When you’re feeling burned out on the drums…
A little over a year ago, I added an email topic idea to my list. It was called “get outside your own head and get inspired!” - all about hanging out with other musicians and receiving new ideas and inspiration from them.
I had that idea after I met up with two of the best musicians I know over coffee one morning. I was in the midst of working on a bunch of Non Glamorous Drummer content at that time, and I was feeling a bit musically bored. I needed some direction and some goals to set for the year, but I didn’t really know where to start or what to focus on.
At that coffee hang, the three of us nerded out on music and our favorite records, and we literally just sat there talking about music for an hour. I didn’t receive any particular enlightenment at all, but something about just being around the energy of other musicians helped to revitalize my motivation. I went home excited to practice, excited to record some new ideas, and excited to add new youtube video topics to the list.
Later it occurred to me that the reason I suddenly received that new inspiration wasn’t because I sat there by myself thinking and brainstorming ways to get motivated. It was because I got outside my own head - my own world - and spent some time hanging out with friends who were great musicians.
So I had planned to write a nice email about all this a year ago, and for some reason the topic was pushed aside by some gig stories. It’s funny to come back to this now, because many of us are still in the awkward position where we don’t know if we can or are supposed to get out and hang out with folks again. Depending on where you live, you may still be under a level of “social distancing” orders that prevent you from hanging out with friends at your favorite coffee shop.
Wherever you are and however you feel about the needed level of social distancing caution right now… there are some other ways you CAN “get outside your own head and get inspired.” That’s what I’d like to share with you today.
These are some of the best resources I’ve found to provide endless inspiration and solid education from great drummers, and I hope you’ll take advantage of these right where you are in your own home.
Listen to podcasts! There’s no better way to listen in on great conversations between great musicians than to find a great interview to listen to. You literally feel like you’re having coffee with a friend… who happens to be Hal Blaine or Kenny Aronoff. Check out the drummers’ podcast, I’d Hit That. There are tons of great episodes that are technically “interviews.” However, they’re really just recordings of two guys hanging out and chatting about random things (sometimes music related) for anywhere between one and three hours. Give that podcast a listen, because it’s a great way to get outside your own head and get inspired and motivated!
Here’s another podcast… This one’s put on by a couple of Atlanta drummers right here where I live. These guys are fantastic players and fantastic guys, and their podcast, the Drummer’s Weekly Groovecast, is always super informative and inspiring. You’ll learn a ton just listening to a few episodes, so check it out.
Those two resources alone will provide you weeks and months of listening, and you can do all that right from your phone wherever you are. Now of course, there’s one more great inspiration tool that you can probably guess I’m about to say…
Spotify. Or Apple Music. Google Play. Wherever you stream your music! We have limitless music at our fingertips these days. You don’t even have to pay and download an album to listen to it. Everything is readily available for easy access, and you barely even need an internet connection to do it. Go listen to your favorite bands & artists, and look up the records on Allmusic. Find out who played on them, and nerd out on other records those studio musicians played on. I love finding a great record, looking up who played drums on it, then finding that there’s another favorite record that happened to have the same drummer on it. This can be a really fun game, and this will get you hugely inspired when you find that favorite drummer who you didn’t even know existed before you looked up that favorite album.
You may be a total beginner. You may be a seasoned pro. I know that you guys who receive my emails represent every level of drumming and every walk of life and all 7 continents (well maybe not Antarctica - but shoot me a message if you are camped out down there!). Regardless of your drumming level, get inspired by the best musicians out there. Get inspired by your favorite music and the musicians who play and record it. Get out of your own head and get excited about music. If you’re trying to figure out how to practice more, this is the answer. If you’re trying to figure out how to bring back the high-schooler-drumming-passion, this is the answer. Then you won’t have a problem working on your single strokes & doubles and working on your time and groove feel. You’ll be pretty well-driven to do that.
I hope this email finds you healthy and well and ready to get pumped about the drums and music! Btw, if you missed this past Friday’s video about how to read & write drumming notation, do check it out. Notation is simpler and easier than you might think, and you can totally do it.
Stay Non Glamorous!
God Bless,
Stephen
