Listening and watching drummers is just as important as having drum lessons with a good teacher. I was taught by my father who made me practice with a practice pad and bass drum pedal for a year before I even got a kit. This maybe a little old school but it made me concentrate on getting my sticking together and reading all of the rudiments in the Buddy Rich Modern Interpretation of the Snare Drum Rudiments book.
(I recommend this book as a study for the rudiments.)

I learnt the rudiments thoroughly and each rudiment brings a new sticking challenge, all of which are of use to me. I still practice a lot of those strokes and some have made it into my soloing and general playing on gigs.

Listening is an important part of playing as you need to be able to hear a drum part and be able to work it out after a few listens. Whether you stick it or write it out, it’s all good practice and may lead you to transcribing complete songs or solos. This is a good talent to own as often you will get CDs from a band where you will need to transcribe the exact drum part.

Watching drummers on DVD, YouTube, or even better at gigs is a great way to learn. The many teaching DVDs available by top name drummers are all fantastic with multi-angles, PDF transcriptions and slow motion features. These make you feel like you are getting a 1:1 lesson and it is all in your own home and whenever you feel like it. I have a massive collection on video as well as DVD and I often use them for inspiration and enjoyment. These should be inspiring to you and not making you feel inadequate. If they have a negative impact on you then you need to put a little more work into your playing and then return to them with a more positive approach.

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I believe that practice makes perfect. To accomplish your instrument you must be honest with yourself and really put the time in. I practice for a few hours a day, sometimes more if inspiration hits me. I make sure that the work I do is a mix of problem sorting and making new ideas come to life.

The problem sorting is what I notice at gigs that might not be working too well. I am very honest with myself and it helps me to move forward. Denying these little problems does not make them go away and it only makes you more defensive about your weaknesses and exposes you to more criticism.

You must make sure your practice is good practice and not just practising what you are already good at.

 

My practice will involve playing rudiments or grooves to a click. Sometimes, I will play freely to let ideas flow naturally. This kind of practice I love as it pulls on your musicality, experience and drumming memory, which I call channelling. Often many groove or fill ideas come from this very meditative way of practising. I let the ideas come through me as I play them. At times, the thread is perfect and everything links together in a very organic way.

The more I relax the more comfortable I am with my playing therefore new ideas and expression are able to flow without judgement. This way of playing takes years to perfect but the idea can still work at all levels.

 

Listening and understanding the great improvisers will help you find ways to work on your own style of drum channelling. I have read a great deal about John Coltrane, and his approach and work ethic can apply itself to any instrument. Through my study on John Coltrane I began to see and hear more than just the notes he played. I could visualise places, people and felt things through passages of his music that I had never experienced before.

When I play a drum solo I feel like I want to take people on a journey through rhythm, dynamics, humour, music and technique. I want them to feel and imagine images when I’m playing and I strive for this whenever I play. It is a very strenuous experience and quite musically draining. It is more exhausting for me than just doing a crazy 32^nd note drum fill around the drum set. You are replacing this with a concentrated effort to connect with listeners’ ears and souls. It is very easy to get lost in the romanticism of it but this way of playing exists and when it appears and you feel it for real, then it becomes the most amazingly uplifting emotion that any musician can experience.

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