Are You A Drummer Under Lockdown? 5 Things You Can Do Under Quarantine RIGHT NOW!
Unless you’ve been living alone in the desert, the forest or the mountains with no internet connection, then you are fully aware that everyone is currently affected by the global pandemic caused by Covid-19.
This is absolutely a very serious situation and I would like to take this opportunity to stress to everyone reading this to STAY HOME so we can stop (or at least slow down) the spread of the Virus. If we don’t do this, all of the infected cases will overwhelm our medical system and more people will suffer and possibly die needlessly.
So please: STAY TF HOME!
Ok, so now that you’re home, as a Percussionist, what should you do to pass the time under quarantine?
Well, here’s some quick tips you can implement TODAY to make the best use of your time as a good musician should:
1.) Learn a new warm-up, lick, exercise, etude or show excerpt!
Is there something you’ve been needing to learn? Or maybe there’s a lick that interested you, but just haven’t had the time to learn it? Well, pick up your sticks, set the sheets up on a stand and get to work! The beats aren’t going to learn themselves!
2.) Learn a new rudiment!
If there’s a rudiment that’s giving you trouble or want to be able to play a rudiment you normally can’t do, now is the time to get that sh*t handled! Break it down, take it slow, create some exercises that will help you and keep working at it until you get it! You have the time! Make it happen!
3.) Write something!
Don’t know how to write? Then learn! Just like phonics, writing helps reading and reading helps writing! Make something up (an exercise, a rhythm, a lick, anything) and try to write it down. Ask a friend to play what you wrote and see if they play what you intended. If they don’t play what you intended, have a discussion and figure out what you need to improve on for your writing. Who knows, you might get better at writing and you might want to do it more often, so download musescore.org (it’s free) or bust out your pen and paper and get to work!
4.) Get together with a friend (preferably online) to play something together!
I mean, technically, it’s ok to gather in groups of less than 10, though it’s much safer to not meet up at all, so perhaps you can meet with a friend online and learn a lick together. Maybe you could play something, have your friend play to the recording, put it together in an editing software and now, you are on video playing together! What could be cooler than that? Well, you could take said video and check out suggestions #5 below!
5.) Play something on video and post it on social media for everyone’s benefit!
Why do I say it’s everyone’s benefit? As artists, we can have an impact on the greater global community who is at home, bored and tired of watching replays of old sports games and watching the full season of Game of Thrones for the 25th time. Some people might even be sad and depressed during this time and our art, might be just the kind of escapism they need to help keep their mind of things. So, do the global community (not just the online marching arts community) a favor and play music for them! There are people singing Opera from their balconies in Italy for their neighbors to hear…you can drum a lick in your garage for the online community to enjoy!
While it’s certainly a scary and uncertain time in our history, we can get some good out of all this by being positive and being productive! If you need any other suggestions, let me know, otherwise, please remember to stay at home and get to work based on my 5 suggestions!
Please everyone: Stay safe and stay healthy! We’ll get through this together!
For more perspective on my 5 suggestions, watch the video below: