When I have been in performance class, I have been punctual with time and I have also done as much prep work as I could have done beforehand so I knew what I was doing when we got to class. Unfortunately due to the setting of the class, sometimes I did not find out which piece we were playing until that day, this posed a challenge to learn the piece as quickly as possible although still learning it as per the recorded version we were using. I have had a lot of practice of this type of learning as even before college this is how I learned to play drums, by listening and playing back. Recently I have been involved in playing with a function band who are part of an agency of bands who all have similar sets. This means that if you know each song inside-out and have the right structural version under control, you have no problem with being scouted in to play with other bands on the agency at very short notice.
Performance class has been a great way of experiencing different styles of playing with other musicians other than what you would usually be used to. When I have been involved in this I have tried to be as stylistically accurate in my playing as I could technically be. A main issue I have noticed in my playing recently is that because I have been playing so much outside of college in a particular style of playing (more rock/pop based), which is taking up so much of my free time alongside working part time, I have not had as much time to really give the more adventurous styles of playing which I would like to get under my belt a real chance, which is admittedly, from an academic point of view, not great. I do however feel that I have come on leaps and bounds in the style of music which I have been playing. I feel that my internal time has improved when playing live or with other musicians also playing with a click in the studio or live has now become much more natural. Through playing in different venues and different rehearsal environments I am more clued in to knowing how to refrain my volume and intensity in different circumstances but still keeping the tone I am used to producing which is something I have always had a problem with but this has now become much easier and more natural. I even feel that my stamina and grip technique have improved. Playing live at the intensity I do when I play the louder and heavier styles of music is hard work, I noticed this especially when I was on tour, having to be 100% on the ball each night and being able to get the same amount of intensity and level of accuracy each consecutive night.
I am well aware that I will more than likely not be able to make a whole living simply by playing the styles of music that I enjoy and am used to. However at the moment, playing the way I have and am known to a few people for has got me much further than I had ever anticipated. Of course I want to progress my playing into different styles and really get into depth with my technique and feel to be able to play these different styles to the optimum level. The unfortunate fact at the moment is that I have not been able to make as much time for it as I would have liked to.
Obviously, I can only be graded on what happens in college, so I have still been trying to put more than the expected amount of work in to every aspect of the course and I am actually proud to say that I have dealt with it the way I have. I have learned a lot about myself and how I can deal with a lot of pressure on a daily basis but still be able to get through everything and be happy with the outcome. Like I say the only thing that I wish could have been different would be that I could have put much more into my technique and feel when playing other styles of music although I feel that I have progressed a lot at what I have been doing so this I think I can say I am quite happy with.
