My drum practice now averages 10 hours a week. I’m organized, I’ve a long-term plan, a 6-month plan, and monthly, weekly, daily practice plans. The practice space is in order, I’ve an accountability partner, a master teacher, workshops planned for the summer. I have deep listening sessions nearly everyday. I practice rudiments with my feet, I play along with great recordings. I’ve studied the history of jazz drumming. I’ve amassed over 90 tracks which have no drums. My jam partners have names like Oscar, Benny, Marc, Jim, Keith, Diana, and Barney. I’ve worked on my time. I’ve listened to over 400 episodes of drummer’s resource podcast. It goes on. Over the last decade since I’ve started, I’m about 5,000 hours in. I’ve listened to thousands of hours of practice sessions. Maybe 100 gigabits plus on my hard drive. I hang with other adults on a similar journey. How are my hands and feet? My spirit? Happy. (My long term goals.
It has been a great way to spend my 50s. Now to think ahead to my quickly approaching 60s. The video below suggest ideas around staying in the game.
Cheers, David
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Another night of big band playing. Wow what blast, I'm grateful to have been invited. What did I learn? Some thoughts on my performance that come to mind are:
Going forward:
Now I'm off to see Terry Clarke for some coaching. Happy Swinging, David Last Wednesday I showed up at new boxing club for a cardio workout. Full of young bucks swinging away. Yikes. A couple of old guys, I was definitely the oldest. Over the next 60 minutes there was:
Wow, I'm still standing. I'll be back. David Story A little practice goes a long way, 30 minutes a day restored my touch but not my endurance4/11/2019 ![]() Piano update. I teach piano: jazz and classical piano. The piano has fed me for over 40 years. But, as you know from reading this blog, I'm devoted to learning to play the drums with the dream that maybe someday my drumming will equal my piano playing. So, piano practice has been neglected. Over the last few weeks, I've been practicing 30 minutes a day advanced classical repertoire. Tonight I went to my first jam since starting this project. My friend Tim has a lovely well maintained piano. The guys all play well, they are friends. They all noticed a change in my playing. The piano was singing. Cool. Next week 45 minutes a day. Cheers, David |
AuthorDavid Story: Professional pianist, drummer, composer, and educator. Well into his 5th enthusiastic musical decade, David works with adults pursuing musical dreams in the autumn of life, while he maintains an active presence in the Toronto arts scene. Categories
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