I don't know anything about the original poster, but they were just what I needed to see today under r/drumming. They had just completed their first in-person lesson, and they felt strongly they had not done well. Yes, I understand, expect too much of yourself, start to press, and it's all downhill from there.
So tonight, I set about doing only things where I could feel confident, and have confidence that I could perform them acceptably. No farther. No trying things because I got it in my head I should be able to do them.
Bass Drum Doubles at half the practice screen's setting of 60 BPM, and way less than the 100 BPM we're told is the bare minimum. But I can't do them at 100 or even 60, so I found what I could do and did it to the best of my ability. Ended with a good feeling that I got a little better today than the day before.
Then 10 minutes of a half-speed half-time shuffle, and I not only did I begin to understand where that extra kick comes in, I was performing it acceptably. Maybe one more day to get the muscle memory ingrained, and then pick up the pace a little bit.
Finally, back to the pocket practice, where the instructor tells us all that mistakes happen, learn from them and smile, then keep going. Going 100% was more than I wanted tonight, and 75% was the next lower speed, so 75% it was for 10 minutes on the on-screen timer, and my math experience says that would be 15 minutes in real time.
Resulting in close to 15 minutes on Bass Drum Doubles, 10 minutes of Purdie, 15 minutes of pocket, all at less than full speed, but also all at a reasonable level of competence, and at the end I felt like I had accomplished something. Much better than trying and failing to play everything at the assigned speed before I'm able.
Good thing I scrolled through Reddit today.
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