Originally Posted by
Church Drummer
I would have to agree with Sonic about playing with people. Playing with others is a great way to improve your skill. Playing with a metronome will teach you to play a steady beat, playing with others will force you to be flexible. It's nice to think that if you play a rock solid steady beat that everyone is going to follow you. In a perfect world that would be the case, but playing with imperfect people forces you to develop your listening skills. Maybe the band isn't cutting the tune at the tempo you started the piece at, this may require a gradual almost imperceptible slowing down on your part. I've had singers come in in the middle of a measure you have to adjust to that. Being able to play a rock solid beat is important, but being able to listen and make adjustments to what is going on in a band situation is also important. Yea the other band members should be with you at all times, but that isn't always the case, you can keep banging away, because your right and they should be following you, or you can adjust to them to avoid a train wreck.