Sunny Day, sweeping the clouds away, on my way to where the air is sweet...

That's the theme to sesame street, in case you were wondering. I wake up almost every morning with that song in my head, despite the fact that I haven't actually seen an episode of sesame street since I was 5. I blame this:



So I have my first drum lesson tonight since Harry's brush with death/tonsil surgery and I'm a tad nervous. Maybe it's because my eye hurts. Maybe it's because I haven't slept well the past two nights. But, gun to my head, I would have to say that it's because I haven't touched my drums in a long time. Big surprise, right?

Well it's too late now. I'm headed there right after work, lack of practice and all. And it's sooo rainy and ugly today too. Blah. I just want to curl up in my bed and watch weeds, which is my current dvd obsession thanks to Katie Shrop.

I suppose I should be grateful. Harry is alive and well, and I can learn something new. Drum lessons is a lot like working out to me. I don't want to do it, ever. But if I go I'm so glad I did, and I feel great afterwards.

Well, wish me luck. I'm probably going to get scolded.

Weekends, I prefer the weekends!

If you've never seen the Will Ferrell skit with him as the devil trying to help out Garth Brooks, please try to youtube that like it's hot. I would do it myself, but I feel like crap and I'm not in great research mode.

Anyway, Harry is still recovering from having his tonsils out last week, so we didn't meet yesterday. It actually could be a while before I can get my drum on, because he told me "The stitches broke and I'm drooling blood," today.

We've been emailing a bit back and forth, mostly talking about life and scrubs (we have a little bit of a difference of opinion on that one. Rest assured it WILL get hashed out.)
But we've also been discussing this song I want to learn on the drums that seems fairly simple. You may have heard it-it's been around for a while. It's called "Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John.

I will youtube that one, because it's easy to find:


You're welcome.

The intro sounds like maybe just some 1/16 notes between the snare and the tom, but I'm not really sure. I don't have an ear for it yet. I may not ever have an ear for it. Anyway, the rest of it is pretty consistent. It seems like maybe the basic beat I know already with an extra bass beat and maybe a sneaky snare in there. I'll need harry to pick it apart for me when he's not drooling blood anymore.

I'm headed home for the weekend for some much needed R&R, and time with my pug. I'll hopefully have some drum news to report soon. Until then...

Let the drummer kick, let the drummer kick yo

I know what you're thinking. "Dominique Elaine Grant, you haven't made reference to Citizen Cope since the DDH debacle of 2004."

And you're right. That dirty, dirty hippie did in fact ruin that one man band for me. However, I couldn't think of a better way to describe last night's drum lesson.

I am, by far, Harry's worst student. Of course, if you asked him that he would misdirect the hell out of that question, and give you some sort of answer that didn't answer it at all. Because that's one of his many talents. Anyway, he was telling me about a new student he has of his named Stefan (sp? who knows?) that is really interested in the mechanics of drumming, and is making Harry think about things he hasn't had to think about in years. Such as polyrythms.

So during all of this I'm just thinking. "geeez I would never think to ask about friggin' polyrythms..." I flat out asked Harry last night if I should quit drumming.

I think my problem is I'm not motivated enough to practice, and he thinks my problem is I'm not progressing as fast as I want to, and I'm not proud of any progress I am making. Sure, I can get on board with that theory. So last night we get to drumming. Doing the basic kick drum/snare/highhat combo is like riding a bike. Once you learn it, no matter how long it's been since you've done it, you can just pick it right back up. Harry says that all of drumming is like that. He really simplified a lot of what I was complicating, and getting overwhelmed with having to learn. We worked on incorporating just any kind of variation into that basic groove, and last night it was focused on varying the kick drum.

He tells me practice is just going to sound bad, because it's trial and error to learn what works and what doesn't. He pointed out that if I sit down and practice what I already know, I'll never progress. That makes sense. Leaving there I had a renewed sense of confidence that I could continue doing this, at least for now. I just have to stop complicating it, and realize how simple it could all be if I just train my muscles to do what I want them to do. Then you don't even have to think about it, really, ever.

So I need to practice. I need to bang around on my electronic kit (oooooooooh how I wish I had an acoustic set. One day. One day.) and try to make sense of what I'm hearing. let me see if I can leave you with a picture, for funsies.

It snowed, really? Because I'm still in a Ben Folds haaaaaze

I don't care that it "allegedly" snowed outside my windows Sunday morning, because my thoughts are still consumed by Friday night, and the awesomeness that was Ben Folds.

In an excellent start to the Spring 2009 Concert Tour, Katie and I traveled Friday to Hotlanta, Georgia for the Ben Folds concert at the Tabernacle. There we met some of Katie's old highschool crew (Max, Amanda, Chris, Beth (I think?) and Beth's boyfriend, whose name I can not remember, but found to be very nice.

Anyway, we got there early enough to grab a bite at Taco Mac, yes, Taco Mac, and then head over to reserve a place in line in the rain and cold to ensure we got the seats we wanted. The key to this operation was a well-executed game plan, and ours was to head immediately upstairs to get front row balcony. And so it was, and it was great. We were facing the left of the stage, where we had a perfect view of the piano (and if you know anything of BF, he is ALL OVER that piano) so we were happy.

The concert itself was so amazing, there are no words to describe it. So I won't. But I will post pictures, and a few of the great songs he played:

Kate

Underground

Not the Same

Philosophy

Army (yesssssssssssss)

Landed

Brick

Are you reeling in jealousy yet? Then feast your eyes on THIS:

I guess I can post a few pics of the snow, if you really want it...

I didn't have a drum lesson this past Wednesday (Harry had a gig at the UAB/Memphis campout) but we will resume this Wednesday, and hopefully I'll have some new skeeeeels.

Until then....