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why can so many drummers not play like this kid can?

#81
Shalto said:
I will also suggest just gently, that in this day and age practicing a song over and over till you can put the best of 10-20 takes is somethibg that can and does happen and is a skill itself. A *different* skill to traditionally practicing so you can play on stage 10-20 *different* songs with an ensemble. An Instagram musician has a different skill set to a hired gun. Be aware of that when you see the best take from several hours of filming.

Basically the opposite of Jack of all trades/master of none. If this kid is giving clinics they are likely legit, but I imagine you would find while she is great at rock, she probably has been mainly focussed on that genre to get to her level so early.
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In my view, that's OK. It's all part of the master plan. In classical music lessons, kids are always working on a show piece that they will play at the next recital. But they are also working on etudes, technique, reading, and so forth. They're likely playing in an enselble as well. And the show pieces are chosen by the teacher for having particular technical challenges that the student needs to work on. The kids who are brilliant at show pieces sometimes take longer to get their reading chops up to speed, but they do catch up. If you're playing show pieces at age 12, it means you've still got a whole decade to turn yourself into a complete musician.

I think the only thing that's unusual is seeing it happen outside of the classical realm. I didn't even start playing electric bass until I was a teenager, and it was widely considered to be an instrument that didn't need formal instruction. There were both bad and good things about that. I don't think every instrument needs the competitive atmosphere of some classical instruments. If you weren't lucky enough to start playing music at age 8, you still deserve a chance to play music.
 
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#86
OP, as has been mentioned, just adding my 2 cents worth.

Kid has:
- talent
- been taught intensively from a VERY young age by very effective teachers, not just on drums but clearly in general music, rhythm studies, music analysis, and so forth.
- had family who paid for all of this from a very young age and also work hard to promote the child

and....

- the kid has good judgement..... lots of adult drummers don't.

I'm assuming all this - but I have lots of experience with wonderkind from other countries who are far far better taught and promoted and pushed than we normally are in north america and in european countries
 
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#87
To The OP's original question - Most can't play like that because they don't have as much talent - they don't work as hard - they learned bad habits - they let their ego get in the way - they are not really into it as much . It's a fact that there are people who are naturally better at one thing or another than most other people are . I loved baseball with all my heart and I played all the time as a kid - never felt at all like I was "working " at it . Decently gifted athletically - I made it as far as getting scouted by major league teams as a high schooler but I was too small - too slow footed and couldn't hit well enough to go further . In other words - as much as I loved playing and as much as I played - I never was going to be a prodigy like these kids and that's fine . There's room for all levels to play and enjoy their efforts and some not so talented or skilled musicians have made great music despite not being the " best " .... Kelly
 
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#91
It's kind of like learning a language is easier when we're young than once we're older and have a bunch of stuff to focus on and memory problems. ;)

Kid was probably given sticks at a very young age and had the opportunity for proper instruction, and had fun doing it.

Kind of like Victor Wooten's brothers giving him a bass at age 4 and sharing what knowledge they had.

Tried learning drums a few years ago...I can play a beat as long as I don't have to use my left foot for anything.. decided to stick to bass.
 
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#94
fdeck said:
In my view, that's OK. It's all part of the master plan. In classical music lessons, kids are always working on a show piece that they will play at the next recital. But they are also working on etudes, technique, reading, and so forth. They're likely playing in an enselble as well. And the show pieces are chosen by the teacher for having particular technical challenges that the student needs to work on. The kids who are brilliant at show pieces sometimes take longer to get their reading chops up to speed, but they do catch up. If you're playing show pieces at age 12, it means you've still got a whole decade to turn yourself into a complete musician.

I think the only thing that's unusual is seeing it happen outside of the classical realm. I didn't even start playing electric bass until I was a teenager, and it was widely considered to be an instrument that didn't need formal instruction. There were both bad and good things about that. I don't think every instrument needs the competitive atmosphere of some classical instruments. If you weren't lucky enough to start playing music at age 8, you still deserve a chance to play music.
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Agree with you re the performance piece. I can remember fellow high school students a few decades back learning to play pieces above their general technical level really well. It was a good investment of time too as it did raise their skills.

The difference now is that when someone does their performance piece they can just record it over and over and pick their best take, or edit the best bits of their best five takes together. It makes me somewhat suspicious of the instagram performance.

Want to emphasise that these kids are brilliant though.
 
#97
Wow! That girl in the OP is a blast to watch, and hearing her back-to-back on the Cyndi Lauper and the Led Zep is interesting. She gets right on top of the beat in the Lauper song and plays with confidence and restraint until late in the song, where she gets playful with the fills in a way that works (to my ear, at least).

Then she gets all loose-limbed rhythm cave monster sounding like Bonham, too!?! Love the kick drum work on Heartbreaker. She looks like a really accomplished kid having a good time, not a over-drilled music robot.

That kid would be a total hoot to jam with!

As an aside, I really dug the groove from Charlie Puth's song "Attention" and one day went down the "Attention" YouTube drum covers rabbit hole. There were two that really sucked me in and a whole bunch that didn't appeal to me at all. The various kid covers were in the latter group. Here are the two I liked...different styles and levels of flash but I liked them both. I will say that both struck me as too heavy on the cymbals, and the kid in the OP did not strike me as that at any point in either example. She hit them where they did the most good and no more. And she had a nice touch on the ride, I thought.

Anyhow, here are those two "Attention" cover guys.



 
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#98
Lagado said:
The "10,000-hour rule" was debunked again. That's a relief.
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It's probably worth noting that Mr Gladwell began the book by pointing out that birthdays played a fair old role in the distribution of athletic talent. People beginning the season with birthdays earlier in the year (but still qualified for the appropriate age-grade) tended to outshine their younger teammates and were given extra coaching.

Running the micrometer over the practice habits of a subset of talented people is not what I would call debunking the whole theory of the benefits of large amounts of practice. I recently had to learn a set from an old band that used to practice 5 or 6 hours most days. I wouldn't say I struggled, because I know how to structure the process. But it took a minute. And, yes the drummer was 15 back then and already very talented when he joined.
 

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