Drumming - The Learning Process.

How Do We Learn Anything..?

I guess we learn quite bit of stuff without really trying..talking, walking, eating with cutlery.. I mean, yes we do try – we make noise and cry or shout to try and communicate before we talk,  we cruise around the furniture when we’re a toddler before making a break for freedom across the living room and we get to grips with a spoon at some point and sort out the correct motor functions.. but we kinda do these by instinct. We don’t consciously say to ourselves at 7months “right, today I start my online course of how to walk”.. so, when it comes to consciously learning a thing.. how does it work?

We could probably start with defining the difference between remembering something and learning something. Please don’t get me started on the school system approach of getting pupils to remember facts and figures parrot fashion… there’s a whole other blog there and we could be here all day.

When it comes to drums it doesn’t take long for someone to learn the concept of eighth notes/quavers and playing a beat with the Bass drum on 1 and 3 and the snare on 2 and 4 etc. I have introduced this to students within the first hour or so of teaching, maybe over two half hour lessons.. so, the fact they can recite and have learnt the concept and counting is only half the story. They’ve learnt it but can they play it? Not well. A bit maybe, but not consistently. So, whilst the theory has been learnt the physical action has not yet been converted into a coordinated skill. It’s practising this theory over and over until it can be repeated that enables the neural pathways to be made and the skill be learnt.

It’s initially learnt to a conscious level where the player needs to focus on what they’re doing and then eventually at an unconscious level where it can be done ‘without thinking’.

“It’s As Easy As Riding A Bike”

Great saying that.. remember the first time you got on a bike..? Yeah, not easy. Many a scabbed knee and bruised elbow await those getting to grips with it. As I say to my students who may stop after they make a mistake – “you have to ride through the wobbles to learn to balance.” We’d be a country of people pushing bikes around if we put our foot down every time we wobbled and just stopped.

So, we know the theory of what to play but can’t just do it. Why?

The connection between the understanding of an action and the motor function to be able to do it is not instant.. we need to teach the body to do what we want. This is sometimes called ‘Muscle memory’.. which is not actually accurate as the muscles have no memory but what is actually happening is building a brand-new neural connection of instructions for the brain to pass to the nervous system.

The most common thing I say to every student.

SLOW DOWN!  - ok maybe a don’t shout it in Caps Lock but every student (including myself) thinks they can play a new thing at a decent tempo straight away and 100% of the time, because they haven’t made a decent neural connection and set of instructions, it always ends in disaster (ok, in the grand scheme of things not a disaster but it doesn’t go to plan).

Playing slowly - and accurately - helps build a new connection and the spike of positive chemicals you get when it goes well signals to the brain that this was “right” and to remember what was done.

Writing a note to the nervous system.

I used the following analogy with a young student the other day who said he struggled to remember stuff.

Imagine writing a note of instructions for a task very lightly with a pencil on a piece of paper and sticking it to the wall on the far side of a room. When you come to read the note, it’s too faint and too far away to be able to read it, you’ve forgotten what to do. This is the equivalent of playing a drum part correctly and slowly, once. You've given yourself some instructions but can't recall them.

The next time you get the drum part right you in effect go back to your note and go over it with pencil again.. maybe it’s a little bit easier to read now. Further correct playing of the part reinforces the correct instructions and the ‘note’ gets written over in pen, then again with pen, then a felt tip….then a white board marker…. It’s now bigger, more defined and easier to read from the far side of the room. This note of instructions is far more accessible to you and means you can follow them without as much focus.

Well done, you’ve learnt your drum part at an unconscious level.

So, when it comes to learning in general and specifically drums, we need to give ourselves time to first learn and understand what’s required to be done and then look to play it correctly more often than incorrectly by slowing down and reinforcing that note of instructions to our nervous system.

When I go through new pieces with students, I suggest they read the part vertically and then work on playing the part horizontally, I was delighted to then read this same advice in the intro to Advanced Techniques For The Modern Drummer by Jim Chapin which was first printed in 1948! I didn’t get a copy until about a year ago, so it was quite reassuring to see ‘my’ advice echoed by one of the greats of drum tuition!

Get in touch for lessons both in person and online. I am also available for corporate and team drumming activities, bringing the musicians mindset to the world of business.

Be kind to yourself when playing and learning and have fun!

And remember.. slow down.

Thanks for reading,

Matt.

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