drumming secrets

Stepping into a live repertoire of an artist (or a band) as a new band member in short time notice; how do you actually treat that? When you want to perform at your best at this gig and play a BEST concert ever, within the music style of the band of course, you need to commit yourself to a professional preparing route! Although everyone has their way of doing it, I came up with some practical tips that will work for everybody! Once you stick to these steps, you can rely on yourself as a professional and responsible musician, and more important: so can others!

When I was a young drummer I always favored to make a commitment to a band and play in that one band only. After a few years I found out that most bands I started up, didn’t last longer than 3 to 5 years or, so in order to survive and make a living, I chose to play in many bands at the same time. Quite an interesting moment in my life, on which I look back to as a period of time that I needed to go through. In that time I have learned a few important rules in becoming a professional musician:

• Being able to play various music styles
• Always knowing the repertoire so the band can rely on you
• Perform at your 100% best every time
• Understand what music in general is all about

Today I can enjoy the process of learning a new repertoire because I know what the outcome will be: a deeper meaning in playing the music and being able to feel it with your whole body and soul. This way you will be able to play a memorable gig every time!

Now let me share with you what is the secret of preparing a new repertoire in a short time. Let’s treat it as a plan with several steps, ok? Bare in mind: through these steps it takes approximately 2 whole days to learn a repertoire of 18 songs.

1. Make sure you get all the data in time; mp3, CD album, YouTube clips, anything that helps you to hear the music that needs to be prepared. Also get the set list of the gig your doing and print it out as a guide.
2. Put the music on your personal I-pod or whatever mp3 player you use and listen to it  the whole day to get the first impression of the repertoire. Learn to song titles by heart; look at the title and find the melody to sing the chorus of that song!
3. Start a song and use a yellow “Post-It!” sticking paper to count the bars of every intro, verse, bridge, chorus and middle-8. Also make notes while you do this and it will give you an immediate overview of a song. It’s a great guide and fundamental basic for making a proper lead sheet that you can rely onto!
4. Make lead sheets of EVERY song; don’t think “Oh this song is so simple, I don’t need to go through that”! There’s always that unexpected break or stop. Once you hear the repertoire on your media player, it sounds all logical and simple…..but never forget: this band has played for a while to get everything in the pocket. If a band plays many concerts, they’re used to play it right. Don’t make that mistake to overlook on single spot in their songs, of course if you want to be asked again to do this gig!
5. Use a metronome to learn every tempo of a song and write it on top of every sheet, next to the song title.
6. Some songs might remind you of other songs that you’re more familiar with; write a little note in the right corner up. Every little note will help you to recognize a new song quicker. Some notes could be for example: “like So Lonely – Police” or “Ozzy Osbourne Rock”
7. Use pencils 2B, because they are softer and there for they will leave a darker note and fatter letters. Also if you make a mistake, pencils you can erase easier and your lead sheet won’t be a mess! Also if you want to copy or scan this sheet, it will be easily readable!
8. Book a rehearsal place where you can spend a whole day to lock yourself up and focus on playing the repertoire. This room needs to be a place where you feel totally comfortable in: good well isolated and ventilated room with toilet and separate relax space.
9. Switch off your phone or any distractive device such as smart phone or any internet connection; this way you can make sure that the investment in time and energy will be rewarded, simply because you were able to focus on your work without ANY distraction!

10. Once you are sure everything is well prepared (writing and analyzing) the game really starts; you have to play the repertoire at least 2 times to really learn it. Never forget: knowing by analyzing is just half of the job. Your body needs to run through the songs…it’s amazing when you play it how many little details will come up that you have overlooked by just analyzing the song on paper. Stick to the running order of the set list!

So, now you are prepared and ready to roll, but there’s one little note I have to put here as well: always be a flexible musician! Set lists might change on the night, singers might want you to play certain songs faster, there might be the odd extra drum solo build in at some spots in their live repertoire, and so on, and so on! Absorb extra information on the night of the gig and enjoy the ride, don’t fight it.

After all these steps you will feel more confident than ever before and that will be beamed out on stage when you are doing the thing that you’ve been asked to do: to kick some ass!!!

Have fun!

Juan