2 hours!!

I practiced for 2 hours today!! I'm so amazed that i found time for that given all i have going on. but whew.

I practiced for an hour on just my practice pad tonight outside, and it was so much fun. I love just getting outside in teh cool air and practicing for hours and hours. It just never seems to get old. If i had nothing but time I like to think that i would spend all my free time just outside practicing.

Then tonight i practiced on the kit for an hour. It was a pretty good practice times, have been all of my practice times lately. Its been about the only positive thing staying constant everyday, and by positive i guess i mean life giving in that it brings me consistant joy everyday, its awesome, and ITs soo cool to see God work through all of that with me to bring me happiness in what he's called me to do.

I worked on the 4-way coordination stuff for about 30 minutes tonight. I've got all the hand oriented excerices pretty well figured out and worked out, but when it gets to the feet stuff i just can't get it. I think iv'e found my weak spot, my feet. I apparently have virtually no coordination of my feet - awesome!

Then I started working on the wilcoxon stuff in 6/8. Tonight i finally felt like i was getting the hang of it, how encouraging!! Awesome.

Wes

Tuesday, November 28th, 2006

Tonights practice was really really fun.

I spent the majority of the time working in teh 4-way coordination book, and feel like i'm making some really good progress with these exercises. I haven't been warming up and practicing the 42 excercise like i need to be, but i still feel like my practice times are being really productive.

Near the end i began working on the interdependence stuff out of the wilcoxon book and finally felt like I made a break through witht eh 6/8 stuff. Its not near good, but i'm getting the hang of it i feel. Boom chic chic, boom chic chic :)

cool

Wes

Its not thanksgiving anymore.

Tonights practice was cool - its really cool to be able to come in and play and have my mind cleared and focused on just what i'm doing even though life is uber crazy.

The independence stuff is coming along. Not as nicely as i had hoped, but i'm really getting the hang of it - its encouraging. The 6/8 foot pattern for the interdependence stuff however is not coming a long at all it seems. Its very frustrating - but i'll keep at it. Cool.

Wes

Wednesday, November 15th, 2006

Practice tonight was pretty fun. I worked a little on the interdependence stuff, but not a large deal.

Tonight i just had fun playing drums - which i haven't done in a while. I just jammed out, and worked on some other stuff nothing big. However, this week i've noticed that my hands and wrists are really really sore and my arms are hurting - i'm not sure why, but i really need to figure it out cause its got me worried.

But yeah, practice = life giver today.

Wednesday, November 15th, 2006

Practice tonight was pretty fun. I worked a little on the interdependence stuff, but not a large deal.

Tonight i just had fun playing drums - which i haven't done in a while. I just jammed out, and worked on some other stuff nothing big. However, this week i've noticed that my hands and wrists are really really sore and my arms are hurting - i'm not sure why, but i really need to figure it out cause its got me worried.

But yeah, practice = life giver today.

Tuesday, November 14th, 2006

I didn't practice again today - i'm just really behind on school work, plus a bunch of ridiculous stuff happend at my house. On top of that, it seems like i'm just having a hard time getting movtivated lately - i think its probably because since PASIC i haven't really been in the mental mindset of my daily routine, so i'm just gonna have to get back into it.

cool.

Monday November 13th, 2006

Practice today - did not happen. Mondays are my crazy days, school til 5, tutoring til 7, then i had rehearsal for worship, and after that it was late so there was only homework and sleep left in my day. So yes. That is monday.

Mhm Klar?

So todays practice was pretty productive i feel. I started out with the 52 excercise at 140 BPM going all the way up to 16 and back down to 1. This whole excercise took about 16 minutes - man was my left arm dyin. I did the excercise with my hardimanns - it was a good work out. I really want my traditional left to be as strong and capable as my match left is - if not better. It was a good warm up time.

Then i moved on to the solo pieces with the ostonattos underneath. 1-4 weren't where Dave wanted them on thursday, even though i felt that i was doing pretty well - so given that in a weeks time with an hour of practice each day i'm not making the kind of progres he wants me to be making - then i'm left with a decision - do i decide to do the best i can with that hour each day and just know i'm doing all i can with that time allotted, or do i start sacrificing other things in my life to be able to practice two hours a day? One behind the kit, and another strictly working on my hands. I wonder how much better i could get in 2 hours of practice a day over the course of the school year. I've gotta pray about it - but something in my heart tells me that not only could i do 2 hours of practice, but that i could do two hours a day. We'll see.

Solo's 5-8 didn't get a whole lot of attention today - i was still working on trying to clean up 3 and 4. I hope they come a long way by thursday - and certainly by performance seminar - which i still don't know what i'm doing so i'm a litter nervous cause i don't know what to concentrate on - but i'm sure i'll be ready by that time comes.

Alright thats all for today. God Bless.

Wes

Tuesday, October 17th

Practice tonight - was not so much.

I practiced some, worked on the interdependence stuff some more, which is coming along.

but this jazz stuff - its the most frustrating thign i've ever done.

also i'm just warn out and exhausted - having other stuff due the same week as midterms is absolutely ridiculous. So i'll probably be up all night again just trying to study and put my focus on midterms since our schedule never gave us the luxury of being able to focus on midterms this years. its very frustrating indeed. oh well.

Wes

all my blogs recently should say "october".

all my blogs shouldn't say september. wow.

Tonights practice was cool. I had fun. Worked on the interdependence stuff some more. I'm really enjoying that.

Started working on my jazz stuff - i don't get it. Its frustrating. and i just don't get it.

wes

Sunday, September 15th, 2006

Tonights practice was just fun.

While not as productive as it may have necessarily been in lou of what i need to get done for my lessons - i still had a blast, and it was just one of those practices where God reminded me that, hey, i can do that stuff, how cool! I have gotten SO FAST, sometimes i can't even believe it - and i've been pulling off these fills that i never even understood before, and i'm starting to undeerstand how to do other wicked fills taht i still can't do, but atleast before couldn't even understand and now i can. Its so encouraging. I just want to get to that place as a player, where it just starts gettign easier and easier to learn new concepts, even the harder ones. I want to be excellent some day.

I finished by devoting serious time to the bio bass thing. I got frustrated and started working on doing a triplet with my hands over hte bio bass - i can't do it. Until i can, i don't even want to look at the piece. I've got to get this - i think this is the key that will open it all up for me.

Wes

Saturday September 14th, 2006

Practice was cool today. I practiced for about an hour before church - and it brought me joy.

I started working on the interdependence pieces and got frustrated and moved on - it wasn't until the end of practice that i finally started to get it.

The jazz piece is not so much right now. Piece number one is no sweat really - other than the back beat stuff.. not sure how to do that when my hands are playing triplets. Piece 2 is a bothersome little diddy - but i hope to have it by my next lesson.

Wes

Thursday, September 12th, 2006

So today i practiced over lunch, and the Jazz piece really felt good - Praise God!! He has helped me so much in my practice times. I ran through the interdependence pieces - they're still a bit rough but i feel better about them than i did.

So i went on to lesson - found out i had been practicing the bio beat wrong, bummer, however dave complimented me on the jazz piece, which was encouraging. Then, just when i thought i was gettign off the hook - he throws me a curve ball. I've gotta put the piece on the kit. I feel like i should be able to get it - but some of it is just confusing to me right now. I hope it really comes along in practice times this week.

Wes

Wednesday, September 27th, 2006

Practice over lunch - there's nothing better.

I'm kind of starting to freak about this jazz excercise too - i know i've got the chops under my hands, but its just my reading chops that are getting me hung up. But durign todays practice God really helped me out and i really started to get hte hang of what i was doing. I even got to practice it with the track a couple times before i had to go. Good times.

Wes

Mhm Klar?

Practice today was pretty fun. No lie, i started working on that thing that Lester Estelle showed me in my dream. haha, its ridiculous. I can't quite do it yet because i haven't found/worked up a way to do consitant fast doubles on my bass drum to go inbetween the licks, but it sounds cool at slow tempos regardless. So exciting.

Started working on the jazz pieces again, as well as the interdependence ones. Excercise two i'm still having trouble with, probably because i haven't practiced it enough. There are so many consistant notes that i always lose the count. But i'll get it.

So yeah, practice was good. I really need to get back in the habit of warming up. cool.

Tuesday, September, 26th

Practice tonight was fun.

I worked on Sync. 1 and 2. 1 isn't very hard, and there are only a few measures that confuse me from time to time, but i just cannot get the hang of Sync 2. The Bo-da-bo-da-bo-dop followed by almost anything confuses the holy heck out of me and i just can't get it back together after that. Its really frustrating.

On the brightside, the solo no.1. with bio-bass and samba-bass is coming a long nicely. Not as clean as i'd like it to be, but i'm doing better with it than i thought i would be so that was encouraging. I practiced some other random technique stuff before i called it a night.

Wes

Monday, September 25th

Practice tonight didn't go so well.

I started out wanting to work on my jazz pieces, but i just got frustrated and bombed out, plus on being tired - i basically just stressed out, and decided to just call it quits after a while and head home.

Wes

Saturday, September 23rd

Practice today was really fun.

I worked on the interdependence stuff mostly, and i'm already starting to get the hang of it. Its just a matter of setting it, and forgetting it - as far as my feet go, and just really concentrate on what my hands are doing. Still not perfect or anything, but i'm working on it.

For the rest of practice i was working on some groove stuff, and some jazz patterns. I don't know what happend today, but i feel like my hands just escalated in speed/control by like 2 fold. Its really encouraging too see that kind of instantaneous growth in myself as a result of tons of prayer and obviously the Lord blessing me with ability.

Practice was really awesome today.

Thursday, September 21st

Todays lesson was really awesome. Dave started me on some interdependence stuff and i'm siked.

I left lesson and went straight to the drum room and started working on it. ITs really challenging but i think thats why i like it. I worked on it as long as i could before app seminar started, and man was it so much fun!. It rocks face. I'm having trouble seperating my feet from my hands or visa-versa, but with some practice i know i'll get it.

WEs

Wednesday, September 20th

Todays practice wasn't as productive, necessarily, as i wanted it to be. I feel really stiff all over, mostly from last nights performance i'm sure, but regardless i still worked on the material.

The material has been coming pretty easily. The only thing that i really struggle with is to make sure i'm not accenting the third hit. The patterns are pretty mindless really once you get em under your hands. None the less, I enjoy it. They are good excercises.

After that i just worked on some groove stuff, and tried to loosen up some more but i just couldn't get loose, so I went through the jazz excersises again, playing them in procession, over and over a few times, and that about wrapped up pracice.

Wes

Tuesday September 19th

Today there was no practice time, because i went and played with Verde. It was a really good time, i know everyone had a blast, and i got to meet with God. We raised a good amount of money froma congregation so small - it just shows Gods faithfulness and it shows me that God is honoring what we're doing. It was a really awesome time.

Wes

Monday September 18th

Tonight practice went pretty well. No new walls jumped over or anything, but it was good.

I practiced the funk solo for tuesday. I got a pretty good hang of it now. I think i just make things to difficult in my mind when i see it on paper. It went well though.

I then started working on the jazz exercises. They came pretty quickly. Only one or two really challenged my brain, but i got 'em with some work. I'm excited about the jazz stuff - mostly just because it will expand my interdepence chops. Its good stuff.

Alright, short blog, but i think that really covers practice tonight. lol

Sunday September 17th

Today i was surprised when the school was open and ther was stuff going on. After rehearsal for 'verde' which i had fun at by the way, I went in to the drum room and rocked it out for a while. I just kind of entered in to it with the purpose to have a good time practicing, and man, I had a really good time. I was impressed at some of the stuff i was pulling off solidly. And dang. I have gotten so fast. I have been pulling off some ridiculous fills lately, and pulling them off well. It really excited me to just see that kind of improvement in myself. I hope that at the end of the next two years when i graduate, i will be an absolutely excellent player. I just want Gods grace to allow me to learn and digest the concepts that are being thrown at me well enough to make them a solid part of my playable catalogue so to speak.

Thursday September 14th

todays practice wasn't the full hour as it should have been just becuase of time restraints. I just kind of did some touch up work on my solo for tuesday, and had to cut it there. Stuff with the show, and classes, just didnt leave me with the time i needed today to get the whole hour in. Hopefully i'll get to make up for it later this weekend though.

Wednesday September 13th

Auditions went really well today I think. I dropped a frickin stick though, dang it. I REALLY need to work on that. I think its cause i naturally play with a really lose grip anyway, but, just something to be working on.

Tonight I walked into practice time, stopped, prayed that God would help me get this solo, and then got to work. Finally, it just clicked with me. I had a lot of fun playing this piece tonight. It was really encouraging to finally just get it and feel like i could play it well.

Admittedly though, i didnt spend as much time warming up as i should have. I really just wore out this solo, and playing some heat and other steve gad grooves that i love.

Tuesday September 12th

Practice today went better than yesterday. I'm still not where i feel i should be at with this solo. Its really frustrating. None of thee grooves are difficult, but yet for some reason i'm still stumbling through them. I would imagine its probably because my site reading chops arent up to where they need to be, so i focus to much on what i'm reading. Hard work, determination. I'll get it.

My bass drum chops are really coming along. I've been able to really make more sense of the muscle movements that i'm making to get different effects, and what it takes to get different things, its been really fun, and a really good time.

I've noticed that my left hand (when playing traditional) has also coming along really nicely too.

Tonight I worked on the audition material for the studio band tonight as well. haha, i played the american radio tune 15 times. haha how ridiculous. That songs just fun to play. I really nervous about tomorrow. Im' bringing my best though. Thats all i got.

Monday, September 11th

Today practice was kind of frustrating. Just being at the end of the day and having already been going all day long straight up until i started at about 8 or so, it just makes it hard to really get myself in the zone, but none the less I push forward. I worked on teh funk solo #1. For some reason i jut can't get the hang of some of these grooves, even though I feel like they should be coming ot me alot easier tan they are. I worked on this solo for quite some time toniht, as well as some of my other warm up excercises. I just pray that God wold continue to have grace on me that I might gain grasp of the concepts of what i need to learn here to be excellent at my craft, and that i may be able to puruse higher levels of laying even after my time at Visible School is completed.

Wed Sept 6th

Tonight was an absolute blast.

I first worked on the 1-2-3 excercise for a while, and started to work it up to a decent speed. I'm still catching myself putting right over left at the fastest tempos - it seems to be easier that way for some reason - but i'm trying to correct it and learn it the way that i correct.

After that I was working on some more interdependence stuff, and then - i started working up the audition tunes which was cool, though i really don't know what to expect or practice for the jazz tune, but i know the head well enough, so hopefully itll go good.

Tonight i started playing some heat, and i was very proud of myself - i have gotten so fast, its really encouraging. My bass drum chops have also started to really come along as well - tonight was a very encouraging night for me. Its awesome to see myself improve.

Tuesday Sept 5th

Okay. Wow. So the past four days i haven't been able to practice at all on account of Dougs wedding. Who knew it was so time straining to marry off your best friend. lol.

Today i did some simple warm ups, and got right to work on the lathem solo. So far it doesn't prove overly challenging, its just a matter of piecing all the grooves together smoothly. I'm afraid i'm not gonna have enough time to work this up to where i'm satisfied with it before lesson because of the wedding. We'll see.

Thursday Aug 31th

Today in Lesson me and dave warmed up with the lift stroke, then he began to show me its application on the kit. When he started talking about the whole already being lifted for the next following stroke on the next drum, it all started to click for me in my mind. He taught me the 1-2-3 excercise, whcih at first seemed simple, but it frustrated me when i couldn't get it right away. He assigned Solo #1 out of the Lathem book - I'm now happy that i worked out of that book for a lot of the summer, because im' expecting to recognize a lot of the rhythms and such things.

x

Tuesday August 28th

Todays practice was almost identical to yesterdays. I'm really starting to enjoy the lift stroke, and see some of its benefit around the kit. Its almost like i've freed up something that was holding me back as far as going drum to drum. I'm also really having a blast right now working on these jazz interdependence excercises. I'm thinking about working something up for performance seminar - we'll see how it works out though.

Wes

Monday August 27th

Today during practice i warmed up with the lift stroke excercises again. I then started in with my bass drum warm ups. I'm still hitting my roof at 80 bpm, and its frustrating. However, i've already noticed a difference in my bass drum technique - it doesn't feel lke i'm straining to get stuff out as much - tahts encouraging. After this I went to my interdependence excercises and worked on some of those. Today i was able to add in a hihat splash pattern over top of it all, and it was really exciting. I worked on this a while, then i started playing groove, and just working on my speed around the kit. My hands have come a long way - i'm really starting to get fast around the kit, and more free.

Wes

Saturday August 25th

Today I practiced on my practice pad. I warmed up with the lift excercises, 1, 2, 4.. and so on. Then i began working on rudiments, and to be honest.. it just kinda turned into just playing heat after a while. Though i did get to work on my cheeses, and i did work on the lift some more - tried to incorporate it into what i'm doing already. I'm starting to see some benefit in it already, its cool.

Wes

Practice

Today I had my first lesson of the Year. Dave began showing me the lift stroke. Its really hard for me to grasp on to right now because i just spent hte whole summer learning the free stroke, and working up my finger technique to really get a lot faster. I feel like i'm starting all over - but hopefully with some practice it'll start feeling more natural.

In my practice time, i began with my bass drum drills. Followed by going through the lift stroke excercises, then i began working on some of my interdependence exercises i've been working up lately. Its been pretty awesome so far.

Wes

Wed. August 23rd

Today practicing was a lot of fun. I began by warming up for ten minutes (approx.) by working on my bass drum technique, mostly in the area of singles. Of all my areas of technique, I really think this is one of my weakest, so i'm really trying to build some good muscle on my calfs, and teach those muscles good technique. After warm up I spent about 15 minutes working on some jazz excersises while keeping the standard jazz pattern on my ride, and doing some practice rhythms with my left hand while keeping 2 and 4 with my hi-hat foot. Then i began doing the same patterns as with my left hand now with my bass drum foot, followed by switching off the same pattern from hand to foot to hand, and so on. After word I just played some heat, and worked on my singles around the kit - I noticed that my left hand gets a little crazy when i turn to my floor tom, so i began working on my technique around the kit some, and will continue to work on that until i clean it up. After all this, i played some more heat, and then called it a day.