really want to hear yourself playing 2) don't worry, your job is not to play complicated stuff, anyway (see the super simple drumming thread.

Hope this helps,
Casper
 
Practicing new ideas doesn't mean it has to be complicated nor for soloing purposes only.

The trouble I am having is not using stuff that I have practiced by repetition.

For example I have practiced flams a lot but when playing i never seem to use many of the flam variations that i have practiced.

Is anyone else in the same position as me or should I really just not think about it?
 
It doesn't need to be complicated to be useful. The goal of drumming is to serve a song and to do that successfully, you don't have to be overly technical. Simple doesn't mean simplistic.

A lot can be achieved with single strokes played as 8th, tripltes and 16th, switching comfortably between speeds, adding accents and rests while maintaining a steady pulse. If you consider the possibilities, the applications are endless.

Another domain to work on are foot-hand combinations. Here also the possibilities are endless with a few techniques.

To answer your question, I have a clear schedual in mind of exercises I came up myself. I also learn by listening to what a song asks and then concentrating on developing the technique I miss. In other terms, I get my inspirations from a) analysing stuff and b) listening.
 
For example I have practiced flams a lot but when playing i never seem to use many of the flam variations that i have practiced.

Is anyone else in the same position as me or should I really just not think about it?

I totally identify with you on this. One might argue that being conscious about exactly what you doing is a great thing. Less developed players like myself sometimes go on autopilot - check out some of your gig recordings and see how many patterns you repeat - I was horrified the first time I really paid attention to this but it helps me to express new ideas and get out of a rut.

Same here on flams. One thing I have done is create set fills that include flams for different grooves and consciously make those happen when playing. I am not advanced enough or musically mature enough for them to spontaneously occur while playing. Right now, I HAVE TO make it happen. Perhaps that's where you are as well?

Hope this helps, let us know how it goes and what works for you.

Jiva
 
Practicing new ideas doesn't mean it has to be complicated nor for soloing purposes only.

The trouble I am having is not using stuff that I have practiced by repetition.

For example I have practiced flams a lot but when playing i never seem to use many of the flam variations that i have practiced.

Is anyone else in the same position as me or should I really just not think about it?

Hi Jivi.

I think this is a really interesting question, how do we get the stuff from our practice into our playing?

After many years of playing I slowly ended up with a different take on what a practice session should be and I’ve ended up with an idea much like John Riley's from what I can gather. I look at my practice sessions as the time to build attributes which will allow me to express myself in a musical manner.

For example; like you I spent many hours working on flam variations, but I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I actually played any of those actual stickings. What did happen was I became very proficient at placing a flam at any point in whatever sticking pattern I happen to be playing. As a result you end up improvising flam stickings appropriate to the music without being tied to any set pattern. The sticking becomes an expression of you and how you as a musician are interacting with the music at that particular moment.

I’ve grown to adopt this approach with all areas of my drumming development and it pay good dividends, though it is definitely a long time endeavour.
 
I learn a lot of patterns, grooves, techniques and such which I do fine when playing just those by themselves but I find that I barely use the majority of what I have learned in my playing.

that's a tough one. i'm always learning new things too, but it's hard to remember to play them when i'm with my band or playing along to a recording. i have to make a deliberate effort to insert those things into my playing. for example, i'll say to myself "i'm going to play that new fill after the second chorus of song xxx". sometimes those new things will become part of my spontaneous vocabulary and sometimes they won't.
 
Practicing new ideas doesn't mean it has to be complicated nor for soloing purposes only.

The trouble I am having is not using stuff that I have practiced by repetition.

For example I have practiced flams a lot but when playing i never seem to use many of the flam variations that i have practiced.

Is anyone else in the same position as me or should I really just not think about it?

Flams, and "flam variations", are not simple by any means, so it will take time. My advice is to get it as close to the musical application as you can. So, when practicing your flams, ask yourself in what groove or fill it could be useful. Then play those ideas, on the kit, like you imagine you would be with your band. You can also use playalongs for this.

I spend a lot, a lot of time just playing the ride with relatively simple syncopation material (John Riley). But I also open up my hands and feet to new possibilities using challenging material that, while not complicated, is just hard to play....like, for example, Riley's "Finding the Groove" in the Jazz Drummer's Workshop. Three beat phrases that you play in 4/4. So I go for a combination of techniques that I play every time I jam, and techniques I don't precisely know when I will use, but that take my ears further.

Casper
 
Here's an easy way to incorporate your flam variations into your music. When the song gets counted in, you could use those flam rudiments as your "pick up" notes. That way, because you're the only one playing the pick up notes, it should work fine....
 
In John Riley's DVD, he talks about "headroom". Basically, you should be able to play more complicated stuff and faster than what is actually required of you at a gig. If you need to play a song at 200bpm, and 200bpm is the fastest you can possibly play, you're going to wear yourself out and not play as smoothly/comfortably as you can. If you could play at 250bpm, on the other hand, 200 bpm would probably be a walk in the park, and you could focus more on groove and creativity and less on trying to constantly keep up.

I think the same applies in your situation. Just because you don't play a bunch of amazing grooves or licks that you've been shedding in the practice room at your gigs doesn't mean that they don't matter. On the contrary, they are what make you more comfortable playing the easier stuff with a much better feel. And, if you DO get to whip them out once in a while, then great!

The problem arises when drummers actually start bringing their "practice room chops" into a live performance situation when it's not the best thing for the song...then, it's just over-playing and it sounds bad. If you want more audience members to like you, and more professional bands/musicians to take notice of you, then focus on playing what's appropriate for the song, and get over any sense of "Sheesh! I wish I could show off a bit while I'm up here." or "I want people to see what I can REALLY do!" Those feelings will either cause you to overplay or start feeling resentful of the music/musicians, and those are both roads you want to avoid going down.
 
Flams in themselves are very versatile and I find them essential. My advice for incorporating them into your playing is to start really simple and use the flam as a different kind of accent on the snare in a fill. Just see it as a different voice on the kit. Then I would say start learning to play flam rudiments so that again you just see the flam as another voice. Finally, take on something like Crazy Army (there's a pdf of it on google), but make sure you start slowly because it is tough. Once you get into playing that the flam will be a natural part of your vocabulary and you'll then want to express yourself using it because it will be a new way to do so. Hope that helps.
 
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