Mastering Your Art

 “Percussion is like walking through the forest. You can’t possibly see it all; there are endless possibilities of what you can do.” – John Bergamo

As drummers and percussionists we all have a common ground, not having enough time to learn everything. So therein lays a dilemma. How do we choose which instruments, styles, or techniques to focus on? The range of options can be daunting. This can both be positive and negative.

I believe that most of us try to find a balance between gaining knowledge of the topics we have an interest in and what we happen to stumble upon or sometimes are thrown into the fire for. But I’m curious how others make these choices? I grew up with the adages of “Jack of all trades, master of none,” or “Those who chase both rabbits will catch neither,” basically reinforcing the idea that I need to choose one thing to focus on, to master.

Most of the philosophy that I've gravitated toward, that speaks to me, is of eastern descent. A lot of martial arts philosophy that has helped me focus on individual tasks, “Do it when it needs to be done, as well as it can be done, and do it that way every time.” But when it comes to actually playing gigs for a living, a drummer’s job is to know everything. In the various gigs I've played over the years I have played the full range of concert percussion from timpani on Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and snare drum on Ravel’s Bolero to tuned wine glasses on Ecstatic Waters by Steven Bryant. But also have spent my time in the pits of musical theater ranging many different styles of drum set, concert percussion, and even Foley percussion. But we are also expected to know and understand the range of electronic percussion and how that works into a show playing to a click/backing tracks, creating said tracks, execution of tracks, even adjusting your playing based off of the sound reinforcement options or in many cases the lack thereof.

Whew, I need to take a breath. The point being is that there is so much to know and learn about percussion how could any one person be able to take it all in much less master it in a lifetime? I know that we all gravitate toward our own interests for various reasons and focus on one main form but even with drum set as a main focus one person could spend years focusing on Latin rhythms and never move away from them to study Jazz, Rock, or R&B. But we are expected to be able to do everything. My focus in this period of my life is getting the heart and soul in place, the groove, finding the pocket that drives me forward. I believe this is possible by playing from the heart. If every snap of the snare drum oozes from your soul then there cannot be a wrong note or placement. While I also focus on furthering my speed and coordination I also bring the tempos way down and bring the attention back to the minute details, the building blocks. Mastering the time in which we've been given charge is a goal that will take a lifetime.