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Loved watching you record your song!!!

"Playing fast around the drums is one thing. But to play music, to play with people for others to listen to, that's something else. That's a whole other world." -Tony Williams

ABC ... Always Be Counting 😉

Best of luck to everyone on their drum journey!

Hi magnificent followers, I am so sorry for leaving the community for so long. I have been working through some difficult issues involving burnout (not the conventional type - the autistic type, which can be really debilitating). Life just gets overwhelming sometimes, and I find I am unable to do things even if they are interests or sources of joy, like drumming. It's similar to depression, but not quite the same. It's taking me time to pull out of it, but I am covering all my bases and attending to all aspects of self-care to avoid falling back. It's really frustrating that this happens to me, but I am better off if I just call it what it is and do what I can to just keep swimming along. There was a phase where I wasn't practicing drumming consistently, but hopping on the kit to mess around. Then I got back into practice but wasn't ready to come back to the community forum -- it was daunting to think, "What should I say about what's going on with me?" I decided to just tell it like it is, this would be better than staying away. I really have missed you all. I am 90% finished with the Warrior Way. I need to keep going, I want to accomplish this. I'm stuck on Basics of Groove Lesson 23, it's not coming together for me for some reason. I am also on Lesson 2 of Hand and Foot Doubles (not difficult, just putting in the time and effort). It will definitely take me more than a month to finish the last 11 lessons of WW, but I am determined. As I work on these, I have started to do a review of the entire WW. The beginner material is delightfully easy to play now (with a few exceptions of course 😆 )! I love going back, seeing my progress, and trying to perfect what I only did "well enough" before. Tell me what you're up to, and what I've been missing here!

@Juan awesome shuffle tunes and original songs by Body and The Soulers. I have a new band to follow. I appreciate your gesture Juan. Por cierto, let me know when we can do a zoom face to face, or anyone for that matter, if they'd like to join in. Much has happened. SDS level 2 is over...pumped up! I have also been playing with musicians and we already have our song list Best of luck for you Juan and for all my SDS friends!

Hi, everyone! I have been a drum warrior since the beginning of may and it has been an amazing adventure. Learning to practice in a deliberate way has already made some importante differences in my progress and my confidence! Very motivated and impressed by Stephen's important lessons and tips in The Art of Practice course. Glad to be in this journey with you all. Cheers.

Ups! Almost passed this unnoticed 🤩

Hey There, My name is Eric. But of course you know that if your on this page. I am 64 yrs. young, Have been tryin to be a drummer for about 50 of those. Early influences were CCR, Cream, Grand Funk and many more. I am petty much all self taught, Ya know, Listen and try. Over & over till it sounds Good. Problem being was I was bangin it out. but everyone said it sounded good but I was working to hard. ( Learn the Rudiments ) So here I am an old impatient man trying to learn all this stuff after doin it wrong in 4-5 different bands. God Help Me. Oh I forgot to mention, I trying to do all this new stuff, with & on new stuff I.E. E =Drums.

Sharp Dressed Man- ZZ Top (Drum Fill) ☮️🥁💟😎🤙🏼

Today is my second drumming anniversary. I received my first kit, an Alesis Nitro e-kit, on March 8, 2020. That was also the day I joined Stephen's Drum Shed. And that afternoon I learned the "money beat". Since that day I have completed the Warrior Way and almost every other lesson in the SDS curriculum. I started studying with Nate Smith at 80/20 Drummer, Jacob Evans at Drum Flow Coaching, and Rob Lee who is a professional player in St. Louis. I've studied drumming and drum teachers now for two full years. IMHO @Stephen and his teaching methods are second to none. That's why I'm now a lifetime member. Thank you Stephen Taylor, Grant Jenkins, Tim Buell, guest artists and all the supportive members of the SDS community. I am having fun!

Hey Gang! It’s been a hectic month but, IM BACK at it! Great to see you all again! ☮️🥁💟

Trying to complete the profile notice but it always ended in errors. So, I removed it and was able to dismiss the notice as well. About to switch from a Roland mesh kit to using my limited edition Premier bop kit with silent cymbals and remo silent stroke heads. The heads are still in transit but I'll definitely post my experiences with switching and the differences I notice. I am guessing rebound will change drastically.

If your world rocks, it's cus you know a drummer! 😎 🥁

Even though I'm not playing at tempo, or even completely correct, I'm having so much fun playing songs. Who'd a thunk I could be doing something this enjoyable? Drumming helps my mood almost as much as hanging out with my Grand-kids does.

Hey, I forgot we got our very own pages in the community, so why not post something… I had a bit of a breakthrough regarding my speed development. I have been frustrated about how slow I am to develop speed. At first it was a technique issue, but I resolved that and am still slow to advance. Now I realized it’s a combination of two things: 1) my mind not keeping up with the rhythm, slowing down my hands, and 2) needing more hand conditioning. I started applying myself more deliberately to doing a six-stroke roll exercise (it’s actually a fill from one of the lessons — doing double-duty with this exercise). It’s sixteenth notes. First, I assessed my comfortable speed and noted that it’s faster than when I used to try this type of exercise — around 50 bpm now as opposed to 35-40 back then. Progress already just by resolving the technique issue. I am increasing 1-2 bpm per day, and putting in the time trying to smooth it out and allow my mind to track what my hands are doing. This is important. I’m up to 54 bpm now, and I just realized that if it were eight notes, that’s 108 bpm. I think the fact that it’s a six-stroke beat also helps me push a bit both mentally and physically. When I go down to eighth notes, and 4/4, it will seem easier because of the pushing this exercise helps me to do. Now…I just need to be consistent.

128 bpm | More Dance SDS Playalong https://youtu.be/TML4j0IRpJ0

Hey Guys and Girls. I’m so excited I had to leave the ahead for a while but I’m back!!! I’m so pumped to get back into the swing of things God is Awsome!!! Stephen you and Grant are great and I’m so pumped!!!!!!!

Oh my. Thank you early COVID online colabs, apparently? I just tripped over some drum stuff onto this gem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxyYro62_BM Happy Monday.

TGIF!

Overall my practice has been pretty steady for the last several months making progress with the SDS curriculum. The weekly calls and this forum help me to feel more connected and stay motivated. So being over 60 with luck of arthritic thumbs and other finger joints has been frustrating and more recently: a practice killer. In about 10 days I will undergo a fusion of left thumb (screw middle to proximal joint), and remove the trapezium bone,then attach a tendon from the forearm to the proximal to keep it in place. Doc said is a fairly common practice and will not notice much restriction, just no more pain. Six weeks completely immobilized and 6 months to recover. Not looking forward to the process, but I am excited at the prospect of having less pain. The more positive thing is I've taken advantage of these last few weeks down time to rewire and setup a more comfortable practice room instead of just being in my dusty old workshop storeroom. Have a scheduled practice today in about an hour that I've been thinking about for a couple weeks > going to have to take it easy and start working on improving transcription skills to keep my MOJO. Thanks to The Shed for keeping me on track.

New to the whole drum scene I have a strong desire to do the best at anything I am interested in I LOVE THE DRUMS

"All great drummers steal from other drummers. Learn as much as you can from as many inspiring drummers as you can. Collect all the things you like best from them and somewhere in the middle of all that knowledge and your own, very individual brain, is your own style." ~ from a very good touring drummer I met in Germany. I no longer remember his name.

still chipping away everyday - taking the weekend of playing

Welcome Nicole! So glad you joined! Hope you are finding you way easy through the site and lessons. Let us know in the forums if we can help somehow.

Welcome Rusty! Hope you feel at home here and have fun with the lessons. Don't miss the chance to form part of this great community too. Everyone is very supportive and can really help a lot.

I am taking a mental health break. I have a lot of tough things I’m dealing with right now. Nothing tragic, but just overwhelming. I can’t listen to music right now (just ambient nature sounds) and need to let myself just shut down a bit. I will be back, you know it!

Back in the saddle finally! Got some catching up to do after Covid but I feel great. Following my practice pages religiously and staying patient! It's like starting a book and not peaking at the ending before you are done...lol! Still loving this and getting a little bit better every practice.

good morning! first here, thats for sure Well, first day, we'll see

Been out with Covid for awhile so haven't felt quite up to practicing yet. Actually tested positive again AFTER first quarantine and have to quarantine TWICE due to a "rebound" effect from medicines to treat it! If not for a CRAZY ITCHY RASH and a red swollen face, I would be playing by today but the heat is too much in the shed just yet...thats o.k. though. I'll stare at it from the house just a few more days and then it is ON !!! LOL

There's only one person out of seven and a half billion that think I will fail.

Just finished my very first lesson on the Warrior Way on gripping and drum beats. LOVED IT!!! Seeing the sheet music as you practice makes it all come together for me! Amazing 👏 when it starts to click...My reward was spending the last 10 minutes of the hour banging out Back in Black and actually understanding what I was supposed to do!! I LOVED it! Look forward to tomorrow 😊. Cochise here I come!!!!

Juan, I love the support and hope I can live up to the expectations! Lol I have never posted ANY type of video in my life so it will be a minute before I catch on to that one. I'm also very "stage shy" but will give it a try. Oh yeah....dont forget "Fell on Black Days", yet another great one by Soundgarden! Though I do find myself meshing with "Break Stuff" by Limp Bizkit for sure!!! Funny.....when my husband's small mens church group comes over on Saturday mornings he can find them all in the shed getting down to "Down with the Sickness" by Disturbed. Gotta love that.....

Today' s concert was given by Ghost Woman. A Canadian band that have a very laid back and a bit psychedelic sound on some songs, yet a more rock sound on others. It was in an even smaller venue "La Salvaje", that programs gigs every week, and will be one of my main sources of live performances. Again few people, about 25, and the band at hand's reach. The drummer performance brought to me some of the same impressions as of yesterday. Again just a 3 piece kit wit a ride and HH as only cymbals. Again much more playing on the ride than on the HH. A lot of snare+floor tom grooves. Some songs did just have an eventual debbie, and one song did not even have that or any crash at all. The more rock sounding songs were faster, with more snare work and some rack tom. One beat was just two kicks two double handed notes on snare followed by the same on the rack tom. I liked the sound of the drums better than yesterday. Very well balanced, thumping, round an deep. The ride more clearly audible. Totally different music styles, something in common: groove. I came out more determined to make groove my main practice track.

I believe I'll be searching for better drum beats this easter weekend instead of eggs.

Went and watched an Open Mic Night. Didn't play, but it was cool to watch and think about the possibility of being able to join in.

I did a thing today 😁 I recorded 6 songs (for an EP I’m releasing sometime soon) I haven’t been in a recording studio playing drums for forever ago. One of the things I was scared of was playing to a click track. Years and years ago it always tripped me up but today I played with the click drowning out the music. In the past I think I was scared of the click track due to everyone’s timing being loose (mine included). Since joining SDS and going through even the beginning lessons of the beginner track, I knew that fear was in my head and I had the confidence to pull it off, and I did. We’ll, not on the first take, or even the second, third, and for one song the seventh take. But at the end of the day I had the drum parts for all 6 songs recorded. Next session I record Bass and guitars. I am so thankful to have found this site and this community. And I look forward to advancing as a drummer by following through the warrior way. I still got a long way to go as I’m still going through the beginner track, deconstructing bad habits and faulty areas in my playing I overlooked when first playing drums at age 15 (and taking the last 20+ years off) I’m 52yrs young now. ok, rambling over haha. I just feel a huge win for today. Tomorrow, it’s back to hunkering down and continue on the path of the warrior way, one lesson at a time 😊 I’ll post some audio when I get a mix back. I wish I would have filmed. But, there will be more songs to record down the line 😊

Hand Technique 101 lesson Three- Gladstone Technique I understand what I’m suppose to do, but my brain isn’t relaying to my hands yet haha. My hands are subconsciously trying to keep the grip on the sticks during the DROP where I notice the rebound gets stifled. I also notice that when my stick hits the pad it’s all over the place and not consistently hitting the same spot, which I turn, takes my focus away from what I’m trying to do. it’s frustrating, but I just stop take a breathe and believe that this is the process. I wouldn’t be taking this track if I knew proper hand technique haha. While my Right (dominant) hand is doing better than my Left (weaker) hand which has no coordination or accuracy. Tomorrow I’ll keep plugging away. Even though I have a lot of work to do, it’s still a WIN because I’m finally recognizing and analyzing my weaknesses and working a plan to strengthen those areas. Something in the past I never did. I’m leaving the practice room with a smile and looking forward to tomorrows practice session.

hi guys how are you new member here i am so pumped about this program i think we can all admit that there is no other lesson/teacher as good as this program, the community here is so positive and supportive I'm looking forward to a great drumming journey

Congrats on student of the month love your blue kit!

Tonight I took a suggestion from @chantale and made it work for me. A while back, she suggested "Wish You Were Here" and "Still Loving You" as slower songs to practice Common Kick Patterns too. I finally got around to adding the songs to my AnyTune app. I was able to slow them down and play the patterns while enjoying it much more. Tonight was the first time in a while that I felt like I was playing the patterns and enjoying them rather than just going through the motions. Thanks for that @chantale

Kind of an interesting night. Just wasn't feeling anything at all today or tonight. Sat down for practice anyway, and tried a warm up song I haven't done in a while. Amazingly enough, I remembered the whole song without using the sheet music. And, I was able to play it pretty well. This made me think about another conversation that happened here previously talking about walking away from topics and coming back to them. What a great feeling. This propelled the rest of my practice to another level. Then, I decided to adjust my ride to a crash level (since I don't have a 2nd crash) for playing Seven Nation Army. How much freakin fun was that? I absolutely nailed that song and had so much fun playing it tonight. Guess the shopping for a new crash will be happening soon. 😁 Hope your practice was as fun as mine!

When it's slow at work, all I can think about is getting on my kit. And the day draaaaagggsss on. 😎

Ok I am officially a drummer now if I wasn’t before…I have a sore muscle in my forearm. Time to put the sticks down for a while!

Killing time in between dives in the Red Sea and hopefully rusting less. Sending greetings to all the community.

Almost 2 months working on BM1 and I've made so much more progress than the previous year. My self learning was way out of whack. Everyone here at the Shed has been so helpful on my journey. With any luck, I'll be playing an actual full song at speed and in time very soon. Until then, you get to listen to this version of a warm-up. 😉 🤘🤘

SDS February 2021 Monthly Challenge Winner. Wanless Go-cart, Waterslide and Bumper-Boat Fun Park: December 1985 Employee of the Month (disputed)

Danke für die nette Begrüßung hier. Habe mich sehr gefreut. 😊

Hi all...posting this to complete my warrior way boot camp assignment. Started on Beginner track basic beats. Goal today was to figure out why my right leg hurts when playing bass for a while. After looking at the bass technique lesson, I noticed that the pedal was fully depressed when I am relaxed, so for each stroke I was having to pull my foot up by contracting my hip flexors and/or shin muscles. Increased the tension on pedal so the beater sits a couple inches off the drum head when my leg is resting on the pedal. Problem fixed. No more pain.