Drummer Daily

The recent excitement and controversy over the Gamestop stock reminded me of an old adage that applies to both the stock market and the music business: a product (like your drumming) is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.So if that's the case- how can YOU as a drummer take back that control, and charge whatever you like as a drummer?

No one told me when I became a full-time drummer that my job would be anything more than just playing awesome music all the time. But the reality is: the second you become a pro drummer- or even the minute you decide to pursue it- your job stops being just playing the drums. Your job actually becomes: finding and keeping gigs. Drumming is a part of that, but you can't drum for a living if you aren't successful at finding and keeping gigs. Let's talk about it today...

So many drummers complain about a lack of opportunity- and yet they aren't prepared for a potential gig. If you aren't ready for an opportunity right now, then you don't deserve the opportunity yet! But that can change! Start today by preparing for the gig you WANT as if the gig is already yours!

Since we're starting a new season of this show, I think it's a good time to make sure you're in the right place... And the honest truth is that this is NOT the right place for everyone. If you've listened to the show for a while, you probably already know that this is the right place for you. So I made sure to include some brand new advice for you too!

We're going to talk about something today that many of us are reluctant to address: our health as drummers. Particularly our hearing health and protecting our hands, feet, and joints. The only thing less exciting than warming up/stretching before playing, is the thought of being injured and unable to drum at all! So while this may not seem like a super-exciting topic, let's spend 10 minutes today on something that can save you years of heartache down the road.

I went on a YouTube bender recently, and rediscovered one of my biggest pet peeves about amateur drummers. So today I thought I'd offer some advice on how to fix this issue, if you suffer from it too- AND how to figure out if you have it!

So let's say you get that first paying drumming gig. What can you do during, before and after that gig to turn that one opportunity into more opportunities? In today's show I'm going to share several things I either do myself on every gig, or things I've directly seen other pro musicians do on gigs- that help turn one gig into many more!

I take this approach in nearly every recording session I play on- so I thought today we could put it in to practice, and you can follow along in realtime. So let's do an experiment today!We're going to play an over-simplified drum part, with the VISION that we can make it feel/groove harder by complementing the drum tracks with additional loops after the fact.Want to get drastically better at drumming with a click track in just 14 days and 20 minutes per day? Check out http://BoomClick.net to find out how.

I was thrown into a musical situation where I really couldn't use notes or charts- and I had basically one day to prepare and memorize 4 songs that I had never heard. Thankfully, this isn't too uncommon in the music world, so I've done this before. Today I'm going to share with you my preparation routine that ensures I show up to every gig 100% ready...