How to get the most out of your lessons:
When
Try to practice immediately after the lesson, if just to review the assignment and the materials. Sometimes it’s the last thing you want to do when you finish a lesson, but it’s very important to keep the concepts fresh in your mind.
Every day. It’s better to do it little bit every day than try to cram right before your lesson. Muscle memory is important, and develops much faster with regular practice. Being prepared is easier on your nerves, too!
Focus
Whenever you play, give it all of your attention. 30 minutes of focused work is better than 2 hours of distracted slop.
Tempo
Go slow enough that you can play a thing perfectly, even if that means going to turtle speed. Be patient, you won’t have to do that for long, but you do have to do it.
You assigned me a lot of stuff! Do I really need to do all this every day?
Not necessarily. Some things we cover by way of introduction, so you will have heard it once when we get into it more seriously later. Many of my assignments can be quite large, but they don’t need to be— do what you can.
And many of the things we work on are meant to be assimilated slowly, sometimes taking years to fully assimilate. Of course, very ambitious students will want to practice everything I assign, and a lot more!
How many hours?
Every student should try to play at least 30 minutes per day. Serious middle and high school students should practice 1-2 hours per day. For reference, most excellent professional drummers practiced a minimum of 3-5 hours every day, for a period of at least several years at some point in their lives.
Should I use a metronome?
Part of the time. You can also play along with music— and I have a library of mp3 loops sampled from albums which we will use. Part of what you will learn in lessons is to approach time in a way that minimizes the need for a metronome.
Does time spent playing in a band or in band class count?
Not completely. Playing music is very important, but is not the same as practicing. The exercises we work on in lessons are designed to condition you to handle real-life playing situations better.
What if I never practice? Am I wasting my time and money?
Not to encourage bad practice habits, but if you do nothing but show up to your lessons you will still improve much faster than you would by working on your own. But you’d be amazed at how much you can accomplish with a little regular, focused practice! Try to get the habit!
I want to practice, but I don’t have the time!
Often it’s just a matter of making time. Playing the drums for the time it takes to watch a Simpsons re-run, every single day, could make a huge difference in your playing over the long term.
Try just sitting down at the drums for one minute every day… pick up the sticks, hit a few things, then get up and go do whatever else you need to do. Just get into the habit of sitting at the drums every day. Usually it’s much easier to continue playing than it is to start playing.
More ambitious students can be a little tougher with themselves— when you’ve decided that you are a drummer, or that you will be a drummer, then, playing the drums is what you do. Make your regular, continuous improvement at it part of your schedule.
Creative practice
In addition to just working on your lesson assignments, you should dedicate a little time each session to free play— play whatever you want. Part of your job is to figure out what you do want to play, that is not an assignment.
Playing music
A tremendous amount of learning happens when playing music with people, so you shoudl play with other musicians as often as you can. I still learn something every time I play, after 40 years of playing professionally.
Listening
You should also be listening to a lot of music— for your enjoyment, and for inspiration, and to learn about the drums. It’s important to have music in your ears, to hear drummers play things the you want to play.