It's Me!!!

Hello everyone.....(Cara)

It's 5:47 on a Thursday afternoon on a pretty poopy day outside.

So, lets cut to the "main idea" of all of this. I, Stephen Bickel, am going to be challenging myself to a little 4 to 5 week "boot-camp" may have you, behind the drum kit. In this 4 to 5 week testing i will be isolating different area's of my set. First starting today with the High hats, Snare and Bass drum. The entire plan for my "program" is to strengthen my technique and create a more solid playing style in each area of the drums.

- On another note Drums are my passion and from playing for 5 years now, I really am putting my playing into the lords hands, guiding me where ever it may be from worship band on sunday to the stage in some alien city.

Day one: Today and for most of this week i am focusing on the art of the high hat. i believe that most drummers today do not fully understand the beauty of the high hat, so through the next week or so i am going to do my research and obtain the resources needed to develop my use of the high hats.

- I started off with a high hat lift on the down beats of one and two. I maintained a quarter note tempo with my right hand on the high hats(rather beginner), bass kicks ON the beat of 1, 2, AND 3. Throwing in a snare on the 4th beat.

- After playing this high hat lift exercise over and over and over till it was carved into my brain, i played the snare every beat, or on the even or odd beats. to mix it up and create my own feel for it outside the written material.

- I being a drummer from practically nothing and from not having attended even one lesson the idea of creativity and adding your voice is such a big part of how i play, call me out please if I'm wrong but adding my own flare is what I'm all about. Except for the way i Want to life my life, in The image of Jesus Christ.