"The drummer; he inspired me to play like no one else I have ever met.

In a nutshell and a place to start. The ideas above are things drummers think about, represented with some of the terminology at formal music school. Their listing is from notes I took at a recent seminar at the University Concert Hall, here in Anchorage, Alaska.

Presented by John Damberg, founder and executive director of the Alaska Jazz Workshop, featured Boston artist master drummer, Berkeley educator and clinician Mark Walker, who took a dozen of us attendees through a '101 Berkeley' drum lesson.

Walker's lecture moved through each of the topics, mostly in the order presented above, weaving their rudiment and academic necessities into the requirement of professional performance settings. Use the ideas above to further research these topics for drums.

Author's note. Play-ing time. A pun on these words from a non-drummer, 'playtime and playing time', the nutshell here is about the 'rhythm motor' who propelling the music. That as we move through the spectrum of styles from the folk, through the blues, country, pop and rock then into jam band, the Latin dances and into the realms of jazz, the physical stamina it takes to 'play time' and be the motor, gradually increases to super hero levels of stamina, strength and focus. From tapping on bongos in a 3 minute folk song to the full orchestrating kits of today's modern players performing 30 minute jams, the strength and dexterity required to perform such songs is what is commonly termed 'playing time.' And while there's many aspects of this that can be individually sorted out and developed, the ability to just 'play time', for extended periods of musical / real time, and motor the band forward can become an important concept and a way to develop chops and stamina.

Pop music top 40 songs last about 3 minutes or so depending, blues songs a bit longer. Country and rock tune 3 to 5 minutes or thereabouts. Jazz leaning ... 7 to 10 minutes or so, for every song in the set. Jamm band / reggae songs 10 to 15 minutes is not uncommon.

That said. So if your a 'pop' drummer and get a call for a jamm band gig, good chance you will be asked to play songs well beyond the 3 minutes of a song on the old '45's. One trick to this is to relax and just ... 'play time' and fill and accent the riffs and build ups that the band and you create. And the same goes for all the instruments in 'long playing' songs ... strengthen up your chops and creative for in playing jamms and beyond, there's a wide creative vista to explore while filing the dance floor. Cool ?

Review. Keep playing, find a teacher and keep exploring !

About being in a band; “it's like a job, any kind of job, it's an opportunity to develop.”

References. References for this page's information comes from school, books and the bandstand and made way easier by the folks along the way.

Find a mentor / e-book / academia Alaska. Always good to have a mentor when learning about things new to us. And with music and its magics, nice to have a friend or two ask questions and collaborate with. Seek and ye shall find. Local high schools, libraries, friends and family, musicians in your home town ... just ask around, someone will know someone who knows someone about music and can help you with your studies in the musical arts.

Always keep in mind that all along life's journey there will be folks to help us and also folks we can help ... for we are not in this endeavor alone :) The now ancient natural truth is that we each are responsible for our own education. Positive answer this always 'to live by' question; 'who is responsible for your education ... ?

Intensive tutoring. Luckily for musical artists like us, the learning dip of the 'covid years' can vanish quickly with intensive tutoring. For all disciplines; including all the sciences and the 'hands on' trade schools, that with tutoring, learning blossoms to 'catch us up.' In music ? The 'theory' of making musical art is built with just the 12 unique pitches, so easy to master with mentorship. And in 'practice ?' Luckily old school, the foundation that 'all responsibility for self betterment is ours alone.' Which in music, and same for all the arts, means to do what we really love to do ... to make music :)

"These books, and your capacity to understand them, are just the same in all places. Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing."

Academia references of Alaska. And when you need university level answers to your questions and musings, and especially if you are considering a career in music and looking to continue your formal studies, begin to e-reach out to the Alaska University Music Campus communities and begin a dialogue with some of Alaska's finest resident maestros !