"1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &"

Obviously, I love to drum. Playing at UNL has been so awesome, and brought up new opportunities for me. In October, I was hired by my old high school to instruct the drumline there. I was stoked. I took the gig and found out that instructing is tons of fun. One tool that's used constantly (or at least should be used constantly) is the metronome.

A metronome's primary function is to keep time. Humans don't do a very good job of it, so we play with the metronome to give us that constant steady, and even ruthless beat that will not change. As we improve, we become better at holding tempo, but still need to continually be referring back to the met. Drumming especially relies on this, more than any other section. It helps the whole line play as a line. The ultimate goal is to sound so tight, that it's only one guy playing.

Unfortunately, there are instructors out there that decidedly don't use a metronome (there is a point to this, I promise). Mainly, because "they won't have it out on the field during a show." Which is true, but how do you expect students keep consistent tempo if they can't in the first place?

Whenever I talk about why we use the metronome, the two words "reference point," always come up. The metronome is the thing that we fall back on when we suck. We all need to refer back to it at some point or another in order to further our striving towards good drumming. It's a lot like our spiritual lives.

The Metronome/Dr. Beat (God/His Word)
Always right. No matter what. If you're struggling, you got to get right with God. Everything must fit exactly with Him. Extremely hard to do, that's why so much practice is needed to be put into it in order to be successful.

Instructors (Pastors/Ministers/etc.)
A fairly good amount are great at what they do and have had success, however, there are some out there who aren't the best. The main idea for them is to help other christians become more solid in their faith. They encourage very much and only want the best from their people. Also, they were in the same position themselves at one point. They recognize the difficulties and challenges presented. But, there are those who don't exactly know what's up. They may have stopped practicing themselves, yet still expect the same results from their students.

Drummers/Drumline (Everyone Else/The Church)
Constantly practicing to get closer and closer to God. So much hard work is put in to being a good christian young man or woman. There are plenty of loving people around, always wanting to further their relationship somehow, but there are also a good amount that just get by with what's "necessary," and aren't fully committed to Him, or they just want to chill and have fun. And they may do so, but won't produce anything of quality, a waste of time. Bearing fruit will not take place.

I haven't been practicing with a metronome a whole lot lately. My tempo fluctuates and everything is somewhat choppy. It's lacking something...

*deek deek deek deek*