Daily Fill: Transcribing Your Drumming

Summary: Welcome to the Drum Lesson with our Lead Educator Scott Jackson! Every Monday Scott gives us a dose of knowledge, advice, insight, and more Today's quote: " Can you remember who you were before the world told you who you should be? Habits of a GREAT Practice. Transcribe Your Drumming Have you ever seen those movies in Hollywood where the main story is a person that can USE 100% OF THEIR BRAIN, and like magic they have superpowers? Well, I can't show how do acquire superpowers, but I can tell you how to increase your learning ability by targeting both Hemispheres of your brain. You NEED to learn how to tap into to the power of your Brain! Today's lesson is that first step. Three Primary Processes of Learning * Hearing/Listening - We hear and try to imitate. Example: Speech * Visual - We see and try to imitate Example: Dancing or Painting * Reading - We read and try to reproduce Example: Drum Exercise!!! Your Brain is an analytical machine, and the more you understand about its processes the more you can tap into. SO, how do you tap into the power of your own mind? Well, the three processes above is the first step. So let's talk about LISTENING. I pride myself on being a great listener. While talking to my wife, I can be on my phone, and still be able to hear, understand, and process every word she says because I understand that I can divert a percentage of my focus to listen to hear while still performing my task on the phone... The same goes for music. Try this exercise: Next time you are listening to a song focus on the different instruments you hear one by one. THEN imagine you are floating above them like a bird, and try to listen to all the instruments as they work together. Second, focus on the drum part and try to speak or sing that drum part. You will stumble at first, but keep trying over and over again. The results? Oral Imitation Visual: The Old saying comes to mind, "Seeing is Believing" Well, this is pretty darn accurate. Why? Because a lot of the brains functions are for defensive purposes. Like YOUR LIFE IS IN DANGER type purposes. So, when you SEE something happen your brain is more willing to accept it as TRUE information. It will not deflect it as DANGEROUS. HAHAHA! It is true... our brain's primary function is to help us stay alive. So, we have to understand that, and then we have to help our brain understand that AS DRUMMERS most of what we do is not dangerous. Difficult at times, but not dangerous. Visual Learning is the main process of learning because we can learn how to imitate by watching. For example, a majority of dancers learn this way. OR artist who paint real life imitations of flowers, buildings, or people. Reading: This is perhaps the most common one, but there is a snag. You have to know the written language! Dang... So, I am just gonna quit! Hahaha! No way! You need to just sit down and learn how to read music. Reading music is so easy that I have taught 7-year-old drummers to read in 7/4, 3/4, 5/4, 7/8, and 5/8. Did I just lose you? I hope not. If so, you need to go research time signatures (TIME SIGNATURES ARE VERY EASY TO UNDERSTAND) The power of reading is Great because it lets your brain do what it does best. ANALYZE, RECOGNIZE, and PROCESS!. For example, we have the ability to transcribe a drum beat by our favorite drummer, so we transcribe it. (see what I did there) NOW, you can read it, which forces your brain to break down the individual parts and recognize the sequence. In turn, that helps you learn it fast. These 3 steps are key to the learning process! Listening, Seeing, and Reading helps your brain learn at least 3 times more effective than before. If you only use Listening to learn, then your goal is to tap into the other two processes. That's it for today's Lesson!

Daily Fill: Transcribing Your Drumming

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