Both answers are great and right for each person but for the first persons answer and the goal to be “the top of the tree” WOW this is going to take W O R K. For the second guy this is an achievable goal and level of play that most if not all students get to, the problem is that the first guy often only ever gets here as well and why is that ?. The answer is truly believing or realizing that this is what you want to do and setting out to do it. None of us were born being able to play, each and every “great” out there got to that level by hard long hours of repetitious practice on the kit, that’s it plain and simple.

Every now and again through massive practice I would get to levels of playing that I felt I had never been to before, it only came after sustained practice and training on the kit. It is hard to describe the feeling but you seem to play ideas and patterns easier and cleaner and more off the cuff than you ever did before. Gigs and rehearsals become very easy and therefore more fun to do.

These moments for me didn’t last forever as other time pressures i.e. work, family, sickness etc got in the way and as a result you slipped back slightly in your skill level and needed to train again to regain where you were and attempt to get above it. It did however let me see what the “greats” did and how they got there, they could keep that practice and training routine up longer that I could and therefore ride that expanding bubble of improvement for longer times.

Now to you, look at where you want to be with it honestly, by this I mean that there is no point saying you want to be world top class if you practice three times a week for 15 min each time and never bring your notes to lesson etc, a bit harsh I know but I’m trying to get you to look at yourself. Once you know this decide to do it, to get there. If you want to be a world beater then find a good teacher etc and tell them that is what you want to do and complete the work above and beyond what is asked.

You must always try to go better, faster, cleaner than you thought was good enough. If you want to simply have fun with it then once again find a good teacher and tell then that and do the work in small chunks but to the best you can do, you cant take on the world but you can really enjoy mastering the basic bits. I hope this article helps you guys to think about what, why you are doing and how to clarify the path to get closer to it. Now grab your sticks and metronome and start practicing See ya Dean