As with many careers, the pursuer usually spends much of his/her time figuring out the logistics within their craft and often forgets all about his head or his heart. Without a fundamental knowledge and understanding of basic life principles and wisdom, you will no doubt find yourself lost somewhere along the way without a sense of purpose or meaning in life. You may find yourself engaged in a long uphill battle that could otherwise be prevented by simply practicing a few Life Rudiments. Please read with an open mind. These words have been life-changing for many a successful person.

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CHECK YOURSELF

Drinking and Driving Click here for a tragic story. (Children below the age of 18, must ask permission from their parents.)

BE PREPARED

Remember that old boy scout motto? Well it holds true outside of the scouts too. You must prepare yourself for anything that comes along. If you're ready when the time comes, you "will" get that big gig that you've dreamed of all your life! Pretend it will happen very soon and start preparing for it now! Work hard and be ready for that moment.

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THE LAW OF RECIPROCATION

If you help others, it "will" come back to you. Try it and see! Do something very special for someone in your life. This could be anything from helping to teach a lower income child how to play the drums (for free). Or maybe start a child
sponsorship with an established, reputable charity. There is a great feeling of self-worth and dignity that comes from these noble gestures and God mysteriously has a way of repaying you for each and every one.

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SACRIFICE      

You must be willing to "give" so that you can "get". This is another law of nature. If you want to be a great drummer you must ask yourself what you are willing to give up. It's usually things like extra sleep, partying, Nintendo, and various other time wasters. We're not trying to keep you from having fun mind you. By all means, enjoy life and experience everything you can. But just remember that you can't always have your proverbial cake and eat it too. With all successful men and women, there has been a measure of great sacrifice along the way. (Keep in mind though, there is also a huge pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.)

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There is something mysterious about this old saying, but it rings so very true. We've all seen it many times before; the person we know that works hard and is persistent, ends up becoming successful in some form or fashion and the lazy person or the "party king" that spent half of his life impressing his friends or sleeping until 3:00 every day, often ends up at age 30 with a nice full time job at Burger King.  -Work hard and prosper!

DRUGS ARE A DEAD END ROAD

Drugs are a lie. They are deception at it's utmost. They'll bait you with their sultry temptations and then reel you in like a bleeding fish on a hook. Sure, it's fun to live dangerously now and then but please be realistic about what's at stake and the dangers involved. Many a career has been ruined by drugs and alcohol. We don't need to convince you of this. Simply watch any number of VH1 biographies on the lives of famous musicians that had it all but lost it all because they were "trapped" by the drugs they once boasted about. Folks, it's a dead end road!

"Nearly every religion regardless of it's age or range of geographical influence, emphasizes the ethical principle
known to westerners as, "The Golden Rule". The world's religions formulate this principle in startlingly similar ways." Ref: - The Complete Idiot's Guide to the World's Religions

What's this got to with drumming, you ask? Well, without common decency and some sort of ethical base, you will not
truly be happy inside. Without happiness, you'll most likely reflect negatively upon the world around you. This in turn leads people to not want to work with you. Please give some thought to the true meaning of the phrase, "Treat others as you yourselves wish to be treated" or "Love thy neighbor as thyself". It is considered and agreed upon by major philosophers and theologians worldwide to be one of the most concise and general principles of ethics.

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SHOW UP EARLY

Have you ever noticed that when you leave at the last minute to get somewhere, you're usually late? This is because we don't always take into consideration the extra factors that get in the way. Things such as running back into the house to get something you forgot, stopping for gas, answering that call just before you walk out the door, getting stuck in traffic and getting lost are all things that will make you considerably late if you're not careful. Get in the habit now of always leaving a half hour early. If the leave time is 6:00, make it 5:30 instead and commit to that new time. We guarantee you this will work and there is no greater feeling than showing up on time for a gig. It not only relieves stress but it adds to your reputation and this will benefit you greatly in the future.

'To be early is to be on time
To be on time is to be late
and to be late is unacceptable.'
- Adam B.

The word resolution is just a fancy word for "goal setting". Webster lists several definitions but re-occuring words are "resolve", "declare", and "decide". Why not use the beginning of the year (or any time for that matter) as a fresh start to achieve the goals that you set for yourself on DRUMS? Write them down in big bold letters and tape them to the wall if you have to. This is a common habit of successful people and it WILL work if "you" work hard for it and "MAKE IT HAPPEN". Even if you don't meet all of your goals, just "TRYING" gets you a lot closer than you would have gotten otherwise.

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Katherine writes: "I loved those lessons, I think they are true to life and rock on! I wanted to add that if you have a good attitude, it will go far. I know it's corny, but the only reason I made it on our school drumline was because I came at least half an hour early to help set up, and because they knew that they could teach me anything I needed to know. I had proved I could listen to directions and did my best. It really works!".

Jay Walker writes: Hey i'd just like to say thank you for the life lesson reading. It really changed the perspective I've had on life lately: partying non stop, drinking and smoking. I really needed something like this to stop and make me realize how stupid and such a waste of time it is. I still plan to have fun but to keep my future in mind while doing so, and putting time aside for practicing drumming and other things so i can be as good as i can be. Thank you very much.

Vinnie writes: I heard this old saying and it stuck with me throughout my whole drumming 'life'. In The great W. Griesel's words:
'An Amateur practices until he gets it right, but, a Professional practices until he cant get it wrong!'

*An inspiring story from one of our customers

Chuck Benscoter writes: Great stuff! It's refreshing to know that there are others who believe like I do, that drums and drumming go way beyond just beating the skins. Here's something for thinking about:

As we practice the rudiments we are teaching our hands (and feet!!) to do things they don't naturally want to do. 1 or more beats on one appendage combined with another appendage doing something similar or different at the same time to achieve a sound/rhythm sequence. Once we learn these we find that playing goes from effort to effortless to out right fun.

The same thing goes in life. There are things that, as humans, we don't necessarily do naturally. Sometimes we react instead of interact, or worse yet we do nothing at all. Just like drumming we need to practice life's rudiments to truly succeed and be happy.

We call these 'life rudiments' by many names (the golden rule, 10 commandments, etc.) but it all comes down to practice makes perfect and just like drumming we are never perfect but always striving for it.

Rick Williams writes: Who ever wrote those lessons hit the nail on the head!!!!! I am 43 years old I started playing drums when I was 15 I thought that the drinking, smokin pot,hash,and doin' lines were cool. Well when I was 23 I found myself selling off my drums and whatever else I could find just for a fix!!!!!!!!! You name it I did it. After my drums were gone I didnt play again until I was 41. What a waste!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been clean now for five years and started to play again I asked GOD to help me and he has. Be good to yourself young drummers. Play on.

Renee Aspen writes: All of these are great life lessons and I think everyone should read these whether they play the drums or not. But there are two lessons that I especially live by: The first one is "In order to get respect you have to give it". If you really want respect the best way to get it is to give it people will respect you much more.You'll get more respect by major record companies if you simply give them some. The second is "you either win or you learn, you can never lose". Maybe you have a bad gig or you messed up in one of your solos but you didn't lose, you simply learned next time I should do this or I need to practice this. I just wanted to share those tips that have helped me much on and off the drums.

Nichole writes: I just read your life lessons, and I must say that they really touched me. I just started playing a few days ago, and these have really had an impact on me. I had all these vague goals in my head of what I want out of life and my band, and those just put everything in perspective for me. I'm gonna write down all my goals and carry them around with me everywhere I go so I never forget why I started doing this, and that I need to get up off my ass and start taking life more seriously. I'm gonna be 18 in a month and I need to get my life moving in a direction I want it to go.

Also, I have always belived in "The Rule of Three", that if you do something bad to someone it will come back at you three times as bad, so it's always good just to be nice to people or at least respecful if you can.

Thank you for enlightening me so much.

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