Today I want to point out some common practice flaws that we tend to make when learning the drums. Maybe the word flaws is a little strong. I want to phrase this in a positive light, but I couldn’t think of another way to say it. I want your practice to be efficient and effective by doing and focusing on the right things consistently, and doing things that way is not always intuitive. Here are some common practice flaws.
Not Concentrating
It’s easy to fall into going through the motions when you start to get things down, especially if you do it every day. But you want to make sure bad habits don’t creep in. You want to pay attention to what you’re doing and work towards a desired outcome.
Not Having Goals
This one goes along with the previous flaw. In general, you’re practicing because you want to get better at this. It’s helpful to know what you’re trying to improve. Set goals that you’re trying to reach for your practice sessions and track your progress to help you concentrate and focus when you practice.
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Watching the Clock
This is where you only track how long you practiced that day so you can check it off your to-do list. This one is a little deceptive because it doesn’t seem like a practice flaw. Of course it’s good to schedule your practice sessions and commit to doing it. Because If you only practice when inspiration strikes or when you have the time, it’s easy for other things to take over and it doesn’t get done. But its more than just about scheduling it and doing it.
If you take care of the previous practice flaws, that is, setting goals, tracking your progress, and concentrating when you practice, this flaw tends to take care of itself. But it’s important to be aware of when it creeps in.
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Taking on Too Much
This is trying to practice too many things in a specific practice session. Depending on how much time you have to practice, it would be better to work on three things for 10 minutes each in a 30 minute practice session than trying to do six things for five minutes each, for example. Even if you practice for hours every day, it can be good to think about how many things you can productively practice consistently.
Always Starting at the Beginning
When working on a piece of music and you come across a challenging part, it’s understandable to go back to the beginning and play through it again to put everything in context. But first you want to make sure that you work on the challenging part, and then you want to make sure you can transition from what came before, and what comes after that challenging part. So when you start from the beginning, you won’t have any trouble executing it.
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Working Only on Flashy Stuff
This one is also understandable, especially if what you’re working on is flashy, but it isn’t only about the flash. It needs to be in time, with the proper feel, and proper dynamics. Those things need to be worked on as well for it to sound right.
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Going Too Fast
