House of Drumming.com

I love the bit where he talks about not playing for two months. Very real.

All these guys with nothing but chops have no feel. I think people loose that by playing/shedding constantly.

Chops and no feel means they had no feel from the start. There's no way you're gonna lose that because of studying the instrument.

That question at the end was silly. I'm sure the kid was just fucking around. Who asks how to get fame and fortune. Funny.

Matus wrote:Chops and no feel means they had no feel from the start. There's no way you're gonna lose that because of studying the instrument.

Respectfully disagree. Did you have feel/pocket/groove when you stared out playing?

While I'm sure there are some absolute naturals, they're a rare breed. When you start playing drums (typically), you're not playing with other people and you're not playing music. No musicians + no music = no feel. It's something that's learned over time via the training of the ear and through playing with people.

I think Matus meant that once you have chops and feel, you're not going to lose it by practicing regularly.

I think George Lynch is saying that taking breaks is good and that he looks at it as a way of "recalibrating" his playing. I agree, especially if while you're taking a break from playing, you use that time listening to and "thinking" of good music and ideas. You can actually improve your playing while away from the kit.

Yeah, mental practice is huge.

I totally get what he means.

When you take a break, you can't force feed yourself ideas. Like working out of books, transcribing someone, or working on licks.

It becomes much more subliminal and you will become more intimate with what you do.

I have experienced it many times... took a week or two off due to life stuff.

When you come back, there is a freshness to playing and surprisingly I've found myself laying down stuff I'd never think of.

I also think taking a break from the kit and going on a serious listening binge is the way to improve feel. That way you can capture what you hear without bisecting it by what you play.

I bet anyone 5 bucks if they took two weeks off and just immersed themselves in James Brown, when they sat back down their funk bag and feel would be way better.

I stood in front of George in the Silverdome back on the Monsters of Rock tour. My left ear is still not right. He was something else, in his zone.

The guy was inhuman, what a sound. Mick Brown is a great drummer. Very solid and gets some interesting things in, in the context of metal.