What's the worst drumming advice you've ever received?

PorkPieGuy

Platinum Member
I think I was maybe 8 years old, and I was in a local music store drooling over a drum set. I don't remember what color it was, but it had a sparkle wrap on it. A drummer who was older than me said, "NEVER buy a sparkle drum set. You'll get tired of the finish." I love sparkle finishes just as much now as I did then.

What's the worst drumming advice you've ever gotten? Keep this anonymous and nice! :)
 
Right?! Here we are still, though, surviving! (I hope!)
Not with a career in music, and just barely surviving, at that!

Worst advice? From a guidance councilor - You can't make a living from music. So, aside from music, what do you want to do?"

That started a dichotomy within me, where I began to believe the things I was passionate about and liked doing didn't have value. I think it's why I never DID make a living with music. I never believed it was possible. "Rock stars" were just lucky. Everyone else works at the Chevy plant.
 
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Worst and best advice when I said repeatedly that I wanted to be a drummer was being told, 'Don't play drums. Here's a guitar. Play that instead.' But I couldn't play it.
 
Not with a career in music, and just barely, at that!

Worst advice? From a guidance councilor - You can't make a living from music. So, aside from music, what do you want to do?"

That started a dichotomy within me, where I began to believe the things I was passionate about and liked doing didn't have value. I think it's why I never DID make a living with music. I never believed it was possible. "Rock stars" were just lucky. Everyone else works at the Chevy plant.
Yep, bang on. I spend most of my career now trying to re-convince myself that my work does have value.
 
I think I was maybe 8 years old, and I was in a local music store drooling over a drum set. I don't remember what color it was, but it had a sparkle wrap on it. A drummer who was older than me said, "NEVER buy a sparkle drum set. You'll get tired of the finish." I love sparkle finishes just as much now as I did then.

What's the worst drumming advice you've ever gotten? Keep this anonymous and nice! :)
Ha! I think the worst advice is that 1x a week practice with the band. Once upon a time 3x was the norm
 
"Less is more", when talking about gear... I can agree to a certain extent when talking about actual playing, but it depends on what style of music you are persuing. So as a continuation of that, "You don't need anything more than a 4 piece" is also another classic.

"Don't bother learning double bass, it is just annoying and takes away from other things to focus on with your drumming". Sure. For everyone but those who want to play music with a good amount of double bass, it might be a good advice.
 
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Ha! I think the worst advice is that 1x a week practice with the band. Once upon a time 3x was the norm
For a live performing band, it depends on how many times you play in a week or month. Poorer musicians or more uptight people might want a practice between shows. We're doing 3 shows this week.

It would have to be one kickA project to warrant 3x/wk practice. If it's a 1 off event even with multiple performances then 3 practices prior to the first show is good for good musicians.
 
Really, any broad/sweeping statements that involve infinitives or exaggerations. The art of drumming is a matter of opinion—a personal opinion, that each of us hold. We all have them, but for somebody to profess that THEIR opinion is correct while all others are incorrect, is just plain dumb.

So, with that said, any advice I’ve gotten, that wasn’t followed up with a sound reason to justify it, was bad advice. My concern is more for the person who gives bad advice, and those who blindly follow said bad advice without questioning it.
 
Rock your left foot to get 2&4 going on the hi hat. I know a lot of people do it, but it took me quite a while to break that habit when working on more advanced left foot independence.

One other… at one point my drum instructor told me that I knew what there was to know and he didn’t know what else to teach me. 🙄 Aside from learning being a lifetime endeavor, I knew almost nothing at that point in time.
 
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