beatdat
Senior Member
I recently had a bit of a breakthrough in my playing. For the past year and a half, I've been practicing diligently at home. Several months ago, I realized that, no matter how much I practiced leading with my non-dominant hand, it still wasn't catching up to my dominant hand, or even really improving for that matter. So, a few months ago, a bought Tommy Igoe's Great Hand For A Lifetime, and have been working through it, primarily focusing on the Rebounds and Accents section. Unfortunately, this magnified the differences between my hands. I then bought Dom Famularo's The Weaker Side, and started each practice session by playing through the 1st page for 1/2 an hour. And, last week, it happened... I finally felt my non-dominant hand loosen up; you know the feeling, where, when playing, the stick is light in your hand, makes a clear and full sound on the pad, and feels like it is softly vibrating in you hand. It was, for me, a bit of a breakthrough, and I'm glad I put in the time to get to that point. My non-dominant hand is not entirely consistent, yet, but at least I know that it's getting there.
As far as goals go, a few months ago I finished working through Alan Keown's Mastering The Rudiments in 28 Weeks. While I certainly haven't "mastered" (any of) them, I at least now have a working knowledge of the 40 PAS rudiments.
I then decided to think about my short, mid and long term goals. My short term goal, which I'm working on with an old friend who has started teaching me again, is pulling the sound out of the drums. We first worked on hi-hat and crashes, then the snare drum. Those were fairly easy. Next we'll be working on toms (I think that may need a bit of work). Fortunately, he doesn't see much issue with my bass drum playing. For mid-term goals, I'd like to be able to play Igoe's Lifetime Warmup at the Basic Level within a year. For long-term goals it's playing the Musical Exercises in Mastering The Rudiments at tempo, playing the Lifetime Warmup at the Advanced Level and having a bass drum as fast as Bonham's - lofty perhaps, be we gotta aim big, no?
As far as milestones go, though, I can't say I've really achieved any... or thought about them for that matter, just that I thought it would help make for a good thread title.
How about you guys and gals? Any recent breakthroughs? Are you achieving your goals? What are they? Have you reached any milestones lately? Let us know.
As far as goals go, a few months ago I finished working through Alan Keown's Mastering The Rudiments in 28 Weeks. While I certainly haven't "mastered" (any of) them, I at least now have a working knowledge of the 40 PAS rudiments.
I then decided to think about my short, mid and long term goals. My short term goal, which I'm working on with an old friend who has started teaching me again, is pulling the sound out of the drums. We first worked on hi-hat and crashes, then the snare drum. Those were fairly easy. Next we'll be working on toms (I think that may need a bit of work). Fortunately, he doesn't see much issue with my bass drum playing. For mid-term goals, I'd like to be able to play Igoe's Lifetime Warmup at the Basic Level within a year. For long-term goals it's playing the Musical Exercises in Mastering The Rudiments at tempo, playing the Lifetime Warmup at the Advanced Level and having a bass drum as fast as Bonham's - lofty perhaps, be we gotta aim big, no?
As far as milestones go, though, I can't say I've really achieved any... or thought about them for that matter, just that I thought it would help make for a good thread title.
How about you guys and gals? Any recent breakthroughs? Are you achieving your goals? What are they? Have you reached any milestones lately? Let us know.