I started playing drums in July, the
very first instrument of any type that I've attempted to play. With
no prior knowledge of reading or playing music and barely knowing
each part of the drum kit I began taking lessons. Lets get this
straight; there's beginners... and then there's me, way down below
beginner level. Within the first month I was sitting at my drum kit,
blurry eyed from tears, staring at my snare drum sheet music I taped
to my crash cymbal. In that month I also learned simple beats,
including a bass snare bass snare rhythm
that is very basic but used a lot, excited I listened for it in every
song on my play list or radio. With this, I persevered knowing that
"anything worth having doesn't come easy."
Today
I came home from my normal Tuesday morning drum lesson, but today I
burst into tears the second I got home. I didn't do well in my lesson
today, so bad in fact my teacher told me that if I didn't want to
play drums, there's so many other instruments to learn. I'm bad at
focusing and during the hour long session of trying to play beats,
keeping my counting steady, and obtaining new information I am worn
down with trying so hard
to focus. This makes me constantly have a serious look, and I can
see how my teacher would think I don't enjoy playing drums. I left
with a drum teacher prescription dose of "HAVE FUN WITH IT!."
"Okay now do
that again. But, this time with confidence" has been spoken many
times by my cheerful purple and pink haired instructor. I thought
that I had confidence. I no longer cared what my hair looked like
24/7 or who thought my hot pink tights were a strange Sunday morning
church service clothing choice. I thought I had confidence until I
started hanging out with people who did, and until I started playing
drums. Timidly bouncing my stick against my snare drum and merely
tapping my foot to propel the pedal against my bass drum I got
through lessons. I can use cheesy pick up lines on a guy at the
T-Mobile booth in the mall but I can't hit a drum?! What kind of deal
is that! Confidence and a bit of aggression, officially added to my
to-do list.
"I'll play
three measures of our basic beat, then you come up with your own fill
to add on the fourth measure." Oh boy, did those words make me
nervous. Come up with a fill myself, with only the knowledge of the
two in a song I was learning and a resource sheet I had played
through maybe twice. First three measures played. My time to shine?
HAHA nope. I immediately freeze, uttering "UH. UH. UM. UH"
and staring at the drum set like it was a foreign object sent from a
alien ship that crashed through the wall of guitar center. Three more
measures played. With much hesitation I play a fill that I knew from
the song I had been constantly practicing, "Falls Apart" by
Sugar Ray. I knew in my SOUL, not my heart, my SOUL I could not
produce a good fill. Whatever fill I was going to think of was going
to sound stupid, be off beat, not impressive enough, too short,
and/or too long, it was immediately decided in my mind whatever I
played was going to sound like the drums that will be played in hell.
If there's drums in hell, its 100% definitely recordings of me. It
wasn't until this moment that I truly understood the phrase I see
plastered on Pinterest boards "Creativity starts when you lose
the fear of being wrong."
What
did I learn from playing drums? Even though its tough, I love it, and
its worth all the hours of effort, bruised hands, and tears. I get
what I put in. Its all worth it for when I DO get a beat, fill, or
song down. Don't be so serious. Get excited about something for once
in my teenage life, and act as if I really am excited. Talking to new
people is fun and interesting. I may have ADD, and its okay to ask
for help. Hit the bass pedal like you're squashing a bug. The more
you fail, the closer you are to succeeding. HAVE FUN. It doesn't
always have to be good, just try it out. If you don't like something,
stop doing it. Confidence is still something I need to work on. Just
go for it, even if it sucks. DONT PANIC WHEN ITS MY TURN TO DO A
FILL. Be aggressive when necessary. It's okay to be wrong. Stop
always automatically assuming that I'm wrong. Music is actually
magical. There is a WHOLE LOT of thought and effort put into every
one of my favorite songs or albums, appreciate that. What did I learn
from playing drums? A heck of a lot about myself, and maybe a bit of
drums mixed in there....
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