I have always had a love/hate relationship with technique even though I had a considerable amount of technical ability when I was younger. I had what many would consider "classical" training from my first teacher who was an orchestral percussionist. The technique I learned from him did stand me in good stead. I got into All State bands and was recognized for my ability but I had a lot of problems when I played drum set.
To this day, my eyes glaze over when I think about Stick Control, the Moeller method or the physics of a stroke. Drummers are still being taught the same arcane Civil War system of rudiments and the dead language that goes along with it. Do you think a bandleader knows or cares what a paradiddle is.
Stravinsky said "Technique is the whole man" and thats the truth. I could play the snare drum parts for Love For Three Oranges or Scheherazade with ease yet I could not get into a local rock band to save my life. Why? Because I was never taught to use my feet and coordinated independence wasn't discussed.
Enter Larry Rosen who was the teacher that got me playing the entire set. I was 14 years old and Larry helped me find the other half of my chops by emphasizing the integrated technique and musicianship necessary to becoming a proficient drummer.
Larry also freed me from the tyranny of the practice pad. I could play on the drums and get a true sense of what kind of sound I was making. I learned to hear all of the set and the tones between the different drums. That was when I began to progress.
Teaching drums on a practice pad is patently absurd and it hurts more students than it helps. Does a piano teacher mute a piano for the student ? Seating a drummer behind a practice pad deprives the student of hearing the sound and it creates a false impression of what that person sounds like.
What should be emphasized is integrated practice that has a musical frame of reference. What I'm discussing is a version of english grammar: learn a word then use it in a sentence. Its a slower method but more efficient. Drum technique should be all of you and always practiced as a means to a musical end.
The Groove Continues And Merry Christmas...
To this day, my eyes glaze over when I think about Stick Control, the Moeller method or the physics of a stroke. Drummers are still being taught the same arcane Civil War system of rudiments and the dead language that goes along with it. Do you think a bandleader knows or cares what a paradiddle is.
Stravinsky said "Technique is the whole man" and thats the truth. I could play the snare drum parts for Love For Three Oranges or Scheherazade with ease yet I could not get into a local rock band to save my life. Why? Because I was never taught to use my feet and coordinated independence wasn't discussed.
Enter Larry Rosen who was the teacher that got me playing the entire set. I was 14 years old and Larry helped me find the other half of my chops by emphasizing the integrated technique and musicianship necessary to becoming a proficient drummer.
Larry also freed me from the tyranny of the practice pad. I could play on the drums and get a true sense of what kind of sound I was making. I learned to hear all of the set and the tones between the different drums. That was when I began to progress.
Teaching drums on a practice pad is patently absurd and it hurts more students than it helps. Does a piano teacher mute a piano for the student ? Seating a drummer behind a practice pad deprives the student of hearing the sound and it creates a false impression of what that person sounds like.
What should be emphasized is integrated practice that has a musical frame of reference. What I'm discussing is a version of english grammar: learn a word then use it in a sentence. Its a slower method but more efficient. Drum technique should be all of you and always practiced as a means to a musical end.
The Groove Continues And Merry Christmas...
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