Bang the Drum

I love the fact that I play drums. I really do. There are a lot of really, really good drummers in the world, and I know I have a few years of solid dedication ahead of me if I ever wanted to be anywhere near as good as the dudes that are all over YouTube. Years. I feel that the drums come naturally to me, and that makes life a lot easier because if you know me, you know that I don't really like to stick with stuff and practice at it a lot. Some people are just natural guitar player and some people are just natural video gamers. Some people just are able to do things without even really trying. Thankfully, I can play the drums pretty good without really trying.

Yes, I'm tooting my own horn this morning, mainly because I'm proud of myself and my abilities. Nothing wrong with that, is there?

Well, I do want to be better. I want to be one of those guys on YouTube. I do. I just don't have the ambition, or the practice space/time to do so. Drums are loud, folks. And for those of you that don't know, I live in an appartment building, and I have neighbors above me and beside me. There is not really any way for me to practice on a full kit here at home. That means I only get to play during band practice on Mondays. Bummer. I try to take advantage of that time to get better, and I'm always mentally practicing. That's a huge part of the whole thing. I think about drumming, pretty much always subconsciously. And I drum on every hard surface I come in contact with, which I'm sure gets annoying for everyone else.

But yeah, drumming is a passion of mine and I want to be one of the best in the world. I hope someday I can get the dedication and the practice space to be able to reach that goal, and if not all the way, perhaps be recognized as one of the greats. I wonder how much lessons cost?

I remember reading something by some drummer somewhere, and he was saying that when he's on tour, he'll stop by the music store wherever he happens to be, and try to get a lesson with the instructor there, because there is always something new to learn from someone. That dedication is amazing to me, and I hope to someday get there, for real. And this drummer I talk about, though I don't remember off the top of my head who it was, was a really, really good drummer. Goes to show that no matter how good you think you are, you can always try to get better. If you think you have reached the best you can ever be, why are you still here?

You can apply this to everyday life. Whatever you are passionate about, you can always get better at it. It just takes that constant inner voice to tell you that you are not quite there yet. Just know that you will never be as good as the next guy, and use that as motivation. Just go do it. Just be better at it, whatever "it" is.