Well that just about raps up summer then!

September is fast approaching, and my second year of Uni will soon begin. I can't wait! As much as I have enjoyed the summer, there has been far too little to do these last few weeks, and I can't to throw myself back into my busy life as a student in Southampton (not sarcasm intended!). I really can't wait to be studying music again, to be playing with the uni bands again and to have new things to practice and to push my playing. One of the things that I love about Southampton is that there is so much going on, there are always gigs and shows going on in plenty of the local venues, and not not band nights. I've been to a fair few open mic nights and comedy nights that have also been really good. I love going to support local acts be it music or comedy and its certainly something that I didn't do enough of last year.

But aside from all that, I have actually had a really nice summer, I've spent a lot of time focusing on the techniques I learnt from Kev, Pete and Pat over the last year. I've spent a lot of time listening to my own playing, and trying to hear what they hear when they listen to me play. Over time I have discovered the importance of listening to tracks, trying to pick out as much as I can about the track, the feel, tempo, style and homing in particularly on the rhythm section, listening to the relationship between the bass and the drums, as that is the foundation of almost any pop/rock track.

Things I've learnt

I'm going to take a moment to think about the last year and the things I've learned, especially in the summer months. The big thing that I have learnt this year, that has completely changed the way I play, is the importance of coordination and control when playing. This mainly applies to the relationship between your hands and your feet, insuring that they are completely in sync or anything that you play is going to sound untidy. This is something that has been pointed out about my playing a number of times by various people and it is often something that I have just brushed off as rubbish. However, this year I actually sat down, and listened to my own playing, and I immediately understood exactly what they were talking about. It was Pete who really explained what was happening, and it was mostly across beat 1 of every bar. My kick was always either slightly before or after my hi-hat on beat one. This is a much bigger problem that it sounds because not only does it mean that I was flaming my playing, (which sounds very untidy) but it also meant that when ever I was playing with a group, the bassist and I were never quite in time, which is a huge problem. Of course, coordination and control doesn't just apply to your feet, you need to be able to have full control over your hands as well ensuring that they keep a steady beat, as the groove is the most crucial part of drumming! I addressed this issues by practising the same beat again and again to a click and really listening to my kick, hearing when it was even just slightly out of time. This really helped me to control my playing properly and has allowed me to be more creative with my playing as I have more control.

Accents and Dynamics

Something else that I have learned this year and have been practising over the last few weeks in the importance of dynamics and accents in drumming. This is what gives your playing personality, accents especially make your playing stand out. Dynamics and accents are what allow drummers to play musically. With good control over your accents, as a drummer, you can create any musical illusion that you want. For example, something that I have learned recently using accents is that you can create a ¾ poly rhythm just by using accents and playing the same rhythm on both hands. You can do this play playing single stroke semi quavers in 4/4 time accenting every 3rd semi quaver. If you accent the beats with your hi-hats you can hear how the accent then gets thrown all over the place, even though you are still only playing 4/4 semi quavers! This sounds really cool and is great when used around the kit. The way I practice my accents is my practising my tap strokes over and over, and then accenting by throwing in gentle down strokes. If your tap strokes are quiet enough, your down strokes should stand out really with out you having to put in any effort. But remember, the quiet notes are the most important, with out them, there is nothing to accent!

Networking

I can not stress the enough just how important networking is. Its does not matter how amazing you are at playing, if nobody knows it your not going to go anywhere! It is crucial for professional musicians to promote themselves as much as possible. This will probably mean, as I have discovered, doing plenty of unpaid favours for people, like recording the drums for their uni project. Although you don't get paid for these kind of jobs, they are really good to do because it build your experience and knowledge up, and believe it or not, people remember you if you turn up on time, do a good job, work hard and be easy to get on with. Its by doing those kind of things that you start to build up a network and a reputation. The more people you know, and more significantly, the more people that know you, the more likely you are to get work.

My Plans for the New Academic Year

So in this new academic year, I plan to make the most of the time I have as a student, I have now got a part time job in a local pub so I can save up some money so that should take up a lot of my weekend. I'm going to get back into my routine of practising 2 hours a day and I'm going to do my best to get involved with every musical project that I can. I am also going to get into the habit of going to more local gigs and seeing more local talent, as well as making far more time for my lovely and very tolerant girlfriend! If I can, I'll be writing in my blog twice a week and I'll be desperately trying to keep up with our ever changing music scene, both locally and nationally (I'm not ready for globally yet). Hope you enjoy reading about my crazy adventures to come!