Amy Lu's View

It’s almost February, but I think I still have time to proclaim 2018 as the year that I will “Be a Better Drummer.”

Which doesn’t mean that I am currently a crappy drummer. Not that any of my readers are necessarily thinking that, but that’s what my inner critic voice is saying. I have a weird resistance to try to improve or change myself in any way (besides hair color) because I feel it’s a critique of everything that precedes the potential change. I’ll have to work on that.

But back to drumming…for the last 5 years, I’ve been drumming regularly with various student and cover bands and now regularly with Clusterflock. I’ve dusted off the skills I learned in high school (you can read all about my history as a Lady Drummer) and have learned how to play in a real live band with other folks. It’s a blast and my confidence, and perhaps even stage presence (yes another blog) has improved.

I’m definitely a better drummer than I was 5 years ago, but I haven’t devoted any time or thought to actually learning about drumming or improving my technique. As someone recently told me, I’m a very “instinctual” drummer, which means I’ve got the basics down and I’m basically going to do what I’m going to do. Hopefully I’ll keep the beat but don’t expect anything too fancy.

So as we librarians like to say, 2018 could be the year I’m more “intentional” about my drumming. I don’t want to overthink things, but I can challenge myself to be more aware of what I’m doing, and why I’m doing it and try to learn some new things.

And hey, turns out that the internet thing is pretty handy for conveniently accessing knowledge. It was hardly an extensive vetting process, but I’m declaring Jared Falk my new drumming guru. By working on just a few of Jared’s lessons, I’ve already learned how ingrained by drumming patterns are. Doing something that seems technically simpler (at least on paper/screen) can actually be harder if I have to change a habit. Playing less can definitely be more challenging.

I’ve also learned that writing about the specificis of drumming is pretty challenging, but also that I know enough about drumming to understand the difference between “ee” and “ah.” I’m not nearly good enough of a writer to make that difference compelling, but trust me that playing snare on the “ee” instead of the “ah” is a huge shift fot me.

So I aspire to sticking with Jared’s lessons and pushing myself, at least a little, as a drummer in 2018. I’m saying I’ll “be a better drummer” but not by how much. But I WILL be inspired by the Muppets “Can You Picture That”:

Beat down the walls, begin, believe, behold, begat.

Be a better drummer, be an up and comer. Can you picture that?