– to position ourselves comfortably on the head of the pin, where the dance of experience, discovery and mindfulness take place – where we not only apply knowledge, but bring to bear our entire self to the art of being.
Although playing the drumset demands more of the body than most other instruments, one would be mistaken to presume that it takes less of the other parts. This text functions as a personal guide in building the connection between our cognitive and experiential faculties as they intersect with the musical and life practice of learning, creating, and improvising.
In the following chapters, excerpted here from Drummer's Insight - The Meta Pursuit of Musicianship and Meaning, we’ll take an ontological and epistemological look at precisely how we connect with the drumset in light of our internal and external aspects, while empowering ourselves to close the gap between them. We’ll explore our role in that important process through themes implicitly in line with Buddhist philosophy and research in contemporary cognitive neuroscience.
We’ll recognize that musicianship entails far more than mastery of the body. It is the flexible cognitive convergence of what makes us human – intuition, culture, imagination, creativity and discipline – the natural aptitude to ask “why?” or "what if?" We will be tasked with creating and connecting our internal cognitive characteristics; to become masters of our own development.
But this is no critical analysis of or reflection upon the mystical attributes of drumming. Readers should expect to fully participate on their own behalf, looking deep within, for here and only here is where answers lie.
Drummer’s Insight – The Meta Pursuit of Musicianship and Meaning establishes creative musicianship as a state of being. The work emphasizes how a practice based on inquiry and presence of mind enables comprehensive musicianship. We will uncover its potential for self-determination and well-being by exploring disciplines of inquiry, creativity and mindfulness. We bring to light the ways in which a musical discipline has the potential to create a life of personal integrity, of authenticity, a life in which our highest human virtues are realized.
We examine the essential aim of education – to educe – and discover pathways to develop our own potential across all areas. Importantly, Drummer’s Insight goes deep into the behavioral neuroscience of improvisation, its relationship with critical thinking and problem solving, and the practical neurological transfer of these skills from music to other complex cognitive tasks.
As a serious musician, at some point we are likely to experience a period of reflection – a crossroads of sorts where we assess what kind of future we wish to create for ourselves. This period of reflection is common, typically following years of resolve and tenacity. It is a time when we take note of our accomplishments, seeing just how far we’ve come as a result of these efforts. As part of this reflection, we may hope to more fully integrate our experience and expertise going forward.
Precisely because of personal achievements we now have the benefit of a more enlightened vantage point. Our aims are higher, too. We wish to use these experiences to direct ourselves vis-a-vis this greater self-knowledge. We sense connectedness and greater meaning – an “ecology of mind” (Bateson, 1972) – in which all relationships, all events, thoughts and actions, whether natural, cultural or economical, are entangled in a network of wonder and influence. Sensing this interconnectedness of all things, we seek to unify ourselves. We wish to create a purposeful life, one where we add value to this shared existence in a positive way. We wonder, is it possible to unify our passion, livelihood, skill and principles?
Yes, it most certainly is.
By now, we’ve likely invested a considerable amount of time, effort and money immersing ourselves in The Music. We have dedicated ourselves to learning, and have come to embrace the opportunity for growth and discovery which this ever-evolving instrument presents. We have invested or at the very least intend to invest a significant portion of energy to mastery – not only of the instrument – but of our entire self. We aspire to continuous learning, authenticity and creativity.
It has been said that “the music is the teacher” and for sure this is true. In addition, we have available to us an abundance of instruction, guidance, and technical advice. We are flooded with explanations of technique, drum covers and tricks; inundated with instruction books, videos and social media clips of showmanship and technical wizardry. We are bombarded with new products with which we can “express our individuality”. With all we have available at our fingertips, it seems we should be able to learn just about anything.
As I am sure you’ve discovered, it’s not quite that simple.
All of us, as in any complicated endeavor, must discern for ourselves, amidst all the noise, what may be of value. Only then can we figure out how to create and apply ideas in our own way. Only then may we add value to the milieu.
For years we’ve listened, attempting to assimilate the complexities of American music in the development of our unique voice. We’ve practiced for hours, months and years, witnessed varying degrees of improvement. We may have even tried to structure life in a way in which we are doing what we love, what we are good at, what can sustain us. We’ve worked to create a life which simultaneously contributes and is fulfilling. As overwhelming as it may be, navigating these complexities and applying ourselves to practice and making music is not easy. It is a tenacious pursuit of integration and balance, of priorities and discipline.
So what’s missing?
Within the extensive resources available, what is typically not discussed is the way in which we direct our self – whether in what to practice, how to practice or how to learn; how to direct our self in how to live.
What follows is a guide for navigating the space which lies between our consciousness and everything else: the messy interface between what’s inside us and all that is not. How do we operate this instrument, this “I”? How do we apply our self in the task of learning, of living, of being?
Drummer’s Insight is not a critical analysis of drums, drum music, or of drummers, nor does it contain “tips and tricks”, routines or systems to follow. It is not an academic analysis of practice, nor are there individual stories of how I or others have done it. Instead, it is your personal guide to becoming your own guide; to help you find your own way, to create and walk your own path with intelligence, authenticity, creativity and curiosity – to position ourselves comfortably on the head of the pin, where the dance of experience, discovery and mindfulness take place – where we not only apply knowledge, but bring to bear our entire self to the art of being.
We will learn how to make use of our own mental and physical powers, and in the process, discover that which we may have missed all along: the importance of our own effectiveness in the continuous realization of our potential.
Thank you.
-- Brett F. Campbell
Summer, 2022
< photo: workshop of Roberto Spizzichino by Ronn Dunnett
In the following chapters, excerpted here from Drummer's Insight - The Meta Pursuit of Musicianship and Meaning, we’ll take an ontological and epistemological look at precisely how we connect with the drumset in light of our internal and external aspects, while empowering ourselves to close the gap between them. We’ll explore our role in that important process through themes implicitly in line with Buddhist philosophy and research in contemporary cognitive neuroscience.
We’ll recognize that musicianship entails far more than mastery of the body. It is the flexible cognitive convergence of what makes us human – intuition, culture, imagination, creativity and discipline – the natural aptitude to ask “why?” or "what if?" We will be tasked with creating and connecting our internal cognitive characteristics; to become masters of our own development.
But this is no critical analysis of or reflection upon the mystical attributes of drumming. Readers should expect to fully participate on their own behalf, looking deep within, for here and only here is where answers lie.
Drummer’s Insight – The Meta Pursuit of Musicianship and Meaning establishes creative musicianship as a state of being. The work emphasizes how a practice based on inquiry and presence of mind enables comprehensive musicianship. We will uncover its potential for self-determination and well-being by exploring disciplines of inquiry, creativity and mindfulness. We bring to light the ways in which a musical discipline has the potential to create a life of personal integrity, of authenticity, a life in which our highest human virtues are realized.
We examine the essential aim of education – to educe – and discover pathways to develop our own potential across all areas. Importantly, Drummer’s Insight goes deep into the behavioral neuroscience of improvisation, its relationship with critical thinking and problem solving, and the practical neurological transfer of these skills from music to other complex cognitive tasks.
As a serious musician, at some point we are likely to experience a period of reflection – a crossroads of sorts where we assess what kind of future we wish to create for ourselves. This period of reflection is common, typically following years of resolve and tenacity. It is a time when we take note of our accomplishments, seeing just how far we’ve come as a result of these efforts. As part of this reflection, we may hope to more fully integrate our experience and expertise going forward.
Precisely because of personal achievements we now have the benefit of a more enlightened vantage point. Our aims are higher, too. We wish to use these experiences to direct ourselves vis-a-vis this greater self-knowledge. We sense connectedness and greater meaning – an “ecology of mind” (Bateson, 1972) – in which all relationships, all events, thoughts and actions, whether natural, cultural or economical, are entangled in a network of wonder and influence. Sensing this interconnectedness of all things, we seek to unify ourselves. We wish to create a purposeful life, one where we add value to this shared existence in a positive way. We wonder, is it possible to unify our passion, livelihood, skill and principles?
Yes, it most certainly is.
By now, we’ve likely invested a considerable amount of time, effort and money immersing ourselves in The Music. We have dedicated ourselves to learning, and have come to embrace the opportunity for growth and discovery which this ever-evolving instrument presents. We have invested or at the very least intend to invest a significant portion of energy to mastery – not only of the instrument – but of our entire self. We aspire to continuous learning, authenticity and creativity.
It has been said that “the music is the teacher” and for sure this is true. In addition, we have available to us an abundance of instruction, guidance, and technical advice. We are flooded with explanations of technique, drum covers and tricks; inundated with instruction books, videos and social media clips of showmanship and technical wizardry. We are bombarded with new products with which we can “express our individuality”. With all we have available at our fingertips, it seems we should be able to learn just about anything.
As I am sure you’ve discovered, it’s not quite that simple.
All of us, as in any complicated endeavor, must discern for ourselves, amidst all the noise, what may be of value. Only then can we figure out how to create and apply ideas in our own way. Only then may we add value to the milieu.
For years we’ve listened, attempting to assimilate the complexities of American music in the development of our unique voice. We’ve practiced for hours, months and years, witnessed varying degrees of improvement. We may have even tried to structure life in a way in which we are doing what we love, what we are good at, what can sustain us. We’ve worked to create a life which simultaneously contributes and is fulfilling. As overwhelming as it may be, navigating these complexities and applying ourselves to practice and making music is not easy. It is a tenacious pursuit of integration and balance, of priorities and discipline.
So what’s missing?
Within the extensive resources available, what is typically not discussed is the way in which we direct our self – whether in what to practice, how to practice or how to learn; how to direct our self in how to live.
What follows is a guide for navigating the space which lies between our consciousness and everything else: the messy interface between what’s inside us and all that is not. How do we operate this instrument, this “I”? How do we apply our self in the task of learning, of living, of being?
Drummer’s Insight is not a critical analysis of drums, drum music, or of drummers, nor does it contain “tips and tricks”, routines or systems to follow. It is not an academic analysis of practice, nor are there individual stories of how I or others have done it. Instead, it is your personal guide to becoming your own guide; to help you find your own way, to create and walk your own path with intelligence, authenticity, creativity and curiosity – to position ourselves comfortably on the head of the pin, where the dance of experience, discovery and mindfulness take place – where we not only apply knowledge, but bring to bear our entire self to the art of being.
We will learn how to make use of our own mental and physical powers, and in the process, discover that which we may have missed all along: the importance of our own effectiveness in the continuous realization of our potential.
Thank you.
-- Brett F. Campbell
Summer, 2022
< photo: workshop of Roberto Spizzichino by Ronn Dunnett
Copyright © 2012-2023 Drummer's Insight. All rights reserved.
Text or images on this site may not be copied, reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without prior written consent of the author.
Text or images on this site may not be copied, reproduced or transmitted in whole or in part by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without prior written consent of the author.