Steve Smith's
Drum Talk:
Learning from Mentors
When I started playing the drums my parents
brought me to a teacher, Billy Flanagan, who
started me from the beginning. The first lesson
was how to hold the sticks and how to count four
quarter notes to a bar of 4/4 time. I ended up
studying with him from the time I was nine years
old until I was seventeen when I graduated from
high school and then went on to the Berklee
College of Music.
Billy was more than a
drum teacher to me, he became my first mentor.
Webster's Dictionary defines Mentor as: 1) a
wise and trusted counselor or teacher, and 2) an
influential senior sponsor or supporter. Billy
was all those things to me and studying with him
established a way of learning that I greatly
benefited from and have found extremely
inspiring and helpful. I first learned about
Louie Bellson, Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa from
him since that was the type of player he was,
coming from the Big Band Era. But more important
than that he helped me get excited about playing
the drums because he was excited about the
drums.
After the eight years with Billy I
studied with Gary Chaffee at Berklee. Gary also
became a mentor to me. I was greatly influenced
not only by the drum lessons themselves, but
like my relationship with Billy, I wanted to
know what music he listened to. I wanted to know
why he liked it, if I didn't understand it, he
helped me "hear" it. I wanted to adopt the
attitudes and tastes of these influential
people. I thought they knew so much, and they
did know a lot, much more than I did.
I
studied with Alan Dawson at Berklee and he too
became a role model and mentor for me. These
mentors took an interest in me and gave me
encouragement when I needed it. I felt as though
they believed I had talent and ability, even
when I was struggling for my own inspiration. I
remember thinking that I would be going to a
lesson soon and I wanted them to be proud of me
so it helped me to work harder. This was so
valuable to me as a young player because it
helped me to develop a belief in myself. That
kind of support is in my foundation now, and
sometimes when I'm discouraged, I can help
myself by getting in touch with how much they
believed in me.
Through the years I've
been very comfortable with the mentor/student
relationship so I have sought it out with
different musicians. Jim Chapin has taught me a
lot as has Ed Thigpen. It's probably why it
feels so natural for me to study with Freddie
Gruber. He has become a mentor to me too. I
trust his insight into my playing and I love
listening to his stories of all the jazz greats.
Even at 45 years old, I feel there is so much to
learn that I'll never learn as much as I would
like, but I'll keep trying.
I've been
very fortunate to meet some of the greatest
living jazz musicians, but when I can get to
know them and they take an interest in me, it is
very special. I have gotten to know Louie
Bellson through the years and he has shown me a
lot of things on the drums and it's been an
honor to just hang out with him and listen to
him speak about life and music. Mike Mainieri
has also been a very influential person to me. I
could go on, but you get the idea.
Now I
realize I'm moving into the role of mentor with
some of the younger players and I feel like it's
a natural part of the cycle. I've been learning
from these mentors and from my peers and from my
own playing experiences. Now is the time where I
begin to pass on some of this information and
help inspire the next generation so the music
stays vital and alive.
There are a few
people I get together with where I feel I have
the relationship of mentor to them. In future
years I will probably do more of this, but right
now I'm so busy with recording projects,
touring, clinics and now that I'm starting to
write a book and plan for a new video, that I
don't have any time for private teaching. In
this age of the internet and emails and forums,
we can more easily communicate than ever before.
Don't be fooled though -- this forum we
have here on my website, or any website for that
matter, is no substitute for a living, breathing
master/apprentice or mentor/mentee relationship.
If you don't have a relationship with a
respected elder or have a good teacher, I
suggest seeking that out and enriching your life
in a new way.
There are lots of
interviews in magazines where "famous" players
say, "I taught myself" or "I don't need a
teacher, it will suppress my creativity." I've
heard players say "I'll just get a video, I
don't need to take lessons, they are boring." To
me this is such a limited way of learning.
When it gets right down to making music, we
are all "self taught." No one can "teach" you
how to make music, we learn that through trial
and error. We get experience and learn from the
other musicians we are working with, and we
develop our own sense of what worked and what
didn't.
What I am suggesting isn't a
substitute for teaching yourself, but in
addition to teaching yourself developing a
relationship with a mentor who can give you
instruction on how to play your instrument
better. A person who has knowledge about music
that surpasses your own and is willing to share
that information with you. Someone whom you
respect and you recognize that they see the
potential in you and they help you see that
potential yourself. That can be a source of
inspiration especially when you're feeling down
or in a musical slump.
One more thing in
regard to staying inspired: get out and hear
live music as much as you can. I recently went
on the road for some gigs with Vital Information
and some of the gigs were well attended, but
some were not very well attended. I wonder if
because of the ease of home "entertainment" such
as TV, renting movies on video, surfing the
Internet, etc., people are going out less to see
real, live musicians play. This is a shame
because in my opinion no CD, video or Internet
access to a player comes close to what you can
experience from sitting in the same room with
them and hearing, seeing and feeling them do
their thing.
In closing, I've been lucky
to be introduced to mentors who were very
influential to my musical development. I believe
in the idea because it worked and continues to
work for me. If you already have relationships
like this, congratulations, continue to develop
them and surely you'll become a mentor yourself.
If you've never experienced a mentor in your
life I suggest first opening yourself up to the
idea and then finding a private teacher or if
you see someone on a gig who moves you as a
player, see if they will get together with you
and take it from there. You can't contrive this
relationship, but you can open yourself up to
the potential of the relationship and then let
it naturally evolve.
Click
here to return to the top of the
page. |
|
|
