Be a better musician

learning tons in the course!! :c) Increases my practice time a bit, too.

I had a great lesson last night. I love it!!! I got an extra 30 minutes free too. I feel like such a beginner. It’s awesome. I have a 2 week break before my next lesson. I’m going to use the time to practice the exercises, and to have a more defined goal of what I want out of the lessons. I started going through all of my old school stuff, so that’ll help me get better too.

I had my lesson yesterday and it was awesome. To make up for the scheduling confusion, he gave me a free 1 hour lesson. I forgot how much I love learning the drums and doing exercises that stretch my brain. I have another lesson in two weeks, and then they will be weekly starting in September. I love the drums!!

I have been in contact with a local drummer to get lessons with. The first attempt was kind of a fiasco, but I’m willing to give it another go. I believe I should have a lesson this coming Friday. I am looking to work on rudiments and getting some chops. I’ve never been a chops player, but think I could really expand my playing if I opened up to it.

I want to improve on the drums, acoustic guitar, and keyboard. I REALLY need to make sure I practice daily if I’m to get anywhere- I faded out of it again :[ In the future, I’d like to take up electric guitar, I know that if I get good at the acoustic, I’ll be amazing on the electric. It’s easier to play. Similarly, I’m learning to play the keyboard, and eventually I’ll buy a piano. I want to take up bass guitar too- even saxophone (I’ve always loved how they look) if I have time in my life! That’s one thing I’m passionate about: music.

I just spent an hour and a half hanging out with my all-time favorite drummer. It was so amazing, and he’s as cool as I hoped he would be. I’ve met him a few times before, but to get to spend so much time just talking and listening to music, it was a dream come true. And I found out that he actually lives in LA now so I can get lessons with him whenever he is in town and has the time (and I have the money, cause I’ll tell you they ain’t cheap). I finally feel re inspired to play again and remember why I love it so much. I swear I’m not making this up, but when I turned my radio on this morning, the first song I heard was one with him playing. I couldn’t believe it.

I have a lesson with my favorite drummer tomorrow and I can hardly stand it. By it, I mean the excitement. It’s insane. My singer has heard me talk about my favorite drummer for years, and after our last rehearsal she decided to look up his website. On his site, my singer saw that he teaches lessons so she emailed him and set me up for a lesson tomorrow night. I did not wake up this morning expecting that! But I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow.

practice, practice, practice. learn some new songs, play with some new people, and never lose sight of why you play

I actually played the drums tonight. It’s been so long. I miss playing on a regular basis and am kind of considering finding another band to play with. Ever since we gave up our rehearsal studio, we rarely rehearse or play at all. I’ve been playing with my sister and guitar player for over 10 years and they are the only musicians I’ve really played with. I’ve jammed with other people, but have never had a real show or anything. I’ll see how things go after the holiday (and baby). I love the drums and don’t want to stop just because we do. We’ll see…

Signed up for a “Continuing Studies” course in musicianship @ UNBC. It’s one of five courses required for a “Certificate in Music Fundamentals”, but it has value on its own, since it is performance-focused.

There are some other courses offered, of which “Acoustics and Recording Techniques” is the most hands-on, and likely to actually improve my skill level.