As comments filter in for this week's lesson, one thing is becoming clear:
I didn't underestimate how underrated this topic is.
Let's back up.
In my usual tradition of choosing super clickbaity titles, then actually trying to deliver on the promise, I called this week's...well, you can see the subject of the email.
So, what do great drummers do?
First answer, obviously, "maaaad chopz broooooo".
Obviously, you know that's wrong. Just like Vizzini in The Princess Bride, you probably anticipated that my opening salvo would be a misdirection.
Fair enough.
But, judging by the comments on the lesson, people were stumped after that.
Dynamics?
Intensity?
Groove? (yup, that's another one - just not the one that's the subject of this lesson)
Reminds me of the fish in David Foster Wallace's now famous anecdote: "what's water".
Well, this lesson will show you that water. It will show you that wall's a mirror, and the restaurant is half the size you thought.
It's so interesting, because so many drummers get this wrong, so it stands to reason many don't even know "it's a thing". I didn't.
It's "playing clean"
To illustrate, I like to compare the Blue Devils to a high school drumline.
They're tighter, right?
They play together as a cohesive unit.
Well, great drummers sound like that. And novice drummers don't. They play...uncoordinated. They're not...together with themselves.
Once you see it, you can't "unsee it".
But here I'll teach you how to practice it.