Matt Dean - Drum Kit Secrets: 52 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Drummer

Music Secrets for the Advanced Musician

A Scarecrow Press Music Series

Music Secrets for the Advanced Musician is designed for instrumentalists, singers, conductors, composers, and other instructors and professionals in music seeking a quick set of pointers to improve their work as performers and creators of music. Easy to use and intended for the advanced musician, contributions to Music Secrets fill a niche for those who have moved far beyond what beginners and intermediate practitioners need. It is the perfect resource for teaching students what they need to know in order to take that next step forward and for reinforcing a set of best practices among advanced and professional musicians.

Clarinet Secrets: 52 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Clarinetist , 2nd edition, by Michele Gingras, 2006

Saxophone Secrets: 60 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Saxophonist , by Tracy Lee Heavner, 2013

Oboe Secrets: 75 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Oboist and English Horn Player , by Jacqueline Leclair, 2013

Drum Kit Secrets: 52 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Drummer , by Matt Dean, 2014

Drum Kit Secrets

52 Performance Strategies for the Advanced Drummer

Matt Dean

Music Secrets for the Advanced Musician

THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC.

Lanham Boulder New York Toronto Plymouth, UK

2014

Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Rowman & Littlefield

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

www.rowman.com

10 Thornbury Road, Plymouth PL6 7PP, United Kingdom

Copyright 2014 by Matt Dean

Unless otherwise noted, all figures courtesy of the author.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dean, Matt, 1980

Drum kit secrets : 52 performance strategies for the advanced drummer / Matt Dean.

pages cm. (Music secrets for the advanced musician)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8108-8695-7 (pbk : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8108-8696-4 (ebook) 1. Drum setInstruction and study. I. Title.

MT662.D42 2014

786.9'193dc23 2013030029

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America.

To the daughter I never met but will never forget.

And to the wife and son that make me smile every day.

Contents

Preface

This book is written for the advanced drum kit player in need of specific strategies to overcome recurring technical and musical challenges. It is assumed that readers have already attained a high level of competency on the drum kit and are looking to push themselves to the highest level possible.

Some of the concepts, advice, and ideas in this book cover more basic yet essential practices, while others are much more advanced and take a deeper level of understanding of the instrument.

The hope is that this book will add to the readers knowledge and help them build a career through their instrument and enjoy longevity by maximizing the ability to move between different areas of the music industry to maintain a living from their passion.

The material in this book has been acquired from more than twenty years of playing, fifteen years of teaching, more than ten years of professional performance, and many interviews and conversations with great musicians.

The topics covered include how to maintain your equipment, how to stay healthy, how to market yourself professionally, how to overcome stage fright, how to manage your time, how to focus your mind, how to develop accuracy, how to develop certain drumming techniques, how to use modern music technology, how to select the right equipment, how to prepare for gigs and auditions, how to work in a studio environment, how to solo, and much more.

In order to tackle each problem immediately, each strategy or secret is described in a concise manner, breaking the problem down and offering practical solutions. The secrets are set out in a clear and easy-to-read layout so the book can be read in whole or used as a reference for specific issues when they arise.

Many of these strategies have helped me along the way so I hope that readers will find the book a useful addition to their drumming armory.

Matt Dean

www.mattdeanworld.co.uk

Acknowledgments

The ideas within this book were already compiled long before this book was ever conceptualized. Through years of my own playing and facing musical challenges, I have had to ask questions, seek answers, find solutions, and enjoy being lucky enough to receive great advice from teachers, peers, and colleagues.

Since my becoming a teacher of the drum kit, my students have constantly asked me the same kinds of questions I once asked myself. This has forced me to consider those answers even more deeply in order to address them adequately.

Therefore, I must thank every student who has ever asked me a difficult question or caused me to consider my own approach to drum kit playing. I would also like to thank tutors who have contributed to my knowledge over the years: Mike Sturgis, Pete Riley, Bill Bruford, and Andrew Small.

I would like to thank every drummer in the world, from seasoned professional to early beginner, who offered me daily inspiration and motivation. That list would be too large for me to include.

And, of course, I must thank my family: my parents who allowed me to follow my dreams, my wife who puts up with me following my dream, and my three-year-old son who accepts only spending time with me following my dream and who will at some point realize that hitting things with bits of wood isnt a real job. I love you all.

chapter 1

Practice Strategies

Secret 1: Time Management

Modern life is hectic; time is a valuable commodity, and most of us would like more of it. But most of us have also been guilty of procrastinating and time wasting at some point. This can greatly reduce our development as drummers if vast periods of potential practice time are squandered.

My typical week involves a combination of performances, rehearsals, recording sessions, article writing, teaching, and preparation. Much of this is scheduled with a very strict deadline, and somewhere within it I have to make sure Im ready for each commitment, not to mention family time and other leisure activities.

If we carefully plan our time, set our goals, and see the plan through, we can optimize how that time is spent and therefore develop much more effectively as musicians. While everyone works in slightly different ways, giving your practice sessions structure will vastly improve your efficiency.

Here are some tips to help you achieve this:

1. Plan practice sessions in your diary and dont let them slip away.

Having set periods for practice in your diary means that you are much more likely to carry out those practice sessions. That is your designated time to completely focus on that task. Leave any other issues at the door and allow your body and mind to optimize that time for developing your playing.

2. Dont multitask.

We often multitask in life. Although making a cup of tea while cooking dinner and carrying out a phone conversation might be a great time-saver, trying to practice several things at once results in no single aspect being given the full focus that it needs to acquire the necessary level of performance required at a professional level. Break your practice session into sections and use each section to concentrate on a single technique, passage of music, and so on. This way you will retain the information and body movements to a greater extent.