... I must have heard that from our church's drummer atleast six times yesterday, when in actuallity, he, was no beast at all. So, he can play the shout fast enough to sound like the Kentucky Derby, He can do his fills so fast that he misses his cymbals 90% of the time, and the clincher is that he feels that because he can double-bass, with ONE FOOT
he is doing things unimagined in the world of drumming.
So my question to him was, " Can you read?" He said no, and also that, it's not necessary, yet he considers himself a BEAST. I asked, "Do you go to sheds?" He said, no... and that he never thought about going to any... I asked, "Which drummers do you try to pattern? What style are you looking for? What identity are you trying to posses?" Real talk y'all, the only drummer he knows is Spanky, and that because we live in Philadelphia.
I sat next to him the entire service in awe. Not because of his Beast-ness.. LOL, but because there are a lot of drummers out there, who think they are doing big things, because they may have conquered a couple of obsticles in drumming... But by no means, does that make a BEAST out of you as a musician of anykind. I see it in the younger un-seasoned drummers, who play for licks and fills, and dont know what POCKET means.
Now, I am a member of this church, and after six-months, I started coming to rehearsals more frequently. I am getting back into my own practicing routine, because I want to play again... But what do you all suggest I do with this guy? Do I try to teach him? Do I take him to SNL sheds to help him sharpen his gift? Do I try hooking him up with some real thorough musicians so he can be challenged musically? Or do I just sit here with this fool, and after every lick, he looks at me and says I AM A BEAST! and then he misses his entire next lick because he is gloating and throws the song off... like he did all 6 times yesterday?
I am wondering, because I dont want to cause friction. But ole boy need to know that there is a world of drumming out there that he knows nothing about...