A lot of drum stuff these days is like "secrets of the pros", "how to sound more like the pros", "how to go from intermediate to pro"...
And that leaves a BIG segment of drummers out.
The biggest, actually! What if you don't want to go pro?
What if you're not trying to play in stadiums, or go on tour, or “break out”?
A couple of weeks ago I did a video called "What if you've ever thought 'I suck at drums'". In it, I was tackling stuff we all face like imposter syndrome and being overly self-critical, and how to break out of that.
One comment I got on that video hit me between the eyes. I’ll paraphrase: “For those of us who don’t want to go pro, can we still enjoy drums?”
There’s way more context and emotional content in the full quote, which I share in the video, but wow! I hate to see people suffering because they’re comparing themselves to the best-drummers-of-all-time, genuinely not knowing if their lot in life is to feel crappy every time they sit down to play.
So I recorded this video more or less off the cuff as a response.
Of course you can. But the interesting part is why.
First off, comparing ourselves to social media is bad - but not for the reason (in my opinion) you might suspect. It’s not only that we see “better” drummers and find our playing wanting by comparison. It’s that social media skews our very definition of “good”.
Next, I hadn’t quite realized how big a tribe of “high-level amateurs” exists in drumming, and how good these folks can become, and how much they can enjoy drumming.
Then it hit me: high-level amateurs exist in practically any activity.
Not all good skateboarders are Tony Hawk. Not all good skiers are Bode Miller. Not all good golfers are Tiger, not all good cyclists are Tadej Pogecar, etc. But the difference is that drums are much more solitary. Sure, we play in bands from time to time, but we don’t play drums in groups with other drummers the same way we do golf, tennis, racquetball, jiujitsu, etc.
So we don’t see this “hidden tribe” of drummers.
Finally, I play an old classic - the “threshold effect”. Yes, you’ll always be “reaching” for the next level, or chasing challenges you find interesting. But you do reach a level above which drumming feels good for the majority of the time.
So I send this out to all the drummers who want to feel good playing, but have no interest in being the next Larnell or Weckl, and are wondering if there’s a brighter day available to them.
It gets better.
Hope you enjoy!