First-things-first -
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In music, in sports, and in fighting, there are the "highlight reel" skills:
Slam Dunks and Single Strokes
Quarterback Sacks and Double Pedal
Wins By Knockout and Odd Meter Solos
Berimbolo/Inside Heel Hooks and Blast Beats
Then, there are the "adult" skills.
Those unsexy skills that won't get you girls (or guys)...
...but they still take a lot of work.
For that category, I humbly submit brushes and half-guard.
You already know what brushes are.
Somebody on Instagram told me that was a "narrow analogy" because not every drummer knows what half guard is.
I replied, visualizing perturbed-Jimmy-Stewart at his typewriter, that every drummer worth a damn knows what half guard is;)
Well, I'm going to help you be "worth a damn".
Half guard is like the last resort when you're getting smashed by a grappling opponent, but you still have one leg to work with.
Instead of turning upside-down and ensnaring him acrobatically, you're mostly-squashed, and you're fighting for inches.
Half-guarders aren't dashing leading men. They're slightly-unsavory characters who have "made their bones". They're not Neo; they're Cypher.
The same is true of true brush artists.
When the chips-are-down, you can count on them to do-what-they-do, and what they do is live according to a byzantine internal code that eschews flashiness and embraces the Grind.
But here's the thing about half-guarders and brushians: like Bane, they welcome a bad situation. They live for it.
Paul Schreiner likes to let you think you're passing, snare you like an anaconda, then have his way with you.
Ed Thigpen could play ballads all night. He found a million miles of nuance in a few decibels of volume.
So, my drummers, I ask you: do you want to be transparently-glory-seeking? Then crumble at the first sign of trouble?
Or do you want you want to be the drummer from the Rated R movie?
The guy/girl with a few too many tattoos in the wrong places?
A few phone numbers you should probably delete.
If it's the latter, join me on this journey to the dark side.
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