How to Practice
The human brain acts like an advanced tape recorder, capable of recording information on every sensory level, including kinesthetic (feeling, emotion). It is capable of recording and recalling vast amounts of information. Knowing what factors affect the Record/Recall response greatly improves our learning ability.
The recall percentage is dependant upon the importance of the information. The level of importance of information is dependant upon its frequency, duration and intensity. Intensity is increased by thoroughly understanding:
- WHY - Why a task is performed, why this information is relevant.
- WHAT - The actual data or information.
- HOW - How to use the information.
- WHAT IF - Experimentation, modifying an idea/information, or combining it with other ideas/information.
3 basic factors affect the RECORD/RECALL response:
1) REPETITION - Practice is repetition. Here are some useful tips on practice:
(I) Because the brain sorts by difference it is beneficial to make each repetition unique. Giving each repetition a different number count means that the brain codes each repetition as unique by way of association. This process greatly improves retention. (Counting is covered in detail at the end of Section 4).
(II) Understanding the HOW, WHAT, WHY, WHAT IF, of all practice material.
(III) New learning takes place outside of the comfort zone. The trick here is to make the task continually challenging, but not impossible to repeat without mistakes. Some ways of pushing the comfort zone are:
a) Vary the TEMPO
- As slowly as possible
- As quickly as possible
b) Vary the DYNAMICS
- As quietly as possible
- As loudly as possible
c) Change the rhythm of one limb or add one limb, e.g., foot closed hi-hat.
d) Combine different ideas together, e.g., different beats with different fills.
2) EVALUATION - Evaluation occurs during an exercise (e.g., are all unison voices exactly together? or where am I storing tension?) and after an exercise (e.g., I need to work on softer dynamics or relaxation at higher tempos).
3) INTEGRATION - The brain continues to process information after an exercise is completed. This is why practicing for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon is more effective than a 1 hour session once a day.
- How and what is practiced determines how and what is recalled. Therefore practicing SLOWLY and PRECISELY is most effective.
- The formula for speed is PRECISION plus REPETITION.
- The greater the degree of concentration on as many levels as possible, the greater the RECORD/RECALL response.
Other factors requiring focused attention:
- Relaxation - Systematically search for any tension spots. Focus your attention on the muscles which are unnecessarily tense and work toward relaxing them. Tensing the affected muscle before trying to achieve a greater level of relaxation can be effective.
- Dynamics - Overall and between each limb and or sound source.
- Feel - Is your timing accurate? Are any sound sources stylistically ahead or behind the beat? What feel are you trying to create?
- Balance Point - Minor adjustments to body position can have a great impact on your ability to move each limb freely and independently.
- Sound - Is the sound crisp and clean? Minor adjustments to technique can have a great impact on the sound you extract from the drumkit.
Developing 4 Way Independence and
The human brain is like any other muscle in the body, if it isn’t worked a certain way it won’t improve in that way. Our brain stimulates muscle fibre, (which fibres and to what degree directly affects co-ordination, control and balance), by firing electrical impulses via synapses. The number of synapses designated to perform a task depends upon the importance of that task. The level of importance of a task is determined by the degree of frequency, duration and intensity of that task. The brain will increase synapse numbers over a period of time if the importance of the task is increased. This means it is possible to build new neural pathways or improve the efficiency of existing ones. The body via muscles, tendons, nerves etc. will also adapt to perform a physical task, depending upon its frequency, duration and intensity.
The following exercise is designed to improve balance and interaction between all limbs. Each limb interacts with every other limb as both leader (beats 1,2,3,4) and follower (all the "+’s"). Each new line (3 bars) introduces a new lead limb which is written in bold type at the beginning of each line. The other 3 limbs follow and are written in smaller type above the middle of the bar.
