It has always been hard for me to practice, because I get bored if I don't hear music—if I'm just hearing the drums.
I go from one thing to the next to keep me from being bored.
I learn all the rhythms basically. Then you learn how to create— how to improvise. If you can think, then all you've got to do is think. I learned the rhythms in their basic form— the calypso, bolero, reggae— but then you need music. You learn how to do things when you're on that bandstand or rehearsing with other musicians.
When I practice, I don't say, “I'm going to get this or that lick together.”
I go from one thing to the next to keep me from being bored.
I learn all the rhythms basically. Then you learn how to create— how to improvise. If you can think, then all you've got to do is think. I learned the rhythms in their basic form— the calypso, bolero, reggae— but then you need music. You learn how to do things when you're on that bandstand or rehearsing with other musicians.
When I practice, I don't say, “I'm going to get this or that lick together.”
I don't discourage my students from formal practice or using books. There are great things in drum method books—as long as you can make it sound natural. You want to sound natural, not mechanical.
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