New Hand Position and Thoughts on Playing Music with Others

I practiced last night trying to get the new hand position thing. It made my hands tired. What I can't quite tell is, were my hands also tired because I haven't been playing much this past week (ironically because of being gone at the drum convention)...or is the new position the whole thing? I definitely haven't been playing enough. I'm out of shape.

I will probably revert to my old position for tonight's rehearsal. I'm (hopefully) getting together with some folks to try out a new project. We've been trying to hook up for a few weeks now, but illness and other things have gotten in the way. I don't really have any idea what to expect. It's two folks that I know through musical friends and a third that I've never met. I don't really know what style they play.

It's always nerve wracking to get together with new people, though in this case less so since I know most of them and their personalities and style. The Craig's List thing, though it served me well at the start of my drum career, has been a total wash for over a year now. Strike out. Craps. Who would have thought it would be so hard to find people to sit in a room with and play music?

I say that, but the truth is, it is easier now than ever to find those people. I remember desperately wanting to play with people in the early 1990s and just not knowing how to find them. This was before everyone had the internet. I'd throw music playing parties and no one would jam. I'd sit in with friends who played and it never lasted more than one session. I've long thought that being in a band was like dating multiple people at once...and that's true from the very beginning. It's hard being a single person in the world and finding people to date.

I am grateful to have the boys and I'm very happy with our little band. But I'm greedy enough to want more. I want to gather as much and as varied experience as I can, because I want to improve as quickly as possible...in part so that it won't be so hard in the future to find people to play with.