How did we get so distracted?

When I first picked up a pair of drum sticks, my goal was simply to create a rhythm that fit a song. I later began taking lessons (mainly ‘reading and rolling’) but when I played with friends, it was always a case of trying to play the drum part to a song. Then something changed. I don’t know how or when, but at some point technique -- chops -- became important. There were periods where technique was more important, far more important in fact, than making music. So here are some of my thoughts on how that might come about.

Teacher orientation
Some people see tradition as being immutable, sort of like ‘old time religion’. If it was good enough for my teacher and his/her teacher, and the teacher before that, then it must be good enough. And that means focusing almost entirely on technique, as laid down in drumming’s military roots.

What else is there to teach?
A teacher who has been traditionally schooled may see technique as the only objective. I know my early training dealt with reading and rudiments and never touched on playing music. In such a musical vacuum, technique is all that would seem to be available.

Lack of music education
It may not be the teacher who lacks a commitment to studying music. Perhaps you had no access to a teacher, or the teacher failed to engage your interest. Maybe you just didn’t see any point in studying. I’ve known musicians who refused to study – or even to listen to – music for fear it would ‘influence their creativity’.  There are many reasons or excuses for not studying, and not one of them holds true.  Those who study always turn out to be better players and better musicians.

Lack of interest in music
If all you care about is the drums and you’re not really into what the rest of the band is doing, then you may not be able to see past technique. I’ve seen a lot of out-of-work musicians who think this way.

Demands of more sophisticated music
Have you seen the videos of drummers auditioning for Dream Theatre? Without exception the candidates were technical monsters (tough choice for DT's members). As our tastes in music evolve, often the music we lean toward is more challenging. It’s natural to want our performance to keep up, and that usually means more technique. In this case, acquiring technique is beneficial -- so long as it's in service to the music.

Peer pressure
If we hang around with other drummers, it’s inevitable that we will compare notes. But eventually a challenge is issued and then it’s easy to move into a competitive mind-set. I went to an all-drummer college for a while, and we seemed to always be in ‘drummer mode’. We constantly discussed music, drums, drummers, and technique. And we compared. We compared ourselves to our school-mates, to local drummers we knew, to the drummers we admired, to whoever was in town. And we compared famous drummers to other famous drummers. The result was educational, but it also fostered a bit of an obsession with technique. And it inevitably showed in our playing.

Ego
Maybe I just want attention -- from the audience and from other drummers. If I sit at the back of the bandstand trying not to be noticed … well, what fun is that? So I’ll throw in something impressive, something that shows off my awesome chops! And the more I want attention, the more likely I am to show off.

Boredom
This goes along with the ego thing. If I’m not finding things interesting (or can’t orient my thinking to making it interesting for myself) then I may be inclined to do something other than contribute to the music. And that usually means either showing off, woodshedding on the job, or just goofing around. Again, technique wins and the music suffers.

Ignorance
I had a heck of a time when I began to get a lot of country gigs. It took me a while to figure out what the problem was. Actually the problem was simple: I tended to overplay. By that I mean that I played fills and turn-arounds quite liberally. A lot of times that just doesn’t fit the music. I managed to change my habit easily enough, but I was always curious as to how I got into that space. Now I know, and I blame Keith Moon! If you check out the more ambitious bands of the ‘60s -- the music I cut my musical teeth on -- you’ll notice that a fill every two bars was standard procedure. That’s what I learned to do and that became my ‘style’. There are still such music styles around, but mostly not. When you come across a new musical style, spend some time studying its traditions.

Admiration
I would love to be able to play, like … oh just about anyone. There are just too many great drummers to envy and to emulate. There’s no inherent problem with that, but when imitating your favourite player takes over, it might be a problem. I had a friend who loved Carl Palmer. Now Carl is a highly technical player, and in ELP he had a lot of freedom. But your work-a-day gig is not ELP, nor Rush, nor Dream Theatre. Besides, it’s always better to play like ‘you’ (which my friend eventually did).

Just don’t care
“It’s all about me; it’s always about me.” This one’s right up there with “I do what I want when I want”, and “Nobody tells me what to do”. Pity.