How do you practice for so long?

[Kurt R]

I hear how Tony Williams would practice for 8 hours a day for years straight. I don't think I have ever been on the kit for more then 45min straight. I just get bored for some reason. When I set the nome and play (I've been running through my vic virth beat sheet the last week) I'll just end up on my computer in 30min. Then I'l go back and do that maybe again. Thats about all I can do in a day. I've always wanted to practice all day but I just cant. I think the only thing a can do for more then an hour is watch a movie. When on the computer I always change what I'm doing so I could be on it all day. What are some ideas to get me to play for long durations?

[PocketPlayer]

Thanks for the honesty!

What helped me (age here seems important--all the heavy hour practice is usually for younger guys getting their stuff together) is defining certain goals;

1. Wanting to groove better
2. Wanting to play specific styles?8th note rock grooves, 16th note, shuffles, ? time shuffles, triplet grooves, jazz shuffles, ect.
3. Wanting a free flow around the kit with singles, doubles, triplets, paradiddles, ect.
4. Wanting independence
5. Make CD?s or tapes?I have tapes of 8th note grooves, 16th note, triplet, ect, --90 minutes for each.
6. Metronome activity--free form improvisation--just let ideas happen without editing.

You get the idea?

Now, find songs that will enable this and make a CD you can either warm-up to or practice to. Taking lessons will kick your tom-toms as well. You will have accountability on a weekly basis.

I guess ultimately, it come from within?DESIRE to play a certain way, never being settled with your own development. What has helped me really get out of a funk is creating a vision. You were honest, now I?ll be?The vision that really motivates me is having family members or certain people I respect or work with in the audience of a Live show. I can almost see them in the audience and to be able to entertain them with great music turns into energy for me. I then play to some of my favorite recorded music over 45 minutes, one song back to back.

[Daniel LeClaire]

I think this is something that many players struggle with, I know I certainly do! You always hear about guys that practice 8 hours everyday. I think they are more the exception rather than the rule. The truth is practice is hard work, and many times it isn't very fun. The fun part is playing music!

I've found what has helped me the most is setting up a practice schedule. Give yourself realistic goals. My current schedule is 4 hours a day, which I think is plenty of time, but I alternate days between drums and electric bass.

Bottom line, everyone is different so don't stress about what all the other cats are doing. Set up some reachable goals and you'll find you'll start progressing. That's the most important part, to progress, not how many hours you spend in the practice shed.

[dsleethkeppler]

one explanation comes from psychology: people high in cognitive self-complexity have several diverse aspects to their self concept, for example they have many different interests. the person low in cognitive complexity has few or only one aspect that essentially defines them. each end of this personality dimension is associated with different pros and cons. the high self-complexity person has many interest, but achieves less in any given domain, whereas the low self-complexity person typically excels much more than the high complexity person in the one domain that interests them. the downside of low self-complexity is that if you fail in the one domain that defines you, you might become depressed, whereas the high self-complexity person does not have all eggs in one basket and can buffer themselves against depression by switching to a different domain.

how does this relate to practicing? you need to be low in self-complexity and only define yourself through drumming, to be able to practice 8 hours a day.

that's one view on this.

the other is adult attention deficit disorder [img]wink.gif[/img]

DrummerDav

[Suspiria]

Another important factor to consider is why you actually play drums. Someone that is taking regular lessons will ideally feel pressure to practice a lot and learn the material given to him/her by the teacher or also to impress him. Then theres others that play in a band who need to learn certain songs/drum parts to be confident for an upcoming gig.

Now someone that takes no lessons and does not have occasions where his/her skills are displayed will probably not have as much drive to practice a lot and improve.

[John Blackburn]

Hi guys, great topic.
I went through a period of about two and half years when i found myself spending large numbers of hours in the drumshed. Its just what i wanted to do at the time. Now im not able to put in quite as much, but i dont put in nearly as much! But i do find through visualising and really concentrating that im now making more progress than when i was doing like 6 to 9 hour days. I dont think the time (as in amount of hours per day) is important, the numbers dont really mean anything.
(Obviously if your really focussed for two hours, your going to achieve more than in one hour)

I think everyone goes through phases, and i believe that unless your inherantly lazy, which im sure your not, you should just "trust in the process". Set yourself a goal for your playing,if you dont have one, something really exciting, and use visualisation to keep the goal at the front of your mind, your bound to put the "work" in.

Well, thats my (quite long - sorry) 2 cents.

[matricks]

Vision and goals are key.
If my vision and goal was to be as good as Virgil... well, i think i would be let down alot.
Two reasons:
1) I don't think i have the time left in my schedule to put forth the effort he has.
2) If i did have the time, i don't think i would be happy with that because it isn't the type of player that gets ME going... i have a different vision of my 'perfect' self. Some Virgil in there but certainly other things.
3) Oh, and a bonus number for all y'all! If i was to spend the next 20,000 hours, shedding to get chops like Virgil... i wouldn't be in the scene cause i would be in my basement... i would have missed the game cause i was too busy in the bullpen. I would come out one day (10 years down the road) and not be able to relate to anything.
Put balance in that vision. I have a goal and my road, that i have chose, fits with where i want to be.
Example: To be like Virgil, i would have to have a certain mindset (that i don't even know if i possess anyway). I don't know if i could practice like he does, be in that mindset, then get out and gig on something that is very different than the paradigm i have created for myself... it would carry over too much, i think i would be too high-strung and wigged out to be personable and play music that is less than perfect.
When i get in a funk, i have to see my goals again, and remind myself how to get myself to those goals... and do it in a way that is productive, but i am not killing myself, and my inspiration, to do so.
Right now, i could practice my ass off at basketball or football to get into the pros, but guess what?! I am TOO OLD to succeed in them! No matter how bad i wanted it, it couldn't stay inspired following something that i know isn't there. I would have to be delusional. However, if my goals were realistic, like being the best on a local adult league team, then i would be inspired because what i am aiming for is in my sight.
Now i am NOT saying don't follow dreams, i am just saying keep a balance between dreams and reality. Don't waste your passion something if there is a different version of that success that you can acheive.
Balance is the key word. Set your sight on many different things you enjoy, as far as many different drummers, music, whatnot... have all of that there but also ask yourself what kind of drummer you CAN be and use all those other things as spices in the pot.
What i am saying is find out what you want to do with the drums, what kind of drummer you want to be. Ask yourself what do you think you could do if you really put yourself into something... if you had 25 hours in your day. Where do you want to be as a musician in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years. Go out see shows, get 'into' it.
Just thinking of sitting down for 6 hours don't get me too pumped. However, when i think of what i want to be, and how i COULD be that player that i see myself as, THEN i can do it all day.
No one just loves sitting on the set and kicking their ass all day... they love how everyday they get those little goals checked off the list and move closer to the big goals on that bigger list.
Think of a realistic goal, think of many little goals that lie on the way to the bigger one. Take that big goal, then add 20% to it... think farther than what you think you can do. Everytime you get closer... congratulate yourself, but then push that goal ahead even father... keep that carrot at the end of the stick.
Working out isn't fun if you just think of,
"Ok, that is a big weight... now i am gonna move it... ok, 24 more reps... ok, wow, 8 more whole entire sets left... this is tiring... look at all these weights... why i am doing this..."
... Hell NO! That ain't how it is.
You do it cause you know you get buff from movin' that iron. You know when you get on it for an hour, and do it for a month, you are different for the better.
Drums are the same... look down the road, see a vision of your drumming and how it's gonna look like you've been hitting the reps on the drumset.
Lifting weights and sheddin' chops are only fun cause you know you get to flex a little at the end [img]wink.gif[/img]

[Kurt R]

Thanks everybody for the ideas. I will give them a try and see if they work. Steve should really save and put the good topics on the site instead of them just fading away..!

I was thinking about taking lessons at a drum shop in orlando but it's a real hour drive over then 20 bucks per 30min their. The instructors seem to be pretty good. http://www.drumstogo.com/D2GInstructors.html I know roy posts here sometimes. I just gotta see if it's worth it.

[Groovissimo]

I am told that guys like Virgil practice 8 hour a day ! I guess that it does it for Virgil. But, it would seem to me that getting out of the practice room once in a while, and trying to live a little and enjoy other things like sports, taking in a good film, driving in the country, would be welcome ! Then , when you get back to the kit, your head is clear, and ready to take on new challenges when it comes to playing new rhythms, etc.

And I'm not sure about setting a goal of wanting to practice 8 hours a day ! Better off practicing less hours but a much more focused practice period on things we have problems with. There are so many books and DVD/Videos out there to choose from. And, of course, great teachers !

What's good for one drummer is not necessary good for the other. Some drummers find it easy to learn new things. But, if you are not one of them, take it easy...
the main thing is that you ARE a drummer and sitting behind the kit is a dream for many people out there.

Just enjoy being behind the kit !

[XNavyDrummer]

Interesting posts!

You really do need to ask; what are my goals and what do I need in terms of time and materials to accomplish my goals. Thomas Lang touches on this, where he estimates the amount of practice time needed to master a certain technique.

A friend of mine in the Navy had the fastest chops that I had every seen. He showed me his intensive training program that took 8 hours a day to go through. It definitely paid off in some very impressive results.

One student at the US Navy School of Music literally practiced 40 hours a week. (I saw his practice log maintained by the staff.) A very impressive amount of work, however, he was on his way to fail the program. Even with all of that time spent, he wasn't making the progress that he needed to make.

It's not just the time....it's what you do with it!