100 Tidbits of Knowledge
dedicated to all of my students, teachers and living life.
by Michael Gould
1. Slow burn approach—you are young…you have a long life ahead…the path is long so don’t fry yourself out early on. Take on all of the challenges, play in everything but like they always say—moderation is also good. You have time to do it all…just plan some shit out. Don’t be a skid mark.
2. Going to bed at 4 a.m. for an 8 a.m. class and not taking care of yourself is for freshmen…what’s your excuse?
3. It is important to party.
4. It's not the library book you are looking for necessarily that you will learn something from, it's the books surrounding it on the shelf…the analog world still has a lot to lend.
5. If it is fear that is telling you not to do something—you must do it.
6. Improvise everyday—in all things.
7. Rip the filters off and run to the playground. As you have gotten older you lose the sense of play and wonder…incorporate your inner child.
8. Keep moving.
9. Prehab your body—drums never get lighter.
10. Eventually everyone is a great musician but not everyone has great get along chops.
11. Compound interest-save a little something soon-you also need to educate yourself on financial and tax matters…this matters for the future you.
12. Always bring something to the table.
13. Be early.
14. Preparation helps dissuade nerves.
15. Thank your elders.
16. Listening is more than half of the job.
17. We hit things for a living-it should be fun.
18. Everybody has a busy or bad week-give yourself a break.
19. Love your practice pad.
20. Work on the rudiments and make them your own.
21. If you see a great set-up of percussion instruments—go improvise on it.
22. All sounds are equal.
23. Work on your ears—hear with your eyes. Work on your sight—see with your ears.
24. Don't let tradition impinge your creativity.
25. Ask your students to teach you something.
26. Circles of people-when you go to a university the people you meet will be your friends and colleagues for life…now leave..go to another place and create another circle of friends and colleagues. Live in the intersection of those circles…the intersection will create more opportunities.
27. Read the newspaper-it will help you understand how you are situated on the planet and how you view yourself and others. Don’t be an uninformed musician.
28. Find a hobby…there is more to life than paradiddles.
29. What are three things you would want to do given no parental constraints or financial concerns?
30. You made a contract with yourself to be an artist—fulfill that contract. Riches come in many shades.
31. How much stuff do you actually need?
32. Short attention span? How is the practicing going?
33. The rent still comes due every month—sometimes you have to don a green tuxedo and play It’s a good day to be Irish to make the rent—you are no less the musician or artist, just richer. It makes you appreciate the other gigs. This actually happened to me—green tux and all.
34. Collaborations take a lot of coffee—you have to know one another and how you each work to be able to work together.
35. Keep your level of inquiry high.
36. Don’t ever be afraid to ask questions. Don’t ever be afraid to fail. When someone asks who wants to play-be the first to volunteer
37. You don’t always need to get paid—yes, it is necessary but sometimes you need to give a little to get a lot back (as they say).
38. Don’t give your intellectual property away for free. Don’t short yourself. Don’t should on yourself either…I should have done that…but you did not. Live with it.
39. The four levels of mistakes:
Level One: only you know you made a mistake.
Level Two: the people in your band know you made a mistake and chuckle.
Level Three: music aficionados in the audience hear that you possibly made a mistake.
Level Four: Your grandparents know you made a mistake (but love you nonetheless).
40. Take a folkloric approach to learning music…no one person has THE way to play…but there are many ways to play the same thing. Take everything in and decide what you want to use. If someone says this is the WAY to play… run away.
41. BOO—base, ornamentation, orchestration. The snare drum is the data entry tool for playing percussion…it is the computer keyboard in a way. Once you have it on the snare drum there are only two things left to do—ornament and orchestrate. I would also say with orchestration comes coordination.
42. Neutral position-your wrist has three axis. When you lay your hand on a desk, palm down or shake someone’s hand—these are neutral. When you use two of the three to the extreme, bad things happen, ie., tendinitis, carpal tunnel…think neutral and you will avoid big problems…set-up your drums and percussion to capitalize on the neutral position. That goes for any instrumentalist or computer programmer.
43. The cymbal is an idiophone—a big chunk of metal that uses itself to resonate. Use a bit of arm weight to excite the molecules..both the high and the low. Think like a timpanist—use two different beating areas to play legato and play in the same spot and increase the pressure on the stick for staccato. More than anything swing (like a mother fucker).
44. Just be you. Learn the history of your instrument. Learn the repertoire. Learn the techniques. Obsess on it all…then be you.
45. Learn how to take care of yourself and the music will get better.
46. Keep your fucking shoes on when you play the drums…no one wants to see your bare feet or your shitty socks.
47. My band director in grade school told me to put the important stuff by or in my shoes…I never forgot anything after that.
48. Learn how to juggle to focus your attention—one of my old teachers told me that—it works.
49. Smile on the bandstand. It’s a gift to be up there and a lot of hard work. If you need an example—look at Louis Bellson or Billy Higgins. Louie always smiled and never forgot a name (including mine).
50. If everything is on YouTube right now—then bring some of that to your lessons. Why do the minimum amount of work for the lessons you (or your parents) are paying for?
51. Small amounts of practice and work lead up to a lot.
52. If you get vibed..smile back. If the bad vibes continue…make sure it is not you sucking….if it’s not you…is the pay or the type of music worth the vibe?
53. Speaking of vibe—toughen up cupcake. A hard shell is necessary sometimes…don’t be a soft boiled egg.
54. Before you take a gig ask: where, what and when…sometimes why? You know the how.
55. If it feels good it is good…if it doesn’t feel right—it isn’t.
56. Before embarking on something extremely stupid…remember this moment and don’t do it.
57. Save some quiet time for yourself. Creative things happen in the quiet.
58. We all carry around two virtual suitcases…in our right suitcase is craft…in our left is our emotional baggage. You can open these anytime to be creative—keep filling them as well.
59. From a scale of zero to ten—zero is the Buddha floating on a lotus leaf and ten is death—where is your relative stress level right now? If it is high-what can you do to mitigate the stress? I ask my students at the beginning of class what their numbers are—then we play for two hours—then I ask again…most often their numbers have lowered from one to three digits. Work out your stress on the drums—deal with your problems with improvisation.
60. The whole idea that if you are on time you are late is only partially true…no one wants to wait for you to set up your stuff. Be the first one there. Be set-up. Be ready. Have a writing implement.
61. Keep the inner clowns down. Self doubt, imposter syndrome, nerves…be prepared and crush the clown.
62. Fly or hover above yourself being taught..If you can observe yourself being taught you will in turn understand how to become a teacher.
63. NO ONE CAN HEAR YOUR DEGREE-YOU CAN EITHER PLAY OR NOT (why am I shouting?).
64. When you hear some killer musicians on stage–they are twice as good in the practice room.
65. There is no plugin or EQ that can substitute for a good sounding instrument. Come on—learn to tune those things and speak the language of the studio.
66. Don’t watch your colleague move their shit…help out. That is the percussive way.
67. Learn/practice to play softly…
68. The space you are playing and its associated acoustics are part of the band..play with and to the space.
69. This space left blank intentionally (it is important to do nothing)
70. You need a sense of Curiosity (and as aforementioned Inquiry)
71. For me. I think about the food pyramid for my own well being and what 21st drummers need. What does your pyramid look like for your own health, well-being and professional life?
72. According to the Plsek directed creativity cycle there are four phases: Preparation, Imagination, Development and Action. You can crush the first three but without action no one will ever know what you are capable of.
73. Check the expiration date of your passport. Also, get a passport.
74. If your sticks look like a beaver gnawed them, maybe it's time to get a new pair—if you say you like the sound—try getting that sound with new sticks.
75. We apply various amounts of pressure to a surface just like a painter on to a canvas—have a multitude of implements to paint sound with.
76. A student had to get up ass-crack early to make eggs every morning in the dorm cafeteria. He dreaded doing it…If you make eggs like you are playing with brushes your technique improves and the time flies…
77. You are a rhythmatist-what do you mean you can’t count that rhythm??
78. Coffee is life
79. Spend as much as you can afford on a nice set of performance clothes…unless you get fat they can last a long time.
80. Surround yourself with silence-listen on the inside, listen on the outside-inner/outer listening. Also, you don’t have to be a percussion major to dig John Cage.
81. Learn how to write well-just like musical practice writing is an acquired skill.
82. If the drive is 5 minutes or less–walk or ride a bike. You will feel better even in shitty weather. OK….not all shitty weather is equal.
83. Empty Music. Lessons and the practice room are somewhat artificial from playing with other humans…have a tune in your head to “sing” along to while you practice. Without it-it is empty music. Soulless.
84. Everyone has a certain amount of craft in hiding one’s own deficiencies …be honest in the practice room and focus on those.
85. A practice log is like counting calories and measuring your food…it holds you accountable.
86. I want to thank the multitudes of difficult people who have entered and exited my life-they have given me a wealth of clarity on priorities and what not to be.
87. Empathy
88. Sometimes bridges need to be built and other times burned
89. Words Matter.
90. A World Without Ice is not a world we want.
91. Read your professors papers, books, articles and listen to their music. Your classes or lessons are a form of collaboration, a form of trust, a dialogue and an exchange of information, creativity, and curiosity. Without knowing who your professor is, this exchange bears less fruit.
92. Two words: Thank You. It is so easy to say. It cannot be overused.
93. You need confidence to play drums…but it does not need to be brash.
94. Brushes can be the most potent weapon on drums. It is not only for playing softly but for a beautiful timbral change.
95. Speaking of timbre-you can’t have enough implements-they are the brushes that paint the multitudes of sounds.
96. When you open up a method book–read the author's text/thoughts, tips, advice and why he/she wrote the book (don’t just skip ahead to the musical examples). You can learn a lot from these introductions.
97. In your dark moments, get up, move, go on a walk, write a list of the people you love or who love you, dance like a penguin, look in the mirror and smile with your bottom teeth, pop some bubble wrap, do something small that is proactive to dissuade these feelings, call a friend, find some sunshine, road trip, ride a bike, play with clay, eat some Lucky Charms.
98. Geographic location is an important factor for living–if you are miserable in the winter, don’t settle on a cold location to live. If you love the mountains, the beach, the forest try and find a job that matches your geographic love. Sometimes you don’t have a choice but while you are young seek these out and go live somewhere you love (who knows, you might find the love of your life there too).
99. Be nice-I think it takes a lot less energy than being an asshole.
100. Congratulations, you have gotten this far…if you have graduated or are near graduation this does not mean that you can’t reach out should you need anything. The Gould Assistance Program (GAP) is fully enabled anytime you need something…let me know how and what you are doing as well!