Family took a vacation this week to the dunes and I brought my practice pad and a single drumstick. Aka, my minimalist drum practice kit. I’ve crossed 40 hours and approaching 300k single strokes. My left hand is starting to feel strong. i can now go like 500 strokes without needing to rest. Today I did 12,000 all together. Mainly because I don’t have my guitar to practice.
Oh and I’m also feeling really happy about where I stand with songs. It has been a forever dream of mine to be able to perform a handful of songs reasonably well. I think I’ve performed live with 10 different songs so far. However, my routine has been to study one song for the next open mic, and then after that, doing nothing for several weeks until the next open mic and then practice a new song for a few days.
I’ve since come to realize that value of regular practice and have decided that I will practicing singing songs daily now too. It’s a new requirement. And I’m thrilled that of the songs I’ve learned this past year, there are four that I’m really pleased with:
- California Stars by Wilco
- I Love a Rainy Night by Eddie Rabbit
- Take Me Home Country Roads by John Denver
- Have You Ever Seen the Rain by CCR
Every day I will practice each of these songs at least once.
And that really is the best thing for me. Everything else so far, like drumming or even left hand strokes, is really just a distraction. It’s my mind trying to trick me into not doing what I really should be doing. That is, doing the thing which I find embarrassing and difficult.
But I’ve got it now man, things are changing…
