This started as some ideas to tweetsplode, but it would be long even for me.
I've always looked at my job as involving both art and craft. I got this analogy from Terry Bozzio: a painter can paint a portrait, or he can paint your house. Kinda like that.
My job these days is almost entirely craft. Playing in worship bands, playing in cover bands, backing up singer/songwriter guys...hell, even most "original" situations boil down to executing someone else's idea of what the drum set ought to do. There's really very little "art" involved in what the bulk of musicians and music consumers want to hear from a drummer.
Even what passes for the drummer being "creative" usually means changing the sound of the kit and playing 60 year old cliches on it. "He's so creative! The toms are muffled!" That kind of thing. Pretty much every pop/rock/worship/whatever musician I know thinks this way.
(Thank God for djent)
I've grown to be pretty okay with the idea that of all the musicians I know, maybe a few are interested in my ideas of what I should play and sound like. I'm really good at playing what I'm asked to play. I can, and do, make it work (meaning, I can make an audience sing, dance, head bang, etc.). I'm simply a blue collar musician who does the job right.
What has me musing about this is that since I enjoy the work, the only thing that I could foresee making me interested in the "original" scene again would have to involve either lots of money or total creative freedom. Otherwise, what would be the point?
I think my transition has been, if you'll excuse me, from blue balls to blue collar. But I still have fits of the former.
Showing posts with label Drumming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drumming. Show all posts
Solo Drums, 1997.
"Back in the day," I used to play club gigs by myself without a band. This is one of my solo pieces, named "Skippy" because of the stuttering foot pattern, played at Instant Karma the year I joined Atomic Opera.
Worship Leading and the Drummer, part 3
What should be primary in the drummer's mind as he leads the
Church in singing praise songs?
The drum part.
Sounds obvious, but how many of y'all first thought of something "spiritual?" God, Jesus, praise, worshipy thoughts...No. The drummer serving in the Church needs to focus on being a drummer.
Let's back up.
Pietism is at base gnostic or neoplatonic in its world-denying spiritualism. The mundane and the material is not as "holy" as the immaterial, emotional religious thoughts in a man's head. One should be "baptising" the mundane things by thinking spiritual things as one goes about doing them. This has lead to confusion and, for our purposes here, a lot of really crappy drumming. If a drummer has a servant's heart, or really loves Jesus, or is very enthusiastic in his worship then it's okay that he doesn't practice and can't play very well. After all, God is happy because of his good intentions.
Well, I don't think He is, but we'll get to that. Firstly, though, let's understand the Biblical and Reformed idea of vocation. God created the world good. God gave Father Adam a task to subdue it. He gave His only Son to redeem it after Adam fell. The material world is not evil, men are. Adam's work was originally holy. The work of those redeemed in the Second Adam is also holy, insofar as they are obedient in that good calling. So, as we often say, all of life is worship. Our day to day, matter-of-fact living is done as good works unto the Lord.
This is not changed by the fact that some of those good works include special, set-aside weekly corporate worship. All of life is worship, and some of life is special worship. That doesn't make it more spiritual; it makes it part of the flow of our lives. Therefore, one is not more of a Christian when he is singing a hymn than he is when he was eating breakfast that morning.
This means that God is not dishonored or ignored when, in service to Him and His Church, I am thinking of where the bass drum goes instead of thinking "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus..." I have a responsibility to Him to focus my attention on playing well for Jesus' sake. If I fail in the task He has set before me to do for Him, even if I'm distracted by my thoughts of Him, then I'm not really offering my worship as He has given it to me to offer, am I?
So, the drummer is to enter the Holy of Holies with a pure heart (BTW, "heart" is not "emotions" in Scripture, but I digresss), there to duly serve the Lord by competently and deliberately executing those tasks which have been assigned to him, namely, pointing out to everyone where the words go by putting notes in the right places. To the extent he does that well, I believe God is pleased with his worship. Thinking, "I love You" while making a train wreck of the hymns of the Church ain't gonna make it suck less...to Him.
Church in singing praise songs?
The drum part.
Sounds obvious, but how many of y'all first thought of something "spiritual?" God, Jesus, praise, worshipy thoughts...No. The drummer serving in the Church needs to focus on being a drummer.
Let's back up.
Pietism is at base gnostic or neoplatonic in its world-denying spiritualism. The mundane and the material is not as "holy" as the immaterial, emotional religious thoughts in a man's head. One should be "baptising" the mundane things by thinking spiritual things as one goes about doing them. This has lead to confusion and, for our purposes here, a lot of really crappy drumming. If a drummer has a servant's heart, or really loves Jesus, or is very enthusiastic in his worship then it's okay that he doesn't practice and can't play very well. After all, God is happy because of his good intentions.
Well, I don't think He is, but we'll get to that. Firstly, though, let's understand the Biblical and Reformed idea of vocation. God created the world good. God gave Father Adam a task to subdue it. He gave His only Son to redeem it after Adam fell. The material world is not evil, men are. Adam's work was originally holy. The work of those redeemed in the Second Adam is also holy, insofar as they are obedient in that good calling. So, as we often say, all of life is worship. Our day to day, matter-of-fact living is done as good works unto the Lord.
This is not changed by the fact that some of those good works include special, set-aside weekly corporate worship. All of life is worship, and some of life is special worship. That doesn't make it more spiritual; it makes it part of the flow of our lives. Therefore, one is not more of a Christian when he is singing a hymn than he is when he was eating breakfast that morning.
This means that God is not dishonored or ignored when, in service to Him and His Church, I am thinking of where the bass drum goes instead of thinking "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus..." I have a responsibility to Him to focus my attention on playing well for Jesus' sake. If I fail in the task He has set before me to do for Him, even if I'm distracted by my thoughts of Him, then I'm not really offering my worship as He has given it to me to offer, am I?
So, the drummer is to enter the Holy of Holies with a pure heart (BTW, "heart" is not "emotions" in Scripture, but I digresss), there to duly serve the Lord by competently and deliberately executing those tasks which have been assigned to him, namely, pointing out to everyone where the words go by putting notes in the right places. To the extent he does that well, I believe God is pleased with his worship. Thinking, "I love You" while making a train wreck of the hymns of the Church ain't gonna make it suck less...to Him.
Worship Leading and the Drummer, Again
I'm to critique a drummer for a local Church with which I'm involved this week. It got me started thinking what I would teach guys who do what I do if I had the time...which I never do. A lesson is never long enough to do more than address the issues directly related to hitting a drum.
But there's so much more to it than that. There's an entire matrix of aesthetic, philosophical, theological, even eschatological presuppositions that determine the drummer's approach to what he's doing when he's playing in the Church. Then there's the pressure of the prevailing culture within the Church, the leadership's particular musical choices and decisions, just all kinds of stuff to deal with before even playing a note.
Then there's all the background issues with the playing. One can assume an ability to adequately and immediately execute anything that would be required by the music, but one would be assuming quite a lot. Most people playing praise music in Churches don't have those skills. In principle, that should be the minimum requirement to get to play at all. But we're so far behind that to require that just isn't possible. For that, we ought to repent and ask for mercy.
So let's begin with some philosophical considerations. What primarily is to be going on within the drummer's mind as he leads worship? I'll examine that next posting.
But there's so much more to it than that. There's an entire matrix of aesthetic, philosophical, theological, even eschatological presuppositions that determine the drummer's approach to what he's doing when he's playing in the Church. Then there's the pressure of the prevailing culture within the Church, the leadership's particular musical choices and decisions, just all kinds of stuff to deal with before even playing a note.
Then there's all the background issues with the playing. One can assume an ability to adequately and immediately execute anything that would be required by the music, but one would be assuming quite a lot. Most people playing praise music in Churches don't have those skills. In principle, that should be the minimum requirement to get to play at all. But we're so far behind that to require that just isn't possible. For that, we ought to repent and ask for mercy.
So let's begin with some philosophical considerations. What primarily is to be going on within the drummer's mind as he leads worship? I'll examine that next posting.
More Homework
I figured out Dev Nagari in Pages, Apple's word processor. Way cool.
Even cooler, my tabla teacher has taken that and run with it, creating a tabla font which easily adds tabla bols to the page with a single stroke.
Worship Leading and the Drummer
This is a message I posted from the FeverDream forum. A joke of mine sparked a discussion of some current trends in the Praise and Worship, um, "industry," and this was part of my contribution to the conversation.
The worship leader is just that. He is the shepherd. It's my job to lead the congregation's singing rhythmically. This means that I'm to serve them by playing in such a way that the lyrics they are singing fall easily into place. I "point" to where they go, if you will. Additionally, my own creativity comes into play when I highlight or augment particular words or phrases with either a dynamic turn or some rhythmic move that draws especial attention to them, or when I do the same to an instrumental passage with the intention of creating a rhythmic "tension" which will resolve when the congregation comes in to sing again.
In all these things, the worst possible thing I can do is try to draw attention to myself. I can very easily play things that will make people take notice of my abilities or creativity. I can very easily take the drum part to some (to me) way more interesting and expressive places. I shouldn't do that. My personality comes to bear in the way that I lead, not in the way that I try to insert things into the performance because I think they'd be cool.
In short, you're performing no matter what. It is the orientation of the performance that is key. Am I trying to entertain the man in the pew or am I trying to lead his words to the Lord in union with the Church? Am I as part of the diversity in the congregation attempting to impose unity (thereby reflecting the Trinity fully) or am I trying to stay diverse? Am I asserting by my actions that my individuality is ultimate (or the reverse which is also an error) or that unity and diversity are both equally ultimate in God?
The worship leader is just that. He is the shepherd. It's my job to lead the congregation's singing rhythmically. This means that I'm to serve them by playing in such a way that the lyrics they are singing fall easily into place. I "point" to where they go, if you will. Additionally, my own creativity comes into play when I highlight or augment particular words or phrases with either a dynamic turn or some rhythmic move that draws especial attention to them, or when I do the same to an instrumental passage with the intention of creating a rhythmic "tension" which will resolve when the congregation comes in to sing again.
In all these things, the worst possible thing I can do is try to draw attention to myself. I can very easily play things that will make people take notice of my abilities or creativity. I can very easily take the drum part to some (to me) way more interesting and expressive places. I shouldn't do that. My personality comes to bear in the way that I lead, not in the way that I try to insert things into the performance because I think they'd be cool.
In short, you're performing no matter what. It is the orientation of the performance that is key. Am I trying to entertain the man in the pew or am I trying to lead his words to the Lord in union with the Church? Am I as part of the diversity in the congregation attempting to impose unity (thereby reflecting the Trinity fully) or am I trying to stay diverse? Am I asserting by my actions that my individuality is ultimate (or the reverse which is also an error) or that unity and diversity are both equally ultimate in God?
A Long Way To Go
I had a rehearsal tonight for a Church gig that's coming up. The gig calls for learning six songs from a recording and sheet music (the sheet music is actually for percussion, so I had to transcribe my own drumset charts). The music is fairly typical praise and worship. It's not terribly complicated but it is fairly structured. The music will be performed to a click track, a recorded metronome which keeps the band in sync with some video.
The directors of the band were very kind and complimentary, evidently impressed that I played the songs well in this first rehearsal. This set me to thinking and reflecting on the way home.
There seem to be a few people in charge of music in these various places I play that regard me as some kind of ninja with super powers when it comes to this sort of thing. When I come in and do the job the way I think it should be done, I get treated as if I'm some sort of Jedi.
I don't get that. This isn't some false humility on my part. I work very hard and I certainly know what I'm capable of, musically. But the thing is, adequately performing the music at an acceptable level of quality for leading a large congregation is the minimum that a musician should deliver. Yet, it seems to be rare enough in the Churches that a person who can actually do the job well is something of an anomaly.
That sucks. Amateurish levels of musicianship ought not be common in the household of God. Not among those charged with leading the worship, at least. If I can stand out by just being able to do it, what does that say for the average level of quality in the Church overall?
We have got to start regarding excellence as a duty. Merely wanting to serve is not enough to qualify one for worship leading. It is adequate for apprenticeship. I'm not trying to discourage anyone here. I'm all for encouraging those who want to serve, but part of that service is learning the craft enough to do the job well enough for the service of the Church.
The directors of the band were very kind and complimentary, evidently impressed that I played the songs well in this first rehearsal. This set me to thinking and reflecting on the way home.
There seem to be a few people in charge of music in these various places I play that regard me as some kind of ninja with super powers when it comes to this sort of thing. When I come in and do the job the way I think it should be done, I get treated as if I'm some sort of Jedi.
I don't get that. This isn't some false humility on my part. I work very hard and I certainly know what I'm capable of, musically. But the thing is, adequately performing the music at an acceptable level of quality for leading a large congregation is the minimum that a musician should deliver. Yet, it seems to be rare enough in the Churches that a person who can actually do the job well is something of an anomaly.
That sucks. Amateurish levels of musicianship ought not be common in the household of God. Not among those charged with leading the worship, at least. If I can stand out by just being able to do it, what does that say for the average level of quality in the Church overall?
We have got to start regarding excellence as a duty. Merely wanting to serve is not enough to qualify one for worship leading. It is adequate for apprenticeship. I'm not trying to discourage anyone here. I'm all for encouraging those who want to serve, but part of that service is learning the craft enough to do the job well enough for the service of the Church.
Foundations of Effective Practicing
Having established an understanding of what we as Christians are doing when we undertake our pursuit of drumming, we now turn to how we go about the task.
The following are some of the principles which will guide our study:
1. Practicing is to be our primary day-to-day concern.
Performances rest on, or depend upon, the knowledge and skills that a drummer has developed in his practicing. The quality of a performance is established by the work done prior to it. Therefore, the major thrust of our work as drummers is in preparation for our performances.
2. Practicing is to be self-consciously oriented toward equipping ourselves to perform better.
This seems obvious, but the majority of “practicing” I hear around my rehearsal space isn’t really practicing; it’s playing. True practice is deliberately repeating things one cannot play (or play well). In other words, if you are playing something you can already do at a performance level, you’re not practicing.
3. Though practice requires a great deal of repetition, it does not have to be a drag.
When we are easily bored, the problem does not lie in the material, it lies in our attitude. If playing the drums is what we love, then doing it for an hour or two ought not be boring. It becomes boring because often we do not seek enjoyment from playing the drums so much as we’re looking to be entertained. We are to remember what we are doing and what it is for.
4. If you cannot play something without making mistakes, you are playing it too fast.
This is the primary source of frustration for any student I have ever taught (and for me as well!). We keep trying to play something at a tempo that we can’t handle, until we get fed up and quit. A better alternative is to play so slowly that you can’t make a mistake. It doesn’t matter how slow that is. Try it one note at a time until you can handle it.
5. Practicing something begins with understanding it.
We often try to play something without taking the minute or two that it takes to simply look through it or count it down. Begin an exercise by “shaking hands” with the new concept, movement or pattern and have a clear idea in your mind of what you are learning. This will make your repetition of the exercise much more effective.
Take some time to evaluate your practice habits in light of these principles. Where are you lacking? Where are you getting it? What are your results? Are you satisfied with them? We’ll continue with practicing next time.
The following are some of the principles which will guide our study:
1. Practicing is to be our primary day-to-day concern.
Performances rest on, or depend upon, the knowledge and skills that a drummer has developed in his practicing. The quality of a performance is established by the work done prior to it. Therefore, the major thrust of our work as drummers is in preparation for our performances.
2. Practicing is to be self-consciously oriented toward equipping ourselves to perform better.
This seems obvious, but the majority of “practicing” I hear around my rehearsal space isn’t really practicing; it’s playing. True practice is deliberately repeating things one cannot play (or play well). In other words, if you are playing something you can already do at a performance level, you’re not practicing.
3. Though practice requires a great deal of repetition, it does not have to be a drag.
When we are easily bored, the problem does not lie in the material, it lies in our attitude. If playing the drums is what we love, then doing it for an hour or two ought not be boring. It becomes boring because often we do not seek enjoyment from playing the drums so much as we’re looking to be entertained. We are to remember what we are doing and what it is for.
4. If you cannot play something without making mistakes, you are playing it too fast.
This is the primary source of frustration for any student I have ever taught (and for me as well!). We keep trying to play something at a tempo that we can’t handle, until we get fed up and quit. A better alternative is to play so slowly that you can’t make a mistake. It doesn’t matter how slow that is. Try it one note at a time until you can handle it.
5. Practicing something begins with understanding it.
We often try to play something without taking the minute or two that it takes to simply look through it or count it down. Begin an exercise by “shaking hands” with the new concept, movement or pattern and have a clear idea in your mind of what you are learning. This will make your repetition of the exercise much more effective.
Take some time to evaluate your practice habits in light of these principles. Where are you lacking? Where are you getting it? What are your results? Are you satisfied with them? We’ll continue with practicing next time.
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