I find the heart but then I hit the wall. Crash! Boom! Bang!
I was on the high hat this week.
I was playing that like it was a snare drum with both sticks.
Then I had to hit the snare with the right stick on the two beat and then back to the high hat quarter notes.
Bass drum was on 1 and 3 beats.
And he threw in high hat pedal on the 4 and then got me doing some fills and a crash cymbal too.
I took longer to get it this week. Especially when he started throwing in high hat on the 3rd quarter note along with an odd bass drum beat - and even now, after a week of trying to do it, I still can't even start.
I can't even build it up.
My bass drum foot just does not like that off beat and my left foot is a spazz when I actually have to count the place to put it.
In sort, I was rubbish this week.
At home I've been trying to make sure my left hand particularly is palm down because I seem to be doing a more half and half thumb up, sideways hand hold most of the time, which isn't helping me keep the downstroke straight.
And I've been trying to work on keeping up with the metronome and especially trying to keep my left hand in time with that.
I do find the hour lesson goes too fast.
And sometimes I think he's moving me along too fast.
But I appreciate he's trying to keep it interesting for both of us.
Finding suitable practice time is difficult.
Today was the first time in days I've actually managed to squeeze in an hour's practice.
I don't think I'll be joining a band any time soon.
He said my bass drum was still off, and that's been hard to adjust because at home I can't hear the bass drum very clearly, so it's hard to know when I'm off the beat.
I should work more on my bass drum foot really, especially as it was only last week that I worked out I've been doing it all wrong.
Instead of pushing up from my ankle and toes and using my calf muscle to beat the bass drum, I was lifting it from my hip. Which doesn't sound too bad until you try and keep it up for a few minutes.
I had wondered why my groin was aching so much and why I was toppling off my stool constantly. Turns out my butt was off the seat a lot because of it - hence my toppling off the stool/balance issues.
I still catch myself doing it. Especially when I've got double bass drum beats or odd ones, so I've got to watch that.
It's just all a bit much for one small brain to cope with.
Seemingly I have a tendency to hit the high hat a bit too hard, which is true - I get carried away and it gets loud and drowns out everything else.
And that's funny because I STILL balk when I hit a proper crash cymbal.
Maybe I'm too used to my tiny splash one but I find the suddenness and volume of it and then the length of reverb completely puts me off whatever I am supposed to be doing after hitting it and I stop.
Obviously I'm not good with other noise and keeping the beat at the moment - which means I'd be rubbish with other musicians around.
Still, mustn't try running before I can walk.
I actually turned the beat down on the metronome. I had been attempting to play at 120 but I lowered it to 85/90 and have only really got up to 100 comfortably. 110 freaks me out. 120 is just asking a bit too much with all this high hat switching business.
Still, practice makes perfect, if I can get the time to bloody practice!
[picture of cymbal monkey stolen off thermion7's photostream at flickr after doing a search on 'cymbal' in tags]
[post title is from the lyrics to the Roxette song, Crash! Boom! Bang!]
I was playing that like it was a snare drum with both sticks.
Then I had to hit the snare with the right stick on the two beat and then back to the high hat quarter notes.
Bass drum was on 1 and 3 beats.
And he threw in high hat pedal on the 4 and then got me doing some fills and a crash cymbal too.
I took longer to get it this week. Especially when he started throwing in high hat on the 3rd quarter note along with an odd bass drum beat - and even now, after a week of trying to do it, I still can't even start.
I can't even build it up.
My bass drum foot just does not like that off beat and my left foot is a spazz when I actually have to count the place to put it.
In sort, I was rubbish this week.
At home I've been trying to make sure my left hand particularly is palm down because I seem to be doing a more half and half thumb up, sideways hand hold most of the time, which isn't helping me keep the downstroke straight.
And I've been trying to work on keeping up with the metronome and especially trying to keep my left hand in time with that.
I do find the hour lesson goes too fast.
And sometimes I think he's moving me along too fast.
But I appreciate he's trying to keep it interesting for both of us.
Finding suitable practice time is difficult.
Today was the first time in days I've actually managed to squeeze in an hour's practice.
I don't think I'll be joining a band any time soon.
He said my bass drum was still off, and that's been hard to adjust because at home I can't hear the bass drum very clearly, so it's hard to know when I'm off the beat.
I should work more on my bass drum foot really, especially as it was only last week that I worked out I've been doing it all wrong.
Instead of pushing up from my ankle and toes and using my calf muscle to beat the bass drum, I was lifting it from my hip. Which doesn't sound too bad until you try and keep it up for a few minutes.
I had wondered why my groin was aching so much and why I was toppling off my stool constantly. Turns out my butt was off the seat a lot because of it - hence my toppling off the stool/balance issues.
I still catch myself doing it. Especially when I've got double bass drum beats or odd ones, so I've got to watch that.
It's just all a bit much for one small brain to cope with.
Seemingly I have a tendency to hit the high hat a bit too hard, which is true - I get carried away and it gets loud and drowns out everything else.
And that's funny because I STILL balk when I hit a proper crash cymbal.
Maybe I'm too used to my tiny splash one but I find the suddenness and volume of it and then the length of reverb completely puts me off whatever I am supposed to be doing after hitting it and I stop.
Obviously I'm not good with other noise and keeping the beat at the moment - which means I'd be rubbish with other musicians around.
Still, mustn't try running before I can walk.
I actually turned the beat down on the metronome. I had been attempting to play at 120 but I lowered it to 85/90 and have only really got up to 100 comfortably. 110 freaks me out. 120 is just asking a bit too much with all this high hat switching business.
Still, practice makes perfect, if I can get the time to bloody practice!
[picture of cymbal monkey stolen off thermion7's photostream at flickr after doing a search on 'cymbal' in tags]
[post title is from the lyrics to the Roxette song, Crash! Boom! Bang!]
posted by creepylesbo at 9:57 pm
1 Comments:
Hmm...odd way of playing bass drum. Oh well, as long as you are trying to sort it.
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