It's time to be pro-active

Recently I have felt my practice routine stagnating.

That's a lie. Because I don't have a practice routine. I mostly st down behind my electric kit and fart about on my iPod, playing through the same playlist that makes me feel awesome about my drumming.

But that needs to change. I am seriously feeling a loss of momentum in my playing, and I need to do something about it. A few things, in fact. I'm here to discuss one.

Before we get there, my options:

1: Practice routine. Goodness gracious, it's nothing short of disgusting that I, as a teacher do not have a regular practice routine comprised of technicals, practicals, songs, reviewing past gigs for weak points. Probably because I don;t play enough gigs. I want more gigs..! I partly blame it on my attempt to play too many instruments very well, at the same time. At the moment I have a drumkit, guitar, bass, banjo, and trumpet sitting in my room. And I try to make time for them all. Can you spell N-E-R-D?

2. Fresh faces: I love my band K, Ray and The Bird. They are awesome people who make me laugh and I cherish them and the strange music we write. But rock music has always pumped through my blood, and I desperately need to find an outlet for my rock angst. If you know of anybody looking for a drummer, I am into most forms of rock, provided there are guitar riffs (not just chords) and the vocals are actually vocals, not pointless screaming. And don't worry K, Ray homies; I'm not leaving. But we all know you won't be adding any electric guitar riffs anytime soon.

3. Educational content: An idea I have had for a long time is to upload educational material to Youtube. Being a teacher, I can honestly say I have seen some definite subjects that need addressing, as well as songs/bands that fellow musicians struggle to interpret. I've held back mainly because it's not easy/cheap to properly record an audio track for a drumkit and catch that content on video. But you know what? It's never gonna be. And I have an electric kit, which I can line straight into Pro Tools and get crystal clear audio. And iPhones record great visual. Maybe I can experiment with recording audio from my Roland, playing the same track on my acoustic kit, and overdubbing the sound...hmmmm

Anyway, the point is this: I am going to pledge right here. Because when you pledge on the internet, there's no turning back. Within the next month I will have uploaded some form of educational material to Youtube. I am not yet sure exactly what, but it will come to me. Maybe a song cover with some explanation, maybe a specific subject dissected...we'll see.

If you are a muso and you would like some topic or other covered, please comment, or email me or something, and ask. I would be only too happy to oblige (assuming I can play it) :-)