We’ve all dealt with nervousness and anxiety at some point in our lives. Thinking back to my childhood, I know I can name a whole bunch of piano recitals, plays, public speaking scenarios, and more when I remember that paralyzing fear. I know you can relate, so I won’t waste time listing off more examples. Whether your most anxious moments in life were music related, school related, or work related, you know what I’m talking about.

Today, however, I’d like to address the fear and anxiety often associated with performing on an instrument. You’re getting ready for the performance, and you know you’ve prepared well. But you can’t get rid of that nervous feeling deep down inside where a little bit of fear dwells. This is the “what if I mess up and can’t recover?” kind of fear. This is the “what if I don’t sound good and nobody likes my playing?” kind of fear. “What if I play the...

Something happened on a gig one time that was so outrageous and so shocking that it’s hard to believe it really happened. Looking back six years later, I’ve never had another experience like this. It ended up being a small taste of stardom...

I played in jazz band in college. We played a lot of standards, but we would also learn more challenging, "North Texas" kinds of tunes as well. Occasionally, we'd take our show on the road to a local school or corporate event. This particular spring morning we found ourselves playing a concert at a local middle school. We were actually playing two middle schools that day. The first was an 8:30am show, and the second was a 2pm show just down the road.

We loaded in our gear and set up in the center of the first school's gym, while the kids began filling the bleachers. This early morning hour felt way too early for playing music, but we sound checked anyway and were ready to go.

The "opening act" for the morning was actually a men's a...

A really odd (and funny) occurrence at a gig caused me to play better and enjoy the music at a deeper level. What started out as a potentially huge technical problem ended up being... I’ll tell the story:

At this particular gig I was playing drums in a total enclosure. Picture an aquarium, terrarium, or any kind of airtight glass container you can think of that’s large enough to house a drum set and a drummer. This enclosure did it’s job VERY well. With the doors closed, sound could barely come in or out. Neither could oxygen, but that’s another story.

In case you didn’t guess based on the “caged-drums,” this takes place at a church. :) We kicked things off on this particular Sunday with the first song, which went pretty well. After the opening song, someone came up to give announcements. As I double-checked the next song on my Ableton Session on my laptop to my left, I was startled by a tap on my shoulder. It’s amazing...

I was on a gig not too long ago that I was super nervous about. I had reason to be worried, because I hadn’t played this type of gig in over 2 years. I felt like I was stepping into a different world, one where I was sure I’d loose my footing and fall flat on my face. First a little bit of backstory…

I majored in Percussion Performance in college. That degree entails all the usual music classes, with lots of lessons and ensemble performances on top of that. Throughout the 4 years I was in school, I performed on non-drumset percussion instruments who knows how many times. I played percussion with the wind ensemble, orchestra, brass ensemble, choir, musical theater, percussion ensemble, plus additional recitals and random concerts (and I’m probably leaving something out). I was blessed with LOADS of performance time during college, which was great because of the learning environment of a college music school. It’s essentially a “safe...

End of high school / beginning of college was when I first had the opportunity to start playing with professional musicians. This was an exciting leap for me, and I just knew I was going to meet someone who would connect me with such-and-such producer who would hook me up with so-and-so artist’s fall tour and I’d make it big. It’s cool to think back on that time, when it seemed like the future could hold ANYTHING. Well, here I am years later and I’ve never landed a major tour. What I’m doing now wasn’t my dream then, but I am “doing music” for a living now - even though it doesn’t look the way I thought it would.

Most of my work fits the bill for “non glamorous” drumming, which has allowed me to really live out something big that one of those pros told me early on…

We had just finished playing a set on this particular gig, and I was eager to ask the bass player for some advice and hopefully get a feel for...

When I was in high school, I played a battle of the bands at a friend’s school. What never occurred to me until the middle of the show was that I had forgotten the most essential piece of gear that a drummer could have. Not the snare, not the bass drum pedal...not even the cymbals. More important than that.

We loaded in that Friday night, hauling in the black and gold Gretsch drumset from the church where my friend and I both played. This was a pretty nice kit, and though more suited for jazz, it held up just fine for Sunday mornings (and the occasional battle of the bands at a nearby high school). In addition to the sleek drumset, we had a whole stack of the ZBT “rock” cymbals ready to go. I could always count on those cymbals to make enough noise. But as a precaution, we also borrowed the large, folding drum shield from the church as well. Hopefully that would win the battle with the ZBT rocks.

Myself, my friend (who played bass in the high school worship...

In my 12 years of playing the drums, I’ve had to work on a lot of things. Whether it was technique, coordination, timing, or any of those essential basics, I’ve had to do lots of practicing.

But when I started to go beyond those things and ask questions like “what’s the key to recording well?” or “what’s the key to playing the right parts?”, simply practicing was no longer the answer. This is where some additional strategies had to come into play...

The thing that helped me grow the most musically as a drummer was hearing recordings of myself playing with a band. The first time I ever heard such a recording of myself, I instantly knew everything I was doing wrong. I was hearing sections in a song where I knew that groove wasn’t quite right, that fill wasn’t the best fill, and I shouldn’t have gone to open hats at that spot in the song yet. More importantly, I was hearing what I sounded like in...

A few years ago I played a gig that reminded me of the importance of listening.

This scenario really solidified for me the fact that you CAN survive a night of songs you’ve never heard…as long as you use your ears. Even if you haven’t had the chance to practice, rehearse, or even meet the guys you’re playing with, you CAN hang in there and nail the songs when you focus all your attention on listening.

I’d had this gig on my calendar for a month or so, and I knew ahead of time I was subbing for a drummer in a local blues band. The band leader attempted to schedule several rehearsals leading up to the gig, but nothing ever worked out with everyone’s schedule. I knew we’d be playing for 4 hours late Friday night, so there’d have to be at least 50 songs on the setlist. Most of them would probably be pretty typical 12-bar blues, but who knew if there might be breaks or key spots in the songs I’d have no idea...

One of the funnest things to do as a drummer (regardless of what level you’re at) is to play along to a great record. Putting on your favorite song and jamming out is so cool, and that’s how pretty much every drummer gets started learning the drums. This is also a great way to stay musically motivated and inspired as your grow and develop as a player.

But a lot of times there’s a challenge associated with this task: What do you do when it’s hard to hear exactly what the drummer on the recording is playing? It can quickly become frustrating when you’re trying to play along…but you’re realizing your parts are never lining up with his parts. This is where learning a song can suddenly become exasperating. How do we get around this? Here are my “song-learning” steps that I think will help…

1. Before you ever actually play along with the recording, listen to the song a few times. Familiarize...