I've hit a wall (need help climbing it)

[Weslapootayn]

Hey, I don't know if this has ever happened to you guys but I feel like I've kinda come to a stand still. I need to learn some things, but I'm not sure what. I think my fills need the most improvement but I don't know what to practice to get better with that. I'm looking for drum fill beat sheets (free ones on the net) and drum beat beat sheets if at all possible. If you guys know any good sites for them or have advice about what I could learn that would push me out of this rut..please let me know. You guys give great advice lol. Thanks a ton

P.S. If it helps, I play metal primarily so if anyone knows what I could do to get into other styles of playing, that would be cool too
-Weslapootayn

[gonefishin]

Wes , try playing along to your stereo and just change the station , this works pretty good , you can change from jazz to rock or country .

[Lambaster]

Wes , try playing along to your stereo and just change the station , this works pretty good , you can change from jazz to rock or country .

I do this a lot - just start flipping through radio stations with headphones on. Sometimes it's just about letting the fun out. I'll find some cheesy pop song from the '70s or '80s that has an interesting beat that I can (hopefully) lock onto, and then just start rippin all over it. Eventually it becomes this ridiculous solo, but who cares, right? It's similar to playing to a click, but much more interesting because there's a song structure to follow. I get to experiment with insanity and nobody gets mad at me for it! It's a great way to develop intuition for playing fills and to play them smoothly. The only rule I impose on myself is that the feel of the fills has to match the feel of the song.

Another thing I do that helps is plugging my headphones into a cheap mixer inputting my radio/mp3 player and a couple/few mic's around my kit. That way I can actually hear what I'm doing (but NEVER without earplugs).

Lastly, I like to try and balance playing with the band and having my own woodshed time. Sometimes my woodsheding gets neglected when I get too involved with a band, and my playing will start to feel stale - and that's no fun.

[EnderWiggin]

Check out youtube for some drum video lessons. I like latin stuff, I'd try the bossa nova and songo to start with they're probably the easiest. As far as fills go I find that they're mostly about hand speed, which you can improve through hours and hours of playing, and lots of rudiments

[bytor]

i would agree with what the others said. when i hit the wall i start going to the radio. i will look for something to play witch the drums sound great no matter what style. i end up on the kool jazz station usually. i put in ear buds then some shooting mickey mouse ear protection. works out great for me.