Sunday, August 10, 2008

Mastery Part 3: Self Analysis

Hi everyone, today's post is part three in my 'Mastery' series: Self Analysis.

In my last post I explained how to practice mindfully in lieu of achieving Mastery. One of the themes in that article was how to develop a practice regimen. Self Analysis is an excellent and accurate method of creating and continually modifying your regimen.

Moreover, I highly recommend that you try to use the following concepts regularly in lieu of remaining on a steady path of improvement. Remember, the mindful experience of lifelong growth as a musician is what it's all about. As the old saying goes, life is a journey, not a destination.

Before I get into specific techniques for self analysis, or what I also refer to as self actualization, I want to talk a little bit about the psychology surrounding the practice. Whenever humans start to analyze themselves, this creates a mental process that can loop out of control if we're not careful. Our culture is largely based on a reactive perspective and as such I suspect that most Americans spend the majority of their time thinking in this mode. Think about it; do you know many people that spend a significant amount of time practicing techniques that help move them towards self-actualization? I don't. I see most people going through the motions of their lives, acting out their daily routine, with little or no cognizance of the experience. Years go by and they wonder where the time went.

When we enter into the realm of self actualization, we turn our focus inward, and for many people this is a very new and sometimes uncomfortable experience. It takes time to become comfortable with this way of thinking. We start to realize things about ourselves that are not often consciously considered, and usually the first things we notice aren't positive.

In my personal experience, when I started to spend significant amounts of time thinking in this manner, I eventually entered into a lengthy state of depression. I became aware of many things about my drumming that I didn't like, and I was overwhelmed with the need to make all sorts of changes immediately. The problem was, changing many of these things would take time and the prospect of having to spend a year or more working on one facet of my skill set on the drums was difficult to accept. Eventually my thoughts on the matter turned into subjective statements about my general abilities on the instrument (or lack thereof). It took me a long time to dig my way out of that hole, but I learned 2 very important lessons:

1. Always Remain Objective
2. Compartmentalize Your Analysis


In order to prevent a downward spiral, you absolutely must remain objective when in the midst of self analysis. It is much easier said than done; we're only human and as such it is impossible to completely separate emotions from experiences. There are going to be times when you're going to feel completely bummed-out. It is unavoidable. However, it is possible to keep things in perspective and remain predominantly objective.

First of all, never play the comparison game. While it is human to compare ourselves to others, there is nothing to gain from the experience. What ultimately matters is our own level of musicianship and our progress as it relates to our goals and aspirations. On an objective level, when we use others as a means to gauge our own level of proficiency, we are left with an analysis that is unrelated to said goals and aspirations. Subjectively, making statements about how superior someone's level of proficiency is to our own will only serve to deflate and defeat what confidence and motivation we possess.

Watching a master drummer can and should be an excellent source of inspiration and motivation, but I've found that this only happens when I refrain from playing the comparison game.

Another thing that helps keep things in perspective is to always remind yourself of your strengths and play to them frequently. For example, if you play a great blues shuffle, take lots of blues gigs! If you excel at playing rudiments, join a drum & bugle corps. The point is, put yourself in situations that will rely on your strengths most often. Sure, I'm a huge advocate for also putting yourself out of your comfort zone in lieu of improving, but if you do this ALL the time, you'll spend too much time on your weaknesses and you'll forget your strengths. The idea is to balance the two.

Balance equals perspective, and this will serve to keep your thoughts objective.

Compartmentalizing your analysis simply means to keep your thoughts/notes organized and to avoid making generalizations. In other words, if analysis inspires motivation to improve something specific, leave it at that. Don't allow this motivation to then inspire broad feelings of inadequacy.

Here's a more specific example. While listening to a tape of a recent performance, I noticed that my time rushed a little bit while playing a specific groove. The proper way to move forward from this is to only associate my rushing time with that specific groove and practice it accordingly. The wrong thing would be to start making generalizations about my time, i.e. saying things like 'My time sucks...I always rush'. My time doesn't always rush...only when I play that particular groove!

See my point?

In addition to the concepts discussed above, you'll find that if you follow the techniques I'm about to explain regarding specific analysis practices, these will also help you keep things objective and compartmentalized.

So just how do I analyze my performances? I use two different methods:

1. Journaling
2. Audio and Video Documentation


Keeping a detailed journal of every performance experience is absolutely paramount. Practice sessions, gigs, whatever...I journal it all. I try to include as much detail as I can recall. In this way I can document everything permanently. This offers me many advantages. First of all, as we discussed earlier, it gives me perspective. When I'm feeling crappy after a bad gig or challenging practice session, I can always go back and read about one of my better performances. My journal also provides me a way to document my progress. If I practice something consistently and mindfully and enter journal entries after each practice session, I can go back and read each entry, noting the progress made. Often times when working on difficult material progress is slow and it's tough to notice. This method helps me realize that I am making consistent progress, and it also helps me realize when I'm not, prompting me to alter my approach and try something different.

I try to format my journal entries in a specific manner so that when I go back and read past entries I can quickly find the information I'm looking for. Here's an example: a recent entry after a gig:

Synopsis:
Wedding gig on Nantucket with Freestyle.

Positives:
-Grooves were very solid; one of our singers even commented on them after the gig
-I stretched out my fills a little more than usual and still kept the feel solid.
-I tried a different stick - Vic Firth 5A Extremes. I like them more than the 5B's. They're slightly leaner making them a little lighter and the tones from the drums aren't quite so "thudy".
-I finally replaced the batter head on the kick. It has much more tone and attack and the response from the beater is livelier and easier to control during faster rhythms.

Lessons:
-I sweated a lot and my left pinky finger was irritated at the end of the night. Some grip analysis is needed.

Other:
I feel so much more loose these days. I think it is a combination of having my technique in better shape and approaching the gig with more of an open heart and mind.


The headings I chose aren't necessarily appropriate for you, but the idea is to orient each journal post in an organized manner. Notice that I try to include as much detail as possible, and I also include notes regarding equipment changes. Everything is important, so write it all down!

Usually when I'm refining my practice regimen, I'll look through my past journal entries and note the information under the "Lessons" heading. These are things that I feel need improvement and as such they are eventually added to my regimen.

Do yourself a favor and start a journal today. I used to keep a written journal but I recently changed over to electronic format. I created a new blog here on blogspot.com and set it to private. Give it a try!

The second method of analysis, audio and video documentation, will give you incredible amounts of detailed information unlike any other source. In fact, it is even more accurate than your journal since journaling relies on memory (I don't know about you but my memory sucks!). When you document you performances as they happen, everything is included.

For audio, I use an M-Audio MicroTrack:


Check out their website here.

I usually throw it behind my drumkit and hit record before each set. Or, if I'm playing a larger venue, I'll ask the FOH sound engineer if I can place it somewhere on his mixing console or on an equipment rack. Most of the time these guys are happy to run it for you, and sometimes they'll even connect it directly to the board and I'll get a nice 'board mix' recording of the concert (only do this if your drums are properly miked...otherwise you'll get a nice recording of everyone but yourself!).

For video, I use a Flip Video Ultra:


Check out their website here.

This thing is so cool!! It's the same size as a regular digicam, takes great video, and the audio quality is surprisingly good. I try to shoot gigs but it's often difficult to find a spot for the camera, so lately I've used it mostly to record my practice sessions. I'll often set it up close to my hands so I can get a real nice look at my technique.

Ok, so once you get all this audio and video, what do you do with it? The first thing is to organize it all. I always use filenames that include the date and a short description of the performance. For example, I have an audio file that's called 081008_Practice.mp3. 081008 is the date (August 10 of 2008) and 'Practice' tells me it is a recording of a practice session. For gigs, I usually name them similarly; date followed by an abbreviated band name followed by 'LIVE' or 'REH' so I know if it's a gig or a rehearsal. I use the same naming convention for videos.

Then I save them on my laptop in different folders. I have an 'audio' and a 'video' folder, and within those are sub-folders for live shows, rehearsals, and practice sessions.

Once you've organized, time to analyze!

I keep a written log of notes that I use while listening/viewing. Whenever I notice something I'll pause the recording and write down my thought along with the location of the recording. This way I can go back later and revisit to further analyze. Some of these notes serve the simple purpose of increasing my self-actualization while others can serve as a means to help refine my practice regimen.

Don't forget to have fun with all this stuff. I often catch some classic moments, especially on gigs. It's nice to have these moments documented; sometimes when I have free time I'll listen/watch and just enjoy the entertaining manner by which I've made an ass of myself onstage (it happens more than I care to admit).

To sum-up:

1. Keep your analysis within the realm of objectivity and compartmentalize your thoughts.
2. Use journaling, audio and video as a means to document your performances.
3. Keep the information you're gathering organized, and use this information to help you stay on the path towards self-actualization as well as a tool for practice regimen refinement.
4. Share the lighter moments with your bandmates!


The path to Mastery is easier to navigate when your level of self actualization is consistently high. Use these methods I have described and remember to follow a process-oriented mindset throughout.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Jeff,

Great Stuff! Especially on the journaling idea and what to capture. Also appreciated your thoughts on compartmentalizing a performance and not making comparisons.

Jon