Silence

Maharishi talks about the gap between scriptural syllables as the silence that gives rise to the form of the universe(s).

Space, silence is what serves music and people. Effective drumming invokes silence and is the invisible usher of silence.

Like keeping a small fire going or rowing a boat.

Practice with a relaxed and open heart. Transmute the desire to showcase your skill into a commitment to dissolve completely and serve the wholeness of the music of every moment.

The Freedom to Create: Having a setup

David Lynch wrote a book called "CATCHING THE BIG FISH." It's Lynch's equivalent to THE BOOK OF FIVE RINGS. There is a chapter called "HAVING A SETUP." This chapter talks about how crucial it is for an artist to have a studio, a place that is prepared with the tools and square footage to put your ideas into the ACTION and CREATION. He says,

It's crucial to have a setup, so that, at any given moment, when you get an idea, you have the place and the tools to make it happen.

I'm posting this quote today out of pride, because my band, the Evangenitals, just put money down on a lockout studio in Silver lake. In addition to being able to rehearse 24/7, I will also be able to teach drums and tabla there. Most importantly I/WE will have a setup, a place to execute ART. (double meaning?)

One thing about drummers is that their "PROCESS" can be insanely annoying to neighbors who don't understand why you would want to practice straight eighth notes on a snare drum for one hour straight :) The crux of my mission statement is through music to facilitate "THE EXPANSION OF LOVE AND HAPPINESS IN EVERY LIVING BEING." Coltrane himself said it's about UPLIFTING PEOPLE.

That was my heartache about the drums; "out of context" when you are trying to rope a complex pattern into music, the process can be ugly, loud, and hard on the listener. Now that I have a studio with 24 hour access 7 days a week I can play as loud as I need and experiment with every possible dynamic and idea (screaming into megaphones etc :)) without the danger of invading someone's sanctity. That is a beautiful thing. That is freedom. The freedom to create. FIND IT!

Hunger and Practice

Don't have any standard for yourself for how much you are supposed to practice. Try making a regiment that is ridiculously within your means. And pretend like you are in first grade. Take your favorite piece and just commit to the bare daily minimum.

IT'S LIKE STOKING A FIRE!!!!! If you put too many logs on you'll put the fire out. If you put too few logs on it will go out too. In the same way if you stuff your face when you eat you'll get sick. It's same with music, granted there are thresholds you can push through!!! It is important to keep your fire alive and hungry. As your appetite and ability increase you'll be able to EAT more.

And same with a fire you start with small logs and then when it's HOT you add the bigger logs. Take simple pieces and practice them ONLY for the SAKE OF THE SHEER JOY OF PLAYING THEM not with the intention to improve.

Because if your purpose of practicing is ONLY to improve, then the feeling you'll get from it is the feeling of WANTING TO IMPROVE but if you use joy as your weapon for practicing then you'll breed more and more of that hunger and ecstasy for more practice.

Be simple. Don't judge your ability. Keep stoking the fire. Free yourself from any future oriented restraints and focus on the joy of music, because ONLY THAT will propel you forward!

Consistency

I have a tendency towards extremity. I studied tabla in India with a tabla master, Pandit Anup Ghoshji. He lived with his teacher and practiced 8-12 hours a day with his master Pandit Shymal Boseji for 15 years. I would hear stories of from my Guruji about his total dedication and devotion to music and depending on my mood it would either inspire me like crazy or totally deflate me and leaving me feeling hopeless.

When I was inspired I would practice like crazy and improve rapidly, when I was depressed I would not practice AT ALL. I would go for days without touching a tabla, and the decline of my skill was much more dramatic than the improvement.

The lesson in it for me is similar to the Tortoise and the Hare moral. It is crucial to have Tortoise energy when you practice, meaning you have faith in the spontaneous development of your gift and you are focused on the practice alone, not on the results of your practice, not on judging yourself or comparing yourself to others. The work is what is important and it should be easy, fun, and consistent and completely independent of mood. Discipline beyond personal consideration.

It is much better to do 20 minutes of practice a day, than 7 hours once a week. Don't over practice. Make it a ritual that keeps you hungry for more. If you implement consistency and moderation (this is relative and needs to be earned through rigor and commitment, not an excuse for neglect) the results will shock you like an electric blossom out of an invisible bud. LOL.

SING. DRUM. BE FREE :) consistently

PS one thing my Guruji says is that if you practice first thing in the morning the results of practice are TWICE as powerful.

How to Sit

God won't give you more than you can handle
and He won't give you any less.

Let go or get dragged

So fully imprisoned we are in the moment
that I believe if you let go deeply enough,
if you become like water and find a true horizontal
within your mind, that even turning on the faucet
would invoke a feeling of religious rapture.

This is the state of mind that needs to be cultivated
in the listening to, practice and performance of music.

Just sitting behind your drum set, just holding your instrument
should be enough. Anything more than that; tidal waves of bliss.