Julia

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!  

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! 

I’m practicing “Dreams” with particular focus on two things: 

1 - loops to master the transitions between parts of the song.

2 - bringing those loops up to slightly beyond the original speed of the recording so when I drop back I will relax and flow better.  Original speed is 121 bpm, I did a few loops at a slower speed, but on the last one, I made this decision to ramp up the speed in steps.  Last four measures of Bridge 2 into first two measures of Verse 2.  It was rough for a while, but started to smooth out.

Despite the fact that I can play at faster speeds than I could before, I am still not where I want to be with speed.  So I am now making the commitment to put in more time playing within the 120-130 range.  It doesn’t have to be anything difficult — in fact, the simpler, the better.  The idea is just to get that bpm range to feel more normal and natural.  

Life update:  my beautiful cat has had a medical crisis and is in emergency care.  I am feeling highly stressed.  I received updates today that she is stabilizing.  She has acute kidney disease which, once controlled at the emergency vet, will continue to be treated at home.  I will need to administer subcutaneous fluid, which apparently is a common thing that moms and dads of older animals need to do.  

It will affect my drumming practice availability in ways I’m not sure about yet.  I’m just trying to get to the other side of this and see what’s what.  

I may be checking SDS more often, because the forums bring me cheer, or less often if I am preoccupied and adjusting.  But as you know, in the long run I’m always around.  

So cheer me up!  Drop me a message.  Check in.  Tell me how you are doing with your practice, what songs you are playing, what makes your drummer brain and limbs go, “Heck yeah!”  Even tell me what you do when you’re not banging on surfaces with sticks.  

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! 

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.  

Thanks for visiting my profile — don't be shy, drop me a line 😎

Set to start learning and practicing "Billie Jean” today, but unexpected circumstances have stopped me...people not feeling well in my house (and my kit isn't yet sufficiently muted so as not to bother them).  I used the practice time instead to review and tweak the practice routine I set up for myself, and I practiced some exercises on the pad.  Then reviewed music reading.  Sometimes, practice has to morph itself to fit circumstances.