These are moments that give me hope...

[Warriorpoet]

Originally Posted by Ethel_The_Frog

Making it is irrelevant so long as you get your artistry out there into the world, so long as you're satisfied with what you're doing it to the best of your ability.
That's it. If you can forge a living out of what you love doing, you're so successful it's ridiculous.

I could not agree with you more ETF......Great Post! Thanks for sharing that one.....

[Church Drummer]

Ethel thanks for sharing this, it's very inspirational!!! Guess I need to go practice right now!!!

[Ethel_The_Frog]

Well guys, I figured I'd just tell you what I've done today.
I found my old classical drumkit book and have started looking through that. There was a huge appendix with a load of different rhythms in it, based on the snare, in 2/4 and 3/4. Checked them out, played around with them. It was great fun. I also checked the rudiments section and spent a lot of time learning rudiments I never really grasped. I checked out a lot of marching videos on youtube, was humbled by their speed and control over the snare and amazed by showmanship and learnt a cool exercise as well. Good times. After a couple of hours, I began practicing stuff on the kit, then, fully warmed up, went into a full on improv jam. Man, I was flying! I'm feeling really ill at the minute so it was really hard, but if I was playing this good and I was completely healthy, that would have been the best session on my kit I've ever played. I'm so excited...I'm learning so much.
On top of that, one of my contacts finally paid off and I've been recommended for a pop punk band that's forming. Things are starting to look up.

[pastor_bob]

Sorry to hear you're not feel well ETF, but I am glad to hear that things are looking up for you. Even on the worst of days, being able to learn even one new thing on the drums is very cool. Sounds like you had a very productive day in spite of not feeling tip top. Congratulations on being recommended for the new pop punk band!

[Ethel_The_Frog]

It's all coming together now...at his recommendation, I've ordered the book 'Syncopation' by Lou Reed. My new cymbals are a lot more fun (I need to wear them in more, and they feel different, but they're great). What's more, I'm really happy about understanding 2/4 in a lot more detail. I always thought it was just a single half phrase of 4/4, but I was wrong. It's amazing for ostinatos and developing really weird patterns that repeat themselves, it's entrancing.
Oh yeah, I'm developing my rudimental technique, and beginning to orchestrate it a little. I'll start experimenting more later today (it's 5:46 am over here, I wake up WAYYY too early) with sticking patterns and stuff.

Can I make a living out of this? Only if it's something you're so passionate about that you practice all the time. I wake up at quarter to six in the morning and I want to drum, I want to get better... I have a feeling my life is going to be pretty good then!

[kaosotis]

Originally Posted by bassist learning drums

ETF, that is really good advice. I have once again, learned something constructive. One question is, how do these crappy bands make it??

Making money as a band is about how much revenue you can produce for the record company. That's all. So if a record company feels they can make money off a band, they will sign them, mold them and their music to make as much money as possible. This has nothing to do with talent or skill.

I teach in Middle School and most of the kids either like what their parents listen to, or what's currently popular. They don't really have their own sense of identity or a personal connection with the music. They frequently like what they think makes them like everyone else. I proud to say my 8th grader, who goes to the same school, is a true musician at heart. He likes what he likes, irrelevant of others.

Since the late 80's, with the merger of all the record companies, kids are only really exposed to mainstream music until they are in college or later. There is a lot less exposure to "underground" music, even amongst teenagers. It's unfortunate because there is a lot of great music out there that doesn't get enough recognition.

That's my two cents on the music industry. I play for me and my audience. I play because I love to play, and I love to entertain. That's probably why my band never made it, we never really "tried" to make it, we just did our thing, and we still do!

[kaosotis]

What we're seeing expressed here is a wonderful thing, and something I fear is too rare in U.S. culture. Joy in life and personal expression as indications of success, rather than financial achievements. I hope it can spread. Too many don't appreciate what they have in life.

[shane_1_0]

Wow..big wall of text...

:D

[Tru_Power22]

Originally Posted by bassist learning drums

ETF, that is really good advice. I have once again, learned something constructive. One question is, how do these crappy bands make it??

Depends if it's possible to sleep with an entire record company.

[Ethel_The_Frog]

Yeah, so long as you're up for some gender bending along the way.

[dellis26]

The concept of "now is really the only way to go. Thats all that I can do so I do it. Thanks for this post.

[Ethel_The_Frog]

I have a confession to make, and I'm afraid its not the most beneficial one.

The goals I set out to achieve here haven't really been fulfilled by me. As a musician, I am progressing. As an artist, philosophy student and lover of literature, be it on the page or shown through film, I'm also progressing, adding heroes of literature and drama to my sources of inspiration.
But as a drummer, I'm sorry to say, I run the risk of stagnating.

It's not that I haven't progressed; it's not that I haven't prevented myself from stepping back. It's just, despite the technicality of the pieces I am learning, despite the fact that I do regularly practice and am getting gradually better, the drums aren't singing as loudly to me as I want them to be. They're still there, still calling me, and I still want to play them. But the passion for my playing has been dampened, and I think I know why. The remedy is obviously modesty and regaining my self-control. I need help in regaining the tools I've previously used to learn and dedicate myself to education.

The thing is, at the same time I was talking to this guy, back in February, my life unfortunately plummeted back into a cesspool of unnecessary melodrama, which I indulged in to the extent that it confused my outlook on life. I'm not really wanting to go into it; it was a resolution from my messed up past anyway, something I knew I'd have to face some day in the near future, and I'm glad I got it over with. It made me expand my mind, search for new inspiration in other places, become interested in politics, higher literature (I absolutely love classical literature now and my creativity has improved tenfold because of it, in terms of literary ability and narrative), philosophy and film. But, at the same time, it also made me feel that I had the right to indulge in certain aspects of my personality that I should have left alone. And it also diminished the passion I had for music by showing me different arts to learn, which I discovered I could be good at. I'm not whining about what went on those last months. If anything, they made me a better person. I'm concerned about where my lack of passion for music came from, as it is making me feel dangerously apathetic.

The thing is, music touches me in ways that no other artform does. Lucky for me I'm proficient at my drums - I was going to say gifted, but then I remembered the four hour sessions I used to put in, back when I was starting, and figured that I earned my proficiency by myself - and my bass and keyboard skills are coming along nicely, at least giving me something of a melodic foundation (and a very strong rhythmic one as well). But by indulging in these other artforms, and not focusing my practice on my drums, I've undercut myself.

Look, the main reason I've driven myself all this way is that about three years ago, I had a massive breakdown, my first serious one, and I was dangerously in a precarious mental, social and physical situation. I'm not afraid to talk about it now, but for around four months, I was absolutely terrified of the world. It was akin to an absurdist revelation or existentialist crisis or something. Horrible, horrible feeling.
But at the same time, I picked up my sticks properly for the first time and wailed on those drums. Not only was it great therapy, but it was the first time I found something in my life that I was good at and enjoyed. And I started listening to more and more music, and started, well, I guess 'devouring' it would be the only way to explain it. I got through my crisis with the support of my family, my new found friends (who I have today and are brilliant) and much help from those concerned about me. But it was mainly the music. Honestly, I think I wouldn't even be here today if it wasn't for the music I found then. I'm absolutely indebted to it. Other people are born again Christians, guess I was a born again musician.
That's what keeps me going, it's what drives me forward. So you see the problem here; I'm getting distanced from my music, distanced from my God, if you will. I've indulged myself too much in my new understanding of this world, which isn't a bad thing, and I've made myself better because of it, but at the same time I've lost that which makes me me. I don't want to be mediocre, I want to be the best I can be. I read my old posts here in this topic and there was something about wanting to climb up the mountain, to be the best I can be. Well, it seems like I stopped climbing and just stopped to admire the view. Yet I'm finding it hard to get up and start climbing again.

But there is only now, and that's what matters. I'm getting stuck on things that I shouldn't concern myself about, at the cost of that which helps me. My past is now a closed book, which gives me clarity; my future, I am going to make out of my dreams, and bring them down into reality, and embrace the fact that they are now as well as then and before... if that makes sense...

I'm sorry for getting very heavy on you. But I've had a lot of fun these last three months, mucking about basically and getting on extremely well with my friends. And yet, I'm losing touch with what I've got to do. I see what I wrote back here, about how I was so positive and willing to make myself the best and it bought all the negativity I've had simmering underneath to the boil, and I had to purge it here. Lucky for you, eh -.-
Maybe I've been waiting for that blast of inspiration. Maybe I've got to go find it. I dunno. I'm just gonna keep trying.

If anyone can help with anything, that'd be great. Tomorrow, I'm gonna go into town, grab a book, write out my practice routine and dive in the deep end. Gonna grab my pad now and rat-tat-tat some rudiments. Gotta start the climb again.

[pastor_bob]

ETF, every endeavour in life has it's ebbs and flows. Don't worry about it too much. It might be that you had a professional drumming career in mind, and now you are seeing things a little differently as you see other possibilities as well. Don't be afraid to explore other possibilities, because that is the very thing that brought me to drumming at this point in my life. Music can always be important in your life, especially since it has helped you so much, but it doesn't have to be the only thing. If that were the case, not a single drummer here would be married. When you start playing again, let the music come to you, and just enjoy whatever relationship with it that you have, and integrate it with you life in general, and then see where it takes you. Life - like drumming - is a journey, and you just have to keep walking. Who knows, the next big joyful moment just might be right around the next corner. Blessings to you ETF!

[Ethel_The_Frog]

Thanks PB, today has been a lot better for me. I fell asleep yesterday listening to my ipod on shuffle and it must have really affected the way I was thinking. I went into town and grabbed myself a book - Tommy Igoe's Groove Essentials, no less - and also a blank book of transcribing paper. I decided that challenging myself technically with something like Thomas Lang would just be detrimental; transcribing music at least is a new skill, one I haven't yet learnt, so I decided to explore that. By listening to songs and then writing them down/analysing them, I'd be able to understand things a lot better. Learning a new skill is fun. I just wrote out the intro to a Santana song, which made me very happy indeed. Tommy Igoe's book is perfect for what I need; I just spent a lot of time listening to the tracks and absorbing different kinds of music.

I understand what you mean when you say I need to expand my opportunities, and that's great. It just doesn't satisfy me in the same way music does; whenever I think of writing something, I usually turn the idea into lyrics before anything else, when I think of films, I'm always soundtracking stuff in my mind to go along with what I visualize. You're right, music isn't the only thing, and if it was, it would lose all sentimentality; but it's what I love more than anything else, so I want to show this. Maybe what I viewed as having negative effects wasn't actually so bad. Good words of wisdom PB. Sorry for a moment of selfish melodrama, just ended up with a differing change of perspective than to what I usually have.

[pastor_bob]

ETF, I don't think it was selfish melodrama at all. Friends bounce thoughts off of each other, and help each other work through stuff and that's all that happened here. BTW, don't forget that Jim Morrison of the Doors was a film student before he took his talents to music. Just don't let yourself end up like him, because he was a tortured that turned to drugs instead of talking stuff out with friends.

[Russ]

so that wasnt just a rumour then?

[marshagil23]

its good you realize that..you are way much luckier than the others..if things may sometime puff you down..certainly its because many are ready to catch you...