Time Management

[S.P]

Thanks for that Louie! I'm glad to hear from a personal experience such as yours that it is not necessary to practice ages everyday to become insanely good, you've done damn well at 3-4 hours a day!!!! Still thats pretty tough, i mean i find staying focused for my 2 hour session pretty hard, always wanna go off track and just let ideas come out, but most of the time i manage to control it! Thanks for the personal exp. Louie! your a killer player!

[likedachuch]

s.p. - it seems like you'll do well in whatever endeavors. you seem like a fairly younger guy compared to myself yet i'm impressed with your use of "administrative skills" [img]smile.gif[/img] .

the key word to my life is 'balance' and i feel you'll live a happier / fulfilling life achieving that balance.

i wouldn't get too hard on yourself. i'm sure once school's done, there will be more time to practice should you want to continue pursuing drumming on a pro level.

just wanted to throw out some props. good luck!

[PocketPlayer]

the key word to my life is 'balance' and i feel you'll live a happier / fulfilling life achieving that balance.

Agreed, but not during the college years! This is the time to SHED like a beast and use the time you have. Like drumgod1 said, life will pile responsibilities your way after the college years, so take advantage here. You will NEVER be 18-24 again. These are the years where some of our most important life decisions come from.

Plus, we?re not talking about going to junior college to get a two year degree to be a X-Ray Tech?this dream can afford a lot of party and friends. We?re talking about making a living in one of the most competitive and skilled career paths?playing music professionally. That takes a commitment & focus like few career paths.

Louie has to be the expert here. As I understand it, he has established a strong command on the instrument at a very young age. If I was 17, I would pick his brain until he blocked my email account!
* What was his practice schedule as a kid (junior high/ high school years)?
* What community has he developed that meets social needs?
* How does he deal with disappointment?

Then there is what I call core intelligence. If Louie is established at a young age, he must be pretty smart. He doesn?t seem to just be a band rocker who can?t read. He is very literate musically. That just takes some brain power over time.

[Henry II]

Originally posted by S.P:
My time is divided up like this for a typical 2 hour practice

5 Minutes to warm up
20 minutes stick control
45 minutes reading
20 minutes practicing licks and exercises
30 Letting my ideas out, playing along to tracks etc

I could play after 6:30 (on a pad i mean), but i'm in school so h.w comes with that, plus exercising everyday (i try) so if i practiced longer i wouldn't be able to get do that too

Although next year i'm going to have many free periods which i will try and use to finish ALL h.w and also during lunch times so i can have all the time to practice!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">My advice to you would be to spend your two hour drumkit practice only doing things you can't do without the drumkit ie: playing along to music you're working on (to me that's number one because it includes the most important aspects of drumming - working on your pocket, timekeeping, musicianship, musical vocabulary, etc.), working on drumkit mobility and independence excercises, and working on any drumkit method books you like ie: "Future Sounds" hint, hint. [img]wink.gif[/img]

As for reading, unless you're talking about chart reading (ie: Bobby Gabriele's "Chart Reading Workbook for Drummers," hint, hint hint), I would do that after hours on pad. Stick control should also be practiced on a pad since you have limited kit time. JMHO. [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 27, 2005 07:54 PM: Message edited by: Henry II ]</font>

[Henry II]

Originally posted by Da Chuch:
s.p. - it seems like you'll do well in whatever endeavors. you seem like a fairly younger guy compared to myself yet i'm impressed with your use of "administrative skills" [img]smile.gif[/img] .

the key word to my life is 'balance' and i feel you'll live a happier / fulfilling life achieving that balance.

i wouldn't get too hard on yourself. i'm sure once school's done, there will be more time to practice should you want to continue pursuing drumming on a pro level.

just wanted to throw out some props. good luck!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">BALANCE! S.P. doesn't want balance, he wants to be a pro drummer, not some pathetic weekend warrior. That's gonna require complete devotion to his art at the exclusion of all other interests in life including sex, health, personal hygiene, and eating and breathing if that's what it takes, all so S.P. can die young and famous (notice I omitted rich). Who has time for all that nonesense when there's art to be achieved? [img]eek.gif[/img]

Balance! Humph! I got yer balance right here. [img]mad.gif[/img] (LMAO).

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 27, 2005 08:04 PM: Message edited by: Henry II ]</font>

[got_a_matchgrip]

...& with THESE responses we return to the glory days of HODhb, the first 2 or 3 yrs when I first joined...[no correlation, necessarily]... [img]wink.gif[/img]

Handling dissapointment [& rejection], AWA the psyche of handling the "world" of the pro muso... That is an entire topic of its own.

Forget the partying, man. It's not important, awa a waste of valuable time. I'm not necessarily saying do the Virgil thing to the complete exclusion of a social life [altho it seems to have worked for him in some OBVIOUS ways], but simply to watch the partying. Keep it reigned in. Or delete it completely.

When I was in HS, my friends used to bag on me for practicing instead of going out w them on Fri & Sat evenings when they wanted to, which was every d*mn wkend, & sometimes a night DURING the f'n wk. But tough toenails, i stuck to my guns. They'd get over it. But I wouldn't; if i didn't make some "sacrificial decisions for later-life." The partying I did do, i look back & say to myself, "i could've been doing something more productive." Plus, it can have the possibility / propensity of bringing with it the advent of bad habits that you may not become fully aware of until later, when it's a "bad time" to discover this. Not you in partic, just words of wisdom in general to anyone. [img]cool.gif[/img]

You should never feel [peer] pressure to feel like youre missing out on something if you turn down partying for something more constructive to your future endeavors. But if you must "party," keep it to one night on wkends as they said, & don't overdo it to where you have to sleep half the next day to recoup [aka: take it easy on the booze & stay COMPLETELY away from ANY of the "other sh**"]. Enjoy a steady sleep schedule regimen now b4 it gets to where you may not get the sleep you need because of life's demands.

Forget those that would tell you to "party hard now like youre gonna die tomorrow, because you're not gonna be young forever"...that's BS. You're setting yourself up now so that it will fall into place easier later. Most of those people have or will def find themselves smack-dab in the midddle of a mid-life crisis at some point, I'll wager. Other [& much worse] than the "normal" one [if i can say that] that happens to many, I mean. ;-)

You better hope Dazz doesn't get wind of this...he might let'cha have it pertaining to this... [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/grrr.gif[/img]

Remember: dedication, time-allocation / scheduling, & perserverance... [img]cool.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 27, 2005 08:24 PM: Message edited by: got_a_match_grip? ]</font>

[tnsolt]

sp i can only offer my experiences rather than advice because eventually at the end of the day u will need to do whats right for u.

i found that between work, girlfriend,school, and homework i had almost no time to practice when i was an undergrad.

however after i got my undergrad i worked 9 hrs a day (in a glue factory) practiced for 2 then went to the gym for another hour or so. mind u i had no social life, friends, or girlfriend whatsoever so ...

now i'm back in grad school (so i dont have to work in a factory)and do have time to practice even though im less motivated.

and this may sound weird to a guy in his late teens, but i would rather practice and focus on music than have a gf, but then again sometimes that takes its toll.

good luck

[GoMan]

Hey man... I have the same kinda problem,..

Well anyway i tried posting this earlier but my internet died so im reposting again... since then there have been new posts but i havnt really gone through the longer posts so if im saying the same thing as everyone else forgive me.

during last school year, I obiviously had school, then I worked, had to take care of my brothers and young sister and go to band rehearsals and such.... so I also had only like two hours to practice... but I have come up with a new system.

I usualy practice like 4 hours a day now on the kit. Either in 2 two hour chunks or just 1 4hour straight session. For these practices, I usualy just practice what I absolutely need a drumset for. Practicing grooves that I transcribed, latin drumming, syncopation and other coordination stuff, Virgil work outs and whatnot....

Then at night, after i cant practice any more due to the time, id just practice on a pad doing one page of stick control correctly, (20 reps per excresize) and 5 rudiments intensively.... this will go on from an hour to an hour and a half. So thats my thing... i just try to do whatever I dont really really need a kit for on a pad later. Stick excersizes.... figuring out snare pieces and stuff (ofcourse you should play snare pieces on a drum... but until you got it sorted out... you could probably do it on a pad). I also use the pad for left hand strengthening and practicing finger control, wrist and moeller technique and other things like snare patterns for latin drumming. This will help you fit in more practice time.

As for the whole friends thing... i think you need to sacrifice some... (although its pretty much an "easy for you to say" kinda thing cuz i pretty much dont have that many friends to hang out with that arent like music friends, and i certainly dont have a firl friend)... once a weekend if even that? I dunno.. whatever donsnt make you totaly crazy... but actually its easy for me cuz alot of the times i just rather practice drums than do anything else just because its pure pure fun for me.

As for waking up late... the worst for me was going to a big party, sleeping there at like 4 in the morning, getting up at like 7 for my drive home (1hr) and having to mow the lawn at like 9 in what was like the hottest day ever!! And i had a big hangover!!! (I QUIT DRINKING AFTER THAT!!... this will probably help if you are a drinker... esp a big one) ... also iwould have to come back form gigs at like 3 30 and wake up for early things the next morning so im sure you could do it!!

So heres my basic practice schedual just for your FYI.

30 mins on Virgil Donati excersizes.. but only the hands and the double strokes over the feet excersizes.

15 or so mins or double bass stuff like RLRLRLRLRRLLRRLLRLRRLRLL starting real slow and then building up til i cant do it COMFORTABLY

30 mins. New Breed (maybe more) ... jsut working systems perfelctly at slow tempos... once i cant do it perfect... i gotta slow it down...

30 mins or more on syncopation. Working one excersize from 60bpm to 180bpm...i use this for jazz coordination.

an hour or so on latin grooves... this usualy consists of sambas... with variations and practicing soloing over the foot ostinato, and learning and reviewing new grooves... icant play any of these authentically yet but am working on it, in my spare time i listen to percussion ensembles... right now i am working on songos and variations...

So that usualy takes me about 3 hours to get that done.

Next hour,i will play music. playing along to CDs, learning transcribed grooves, (right now Iam working on oakland stroke... but am pretty much giving up!haha! garibaldi kills!) I will also do things like play along to jazz CDs,memorize how many choruses a player takes a solo on, and then when hesdone, ill stop the CD, take a chorus (or two if its a 12 bar blues) and then as im coming in on the 1 again, start the CD back so its like I took a solo in the song. Also a lot of times ill just practice playing simple grooves but making them1) groove hard) and 2) not making a single mistake... as if Im doing a session and trying to nail it in 1 go. I also have done things like charting out horn stuff for big band stuff (just the rhythm) and trying to play to that... comeup with your own tricks to work on multiple areas at once...

I have to juggle this between working at home (renovation), work at school (work back stage of theater), summer school and other obligations... and also friends too since my old pals are coming back from the mainland for summer. So its tough... but i try to put in some time on the kit every day.. even if icant do4 hours... ill try to do as much as possible... but Ill always do the 1 hour stick control routine.. even if it keeps me up til 1.

Hope at least some of this will help

Goh.

[Jean-Paul]

Another one, S.P.

I play different ostinato's with my feet on my double pedal and play the pages of stick control on top of it. I play for example the first double on my tom and the second on my snare RR, then I do the same with my left LL. Then I play the first double on my snare and the second on the tom again RR and the same with left. Great exercises if you play all your doubles that way and you are warming up, practice stick control and you are reading! Is that an idea for time management?

[S.P]

Chuch thanks for the props man!

Louie! I'd be interested in chatting with you more about this topic, do you have msn messenger or something like that? e-mail?

goman - Getting in 3-4 hours a day is awesome man, especially since you seem to be extremely busy!!!

Jp - that would save a lot of time, but i want to work on each individual aspect until i can do really well before i start combining stuff

GAMG! Thanks for the advice and the examples from your own personal experience, what really hit me was the fact that, later on in life, i will miss the time i could have practiced more, more than, the time i could have gone out and done the same thing as every other friday night

Henry 2 - I do want a balance in my life, because i want to make it possible to have balance and still be able to do other things, i believe it will help me as a person and its nice to change things up, plus i love being with my friends, and i don't want to risk my health just to get in an hour more of practice or something! I think for me, balance is the key, because i am not able to dedicate all my time solely to drumming, but i am prepared to make sacrifices (i know that going out every weekend and needing saturday to recover isn't healthy and thats one sacrifice im prepared to make, plus i smoke when i go out, which is also a bad habbit) and i don't know of many other people who do too. I believe other activities will feed your playing, although indirectly

So i think i need to set myself some targets

1. Go out perhaps every other week, only 1 day a weekend. Say only friday night, or only saturday etc (this will help cut down booze and smoking)

2. Get all my homework done in school during frees so as to have as much time after school as i want

3. Ensure that i practice efficiently

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 28, 2005 05:16 AM: Message edited by: S.P ]</font>