The Mysteries of Music

So I sat down at the kit yesterday for the first time since Dec 30th...which is kind of a long stretch for me. The only practicing I'd done between those two days was some single stroke roll practice pad work on Jan 2nd. I also worked on my stroke techique...getting a good bounce off the pad and making sure my hand position was correct.

For about a month now I've been struggling with both fast single stroke rolls and also with playing eighth notes on the ride while playing double strokes on the bass. Songs that I learned nearly a year ago have been falling apart suddenly due to these issues (i.e. I played them fine for a year and suddenly I couldn't play them anymore). Since then I feel like I've been stuck in my head and my hands and feet have been totally retarded.

Yesterday I sat down to play and everything went perfect. No problems at all. Possibly the best I've ever played the songs in the band's set list. Rolls fine. Bass fine. Coordination fine.

The frustrating thing is...I have no idea what will happen next time I sit down. Could be good...could be bad.

Obviously I have the ability to play the songs the way I want to...because I did it yesterday. But where that ability goes sometimes I just don't know.

Practicing single stroke roll practice and hand technique practice definitely helps...and I should be doing that every day. Leading with the left hand especially. It is shocking how much weaker my left hand is than my right...but I suppose it makes total sense since I'm right handed and since all of the complicated playing happens with my right hand. Until recently my left hand wasn't really doing much. Now, since I'm correcting my techinique, the left hand is "doing more"...that is, the micro muscle movements are increasing. There's some risk of getting into my head too much with the stroke technique too...it can goof me up cause I think about it at odd times and try to correct. I think this is a fine thing to do in practice. But at a show I should probably just try to let it rip. I'm at a weird place right now though...so that neither the new way nor the old way of holding the sticks and playing feels quite natural...so it probably will goof me up at shows whether I try for it not to or not.

There's a show on Friday and I have no idea what to expect from my performance. I think I just need to practice this week, relax as much as possible during the show, and rest up well for a day or so before the show. No crazy exercise routines or walking all over town...get plenty of sleep.

Music is such a "one step forward, two steps back" kind of enterprise sometimes. I know that overall I end up making forward progress whether or not it seems like it day to day. It's hard to see the big picture and how far I've come in four years...or especially in the last year....and to know that I'll be really far from where I am in another year if I just keep it up. It's easy to get discouraged.