I have a question for all of my drummer friends, and I am asking this question very sincerely. The video you see below is of a fantastic young Japanese drummer named Senri Kawaguchi. Some of you may already be familiar with this very talented young girl. But, here is my question: There is rarely a day that goes by when I do not see some new drummers video posted on FB, YouTube, etc. So many of these people are fantastic players, and I cant say enough good things about many of them. But the pattern is generally the same: These people go into a room, shoot a video with some very impressive drum-nastics, and then post it on FB, YouTube, etc. My question to all of you is this: What are most of these people actually DOING with their drum-nastic chops, outside of making impressive solo videos? I raise this very sincere question for this reason: I completed my B.M. in percussion performance back in 1979, and have been teaching and playing a wide variety of gigs ever since then. I found out very early on that, if I wanted to be a WORKING drummer, it meant that I would have to play whatever was required to serve the music and FIT IN on each gig. This many times means playing VERY softly, or playing very simply, etc. For me, being a working drummer has never really been a matter of going out onto gigs and displaying my drum-nastic abilities. And inasmuch as I admire this young Japanese girl in this video, I think that even IF I could play like her, I dont know where I would actually play like this on a gig. Im certain that I could DEVELOP this style of playing if I saw a practical application for it, but frankly, I cant even remember the last time I went out on a gig and played as loudly and freely as the girl on this video. I admit that much of this is because, after I begin playing professionally, it did not take me long to tire of playing club gigs, and getting home at 3:00 am smelling like beer and cigarettes. I therefore gravitated to other types of work (jazz, Broadway shows, church gigs, symphonic, GB gigs, etc.). Can any of you relate to what I am saying, or are you actually going out on gigs and routinely playing out in the same way that this little Japanese girl is playing? Just an honest question. youtube/user/tkmdr
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 18:52:20 +0000
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