"Do As I Say, Not As I Do"

[chris perra]

i would take those comments and compare them to something within sports. if you are a hockey player, and you need to play a game. you need to get from one end of the ice to another.

if you "focus first" on making crazy tight turns, fakes, spins and every move you have or can attempt all the way down to the end. but, you don't have the skills to pull it off, you are useless to the team and are completly ineffective as a player.

your job is to get to the other side first......... once you have that skill down,.. add other skills one by one.

but, point A to point B is the most important thing. then as you abilities increase you can add the more technical aspects.

the other thing is that in a clinic situation most drummers want to stand out from the normal everyday drummer.

most people that go check out a clinic want to have there socks blown off either with smokin chops or screwing with the time.

if you went and saw jojo or antonio and their playing was the same as thier advice most people would be dissapointed to a degree.

they would be considered somewhat "average".
so they have to pull out all the stops with their playing to stand apart.


chris perra

[Vdrummer]

Many good points already made, but it also strikes me that most of the comments well known drummers make in clinics are directed towards the average level drummers in attendance. One mistake many drummers make is to try to play above their actual skill level, and as a result tend to sound unmusical. It may not be what they do, but it's still good general advice that works for most musical situations.

[davfrancis]

On Thomas Lang's DVD and in a MD "Ask a Pro" he said that he gets his foot in the optimum position and then leaves it there and doesn't move it from side to side/up the footplate.

Yet I have seen with my own eyes his little ruby slippers bouncing around all over the place.

Still my foot technique is a big cup of ass so who am I to criticise?