Five minutes a day?

A few years ago I was privileged to be teaching at a studio with a guitarist friend of mine. He is truly one of the most creative, unique and thoughtful practitioners of the six-string art I've ever encountered.

One day we were trading stories and shop talk, and we struck up a deal to take lessons from each other. I'd teach him percussion, and he'd teach me guitar. Knowing my own schedule and priorities, I decided to test the "how much time to commit" waters. The following conversation took place.

"How much would I have to practice every day to make progress?"

"Five minutes."

"Really?"

"Yep. If you focus on just one thing, and really work for those five minutes, you can make a little bit of progress if you do it every day."

Over the years of teaching, practicing, rehearsing and just generally trying to improve myself as a musician and a person, I've found the wisdom of this philosophy. Often we try to do it all at once. We want to work on stick control, four-mallet chops, independence, speed, creativity and twelve new styles all at once. That can result in lack of focus and ineffective practice sessions - and little to no results.

Now, I'm not saying you should always limit yourself to only one thing. You should definitely have a well developed and comprehensive plan to become the musician/person you want to become. What I'm saying is that what it takes to make forward progress usually comes down to focus and consistency.

So, here are today's two cliche rules for becoming a better musician.

First, whatever your top priority is, you must work on it every day. Every day. Especially if you can really only give it five minutes.

Second, whether you practice five minutes or five hours at a time, you must focus. Particularly if your time frame is short, you have to make every rep count.

Happy forward progressing!

The "hot air balloon" principle

I've said it before, but I'd rather have my students practice for five solid, focused minutes per day than to get in ten hours on only one day per week.

Why? Because your skills are sort of like a hot-air balloon. You're either getting higher, or you're getting lower.

Let's take a closer look, shall we?*

You see, there's this force called gravity. It's constantly pulling on everything, including the hot air balloon. When heated by a burner, the air inside the balloon lifts the balloon, the basket and anything in it up into the air. When the burner is firing, the balloon is lifting.

But just as soon as the burner is turned off, the air inside begins to cool, and the balloon slowly begins to fall. From a distance, it looks like the balloon is keeping steady at a certain altitude, but that's because the balloonist knows just when to turn the burner on and off to keep the craft from getting too high or low.

How does this compare to technique and skill development in music? Well, it's not a perfect comparison, but you're either getting better or you're getting worse. If you practice in a focused, systematic matter - even if it's only one thing and for a short period of time - for the next five days, you will be better than you are today. Conversely, if you don't practice for the next five days, you will not be as good as you are today.

This may not be the message you want to hear, but there is simply no "static" or standstill position for music skills. In fact, some of your daily practice is what is called, "maintenance practice." It's the time you need to invest just to get you back to where you were yesterday.

One other way to think about this is your physical health and fitness level. If you're not exercising, and you start working out every day, you will improve your overall health in a relatively short period of time. But if you aren't exercising, then you're health and fitness are actually deteriorating a little bit every single day. In fact, it takes as little as twelve days for your muscles to start losing strength and mass if they aren't being exercised.

(Well. Aren't I a little ray of sunshine?)

Here's the good news. Just like the hot air balloon, it doesn't take a huge amount of effort to consistently increase your altitude. What it takes is consistency. Practice on most days of the week in a focused, systematic way - with specific goals in mind - and you will make progress.

Happy drumming!

*For all you balloonists out there - look - I know I'm butchering this. It's a metaphor, okay? You can correct me and clarify in the comments below. Thanks much!

Olympics 2012: What London teaches musicians about success

The Olympics are here again! Watching the games is an exciting and enjoyable time, and it always seem to bring people and nations together.

But what does this mean for musicians? Here are five of the many lessons that pro and aspiring musicians shouldn't miss while watching the games.

1. Music matters. If you didn't watch the Opening Ceremonies, go find it. Not only was there a feature performance from Evelyn Glennie, but a Stomp-esque element was prevalent and central throughout. Not to mention the amazing performances by Paul McCartney and others, the theme song written by Muse, and the unique and moving music throughout. And it goes without saying, but the most emotional moment for most medal winners is when they stand on the podium and and are honored with the playing of their country's national anthem.

2. Focus, focus, focus. The attitude of the competitors is, "now or never." They all know that there's nothing else that matters right now. Not that other things (family, school, career) don't matter, but that there's a time and a place for everything, and right now it's all about one thing - competing at the Olympics. 110% effort, 110% of the time - at the exclusion of all else - for a defined period of time.

3. The difference between success and failure is sometimes a razor thin line. Some races are timed by the thousandth of a second, matches are often won by a single point, and scores can come down to a single factor. Winners and not-so-winners are performing at an exceedingly high level, and almost anything can be the difference maker.

4. "When opportunity knocks, it must find you working." This is one of my favorite cliches, and I believe that it's true. None of the athletes competing at the games were chosen due to their potential. They were chosen because they were ready. They were ready because they've been working, training and honing for years - some for their entire lives.

5. There's something bigger than the individual. Not only are there many team sports, but each individual athlete is part of a team representing their homeland, taking their place among the global community. Probably the best thing about the games is that it celebrates the best attributes of the human family, including dedication, sacrifice, humility, joy, honesty and love.

The Olympic games are a microcosm of life, and these are only a small handful of the lessons that can be learned and inspiration gained by watching and participating in the games.

Do you have "friends?"

No, really. Do you have friends? 

I was asked this question my senior year in college by my 18-year-old piano teacher, a Spanish kid named Alvaro. I had decided sort of last minute to complete a few extra credits to get my Percussion Performance degree (in addition to Music Education), and that required another semester of piano lessons.

Alvaro, a young prodigy from Spain, was my assigned teacher. He was an amazing player and effective teacher, and part of that was his ability to be very direct and frank (honest) with his students. Such was the case with me.

About six weeks into the semester, I was working a difficult piece of music. There were several sections that I really liked, and I played them fairly well. But there was one small section - only about two measures - that I absolutely hated. Couldn't get it right, even after weeks of lessons and practice. As a result, each time I had to perform that section at my lesson, I sort of rushed/fumbled/plowed through it to get to the section after - one that I loved and could play well.

Well, I wasn't the only one getting frustrated with that short section of music. The conversation went something like this. (Remember to read Alvaro's lines with a Spanish accent, and with plenty of 'tude.)

Alvaro: Keith, do you have friends? 

Keith: What?!

A: No, really. Do you have friends?

K: (Indignant) Of course I have friends. 

A: Well, how do you become friends with those friends?

K: I dunno. Hang out, I guess? 

A: That's right, Keith. You have to "hang out" with this section long enough that it becomes your friend. 

I was dumbfounded. Shocked, even. The implications for practicing were immediate and clear.

We tend to, "hang out," with the music, skills, concepts and styles that we like. And we usually like what we're good at. It's called a, "comfort zone," and we all have one. So, how to solve the problem? Simple. Not necessarily easy, but simple: Spend time with them. Good, high quality, focused time. Work at making them comfortable and fun.

As musicians, we will expand our comfort zone by identifying the areas, skills, etc. that we're comfortable with and those that we aren't. I know that I definitely have some things that I hate playing, and I know it's because they're not comfortable for me.

Well, I took Alvaro's advice. I decided I was going to turn that weakness into a strength, and I did. By the next lesson, I was playing the difficult section with confidence. It's still amazing to me how much my attitude toward those two short measures changed just by spending enough time to get to know them very well and know that I was going to play them accurately.

By the way, this concept works for more than just music. Sports, food, people, cities, etc. Try to be friends first, and you'll find that you have fewer, "enemies."

Happy drumming!