There are many ways to increase the quality of your drumming and they can all be summarized into these 3 vital keys…

1. Develop Confidence

Many wanna-be musicians will choose the drums because they are shy and want to remain in the background (that’s where I was when I started drumming back in 1976).

The truth is your body may be in the background, but your musical presence will definitely be noticed!

If you are going to be the drummer in a band, then you will be the anchor of the band. The other musicians will be relying on you to provide strong beats that will keep everything together. Everything you do behind your drum set will not only be heard, but felt, simply because you will be the all-important time keeper.

This notion of wanting to be a drummer so you can hide behind a drum set is ridiculous. You’re gonna hide from no one! That’s why it is imperative to develop confidence in your drumming, and the first way to do that is to forget about the notion that you are hidden. Your mind set should be to establish your place in the band. Know who you are and why you’re there. The rest will then fall into place.

Please don’t mistake confidence for arrogance. Confidence is what makes a good drummer a great drummer. Arrogance is what makes a good drummer a lonely drummer! I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to play music with some cocky jerk who thinks he or she is better than everyone else.

2. Love Your Instrument

If any musician really wants to master their instrument they must absolutely love it. What do I mean “love it?” The best way to understand this is to relate loving your drums to loving a person.

Many people think “love” is a feeling, but it’s not a feeling. For example; I love my wife, but I don’t always like her (I suppose she can probably say the same thing about me).

Love is an action word. It means to adore, care for, learn about, edify, be loyal to, be devoted to, be committed to, support, protect, and promote. When you do these things the feeling of love automatically comes.

So, how can you tell if you really love your drums? You can tell if you love your drums by the priority you put on them. They must have some priority in your life, otherwise your drums are just a little hobby that you will only be mediocre at.

3. Remain Humble

To become successful in anything, you must absolutely be confident in what you’re doing, and knowledge can make you confident. But, be careful, knowledge can also make you think more highly of yourself than you should.

If you really want to increase your level of drumming it is critical to always see yourself as a student and remain open minded.

The mind is like a parachute, it only functions when it is open. That’s why it is so important to remain humble. Arrogant drummers never grow beyond their current level of drumming because they don’t think there is any more they can learn. How foolish! There is always more to learn… and any advanced drummer can learn from an intermediate, or even a beginner!

It’s critical to want to learn if you are going to increase your level of drumming, and remaining humble is the only avenue through which you can do this.

If you continue to learn you will then be able to teach. When you begin teaching, you will be amazed at the additional things you will learn (if you are currently teaching you will understand).

Conclusion

When you develop confidence in your purpose as a drummer, learn to love your drums by giving them some priority in your life, altogether with remaining humble, your level of drumming will increase considerably.

Dan Brown
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/3-keys-to-maximizing-your-drum-skills-104447.html

Life is like a road. There are long and short roads; smooth and rocky roads; crooked and straight paths. In our life many roads would come our way as we journey through life. There are roads that lead to a life of single blessedness, marriage, and religious vocation. There are also roads that lead to fame and fortune on one hand, or isolation and poverty on the other. There are roads to happiness as there are roads to sadness, roads towards self building, victory and jubilation, and roads leading to defeat and disappointment.

Just like any road, there are corners, detours, and crossroads in life. Perhaps the most perplexing road that you would encounter is a crossroad. With four roads to choose from and with limited knowledge on where they would go, which road will you take? What is the guarantee that we would choose the right one along the way of self building? Would you take any road, or just stay where you are: in front of a crossroad?

There are no guarantees. You do not really know where a road will lead you until you take it. There are no guarantees. This is one of the most important things you need to realize about life. Nobody said that choosing to do the right self building thing all the time would always lead you to happiness. Loving someone with all your heart does not guarantee that it would be returned. Gaining fame and fortune does not guarantee happiness. Accepting a good word from an influential superior to cut your trip short up the career ladder is not always bad, especially if you are highly qualified and competent. There are too many possible outcomes, which your really cannot control. The only thing you have power over is the decisions that you will make, how you would act and react to different situations and self building.

Wrong decisions are always at hindsight. Had you known that you were making a wrong decision, would you have gone along with it? Perhaps not, why would you choose a certain path when you know it would get you lost? Why make a certain decision if you knew from the very beginning that it is not the right one. It is only after you have made a decision and reflected on it that you realize its soundness. If the consequences or outcomes are good for your self building, then you have decided correctly. Otherwise, your decision was wrong.

Take the risk: decide. Since life offers no guarantee and you would never know that your decision would be wrong until you have made it, then you might as well take the risk and decide. It is definitely better than keeping yourself in limbo. Although it is true that one wrong turn could get you lost, it could also be that such a turn could be an opportunity for an adventure, moreover open more roads for self building. It is all a matter of perspective. You have the choice between being a lost traveller or an accidental tourist of life. But take caution that you do not make decisions haphazardly. Taking risks is not about being careless and stupid. Here are some pointers that could help you choose the best option in the face of life’s crossroads:

Get as many information as you can about your situation. You cannot find the confidence to decide about self building way when you know so little about what you are faced with. Just like any news reporter, ask the 5 W’s: what, who, when, where, and why. What is the situation? Who are the people involved? When did this happen? Where is this leading? Why are you in this situation? These are just some of the possible questions to ask to know more about your situation. This is important. Oftentimes, the reason for indecision is the lack of information about a situation.

Identify and create options. What options do the situation give you? Sometimes the options are few, but sometimes they are numerous. But what do you do when you think that the situation offers no options? This is the time that you create your own self building options. Make your creative mind work towards self building. From the most simplistic to the most complicated, entertain all ideas. Do not shoot anything down when an idea comes to your head. Sometimes the most outrageous idea could prove to be the right one in the end. You can ask a friend to help you identify options and even make more options if you encounter some difficulty, but make sure that you make the decision yourself in the end.

Weigh the pros and cons of every option. Assess each option by looking at the advantages and disadvantages it offers you. In this way, you get more insights about the consequences of such an option.

Trust yourself and make that decision. Now that you have assessed your options, it is now time to trust yourself. Remember that there are no guarantees and wrong decisions are always at hindsight. So choose, decide, believe that you are choosing the best option of self building at this point in time.

Now that you have made a decision, be ready to face its consequences: good and bad. It may take you to a place of promise or to a land of problems. But the important thing is that you have chosen to live your life instead of remaining a bystander or a passive audience to your own life. Whether it is the right self building decision or not, only time can tell. But do not regret it whatever the outcome. Instead, learn from it and remember that you always have the chance to make better decisions in the future.

Tomas Labas
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/self-building-choices-and-smart-decisions-79977.html

I noticed during my illness and now years later, I lost a lot of self esteem and confidence. It is still hard for me to have self esteem and confidence. Many people try and bring it up or put me in positions but get frustrated when I cannot and stay the same sort of person. I cannot be assertive or have a lot of confidence or self esteem or communication skills when it is holding me back. I have accepted who I am and what I can and cannot do. Why can't others?

Why do people think I am lazy when I just know what I can and cannot do, and refuse to do anything which is setting me up to fail?

Yea, you may have excepted "it" but it seems you still don't like being that way. I was very depressed for a long time and instead of low self-esteem being a symptom of that illness I think it may be a cause. The anti-depressives lifted my sadness but not my self-esteem. That took some work with a counselor. The only thing I can say about that work is that I wish I hadn't waited so long to start because I feel so much better now. All the hard work was worth it. Good Luck.