Practice blog of David Story - DAVID STORY PIANIST, DRUMMER, SYNTHESIST, MALLET PERCUSSIONIST

DAVID STORY PIANIST, DRUMMER, SYNTHESIST, MALLET PERCUSSIONIST

Practice report

7/7/2025

Life gets in the way. We are still unpacking from our move, and we are organizing my parents' affairs and home for sale now that they are in care. Practice was/is in the ditch.

But...

Today I got an hour in.

1. Rick Dior warmup on snare drum.
2. One snare drum etude to 80BPM. This is an improvement. A few months ago, I could get them to 70 BPM in the same brief time.
3. I worked on my triplets on the bass drum. By keeping relaxed I was able to hear improvement.
4. Jazz warmup for mallets: 12, 2 octave major scales, 60 broken jazz chords in 1st inversion.
5. Played "Ain't Misbehavin' in a number of keys.
5. Rootless 4 note voicings in a few minor keys.
6. Reviewed a few standards.

Monday kit day

6/23/2025

I warmed up with Rick Dior's hand warmup exercise on the practice pad.
I did some work on my shuffle bass drum patterns on the drum kit. Progress was noted.
I worked through 3 snare drum etudes listening carefully for evenness within my 7 and 9 stroke rolls and the lightness of my tap strokes. They sounded nice.
I recorded with a heavy metal drum play along. On the playback I noticed that my time was drifting ever so slightly. I addressed that shortcoming by turning up the backing track on the next recording. That helped.
I finished up this short practice playing along with Trane's Blues from Miles Davis' "Workin' album." I paid close attention to the intensity of the ride cymbal work.

40 minutes.

I'm back in the practice room

6/21/2025

We moved house last week. That devoured all my practice time and physical energies. But, the studio is up and running and it is back to practicing.

This weekends activities:

Today is big band day, 9 to noon, I'm drumming.
I will listen to music on the drive to get in the proper headspace.
Tomorrow the mallets go up and the electric drum kit. Stayed tuned.

David

Post mortum

6/6/2025

Sound check completed, it is now 1 hour to ignition.

What an exciting experience. Did all the preparations pay off? You bet.

We rested during the speeches.

Final band practice before our gig

6/3/2025

Our trio is now a quartet with the addition of a drummer. The final lineup is: malletkat, guitar, bass, drumset. The music: jazz standards. Two hours playing together is worth a week practicing alone playing with YouTube videos.

Sunday was a rest day.

6/3/2025

I needed one. But I did spend drive time listening to music where I learned there was/is such a thing as jazz marimba. Listening to this album took me back 60 years and shopping with my mother at the supermarket. Click if you dare.

Big Band day

5/31/2025

It is drumkit day with the Kerr Street Big band. Even after 2 years with them, I'm still sight reading half the music. My practice regime, besides the Big band, consisted of listening to big band music in the car on the way to practice. The link is below.

What the keys to being a good sight reader?

You must be able to play your instrument at the level required for the situation you find yourself in. So everyday, I practice all my instruments: piano, vibes, and drum kit.
You need to practice sight reading. I became a great reader because as a youth I was too lazy to practice but I enjoyed reading music and making noise. (I can still remember being baffled from sharps and flats, so I would just skip the note!!!) My suggestion for improving is to practice sightreading with the metronome and audio recorder going. This will give you an idea of what group sight reading is all about.
You need strong musicianship skills in ear training, theory, and lots of ensemble experience. For example, one way I am able to stay in place is my ability to hear the cadences line up with the rehearshal letters. The presupposes being able to hear chord progressions and knowing what a cadence is.

Here is my big band play list that i listened to on the way to practice.Button Text

My mallet practice consisted of major scales and broken chords, followed by voice leading through some tunes and then playing along with Emmett Cohen's version of Duke Ellington's Satin Doll.

six days to go

5/30/2025

I started with the Dior warmup and then worked up this etude from "The All-American Drummer." At my current rate, I'll be done the book by the end of summer. I've been doing Rick's warmup virtually everyday for 18+months. Both my colleagues and I can hear the difference in my control, touch and confidence. If you haven't had lessons with Rick yet, I highly recommend it.

This afternoon I will spend time working on my bass drum work, the problem child.

Mallet warmup.
1. 12 major scales in 16ths quarter=70
2. 12 harmonic minor scales in 16ths quarter=70
3. Practice vibraphone key muting.
4. 60 broken jazz chord 2 octave arpeggios, in 16ths quarter=70.
5. minor ii V i rootless chord progressions.
6. Practice playing "Blue Skies" in various keys.

My Drumset practice routine

5/28/2025

My drum set practice routine.

I warmup with either Rick Dior or Jeff Randell online. 10 to 20 minutes.
I practice a rudimental etude from Charlie Wilcoxon’s All-American Drummer or similar book.
I practice repertoire from the band.
I work on coordination exercises from a book like Carmen Appice’s Realistic Rock.
I will sight read a pop song by playing along with its recording.
I will often do a full or short transcription
I finish the session by playing along with classic jazz recordings.

Rusty Burge and his rootless voicing stragegy

5/28/2025

I completed my jazz warmup ritual and then I dug into Rusty Burge's rootless chord strategy.

Step 1: play 3rd/7th or 7th/3rd in the left hand with 2 mallets.
Step 2: add 9ths and 5th or altered tones above with the other 2 mallets.

Then I spent some times playing standards from memory. Now I'm off to the drum kit.