ISSUE #48 \__\__\___THE____/__/__/ Dec 5, 2000 _______________TEMPO DISPATCH ___________ Newsletter For Drummers and Drumming Enthusiasts Copyright Bill Powelson 2000 all rights reserved. ____________'IT'S ALL ABOUT DRUMS'_______ Tips * Tricks * Hints * Ads * Freebies * Lessons * _________NOW OVER 5,OOO SUBSCRIBERS!__________ TABLE OF CONTENTS: What is in this issue? Feature Articles (LESSONS) this month: 1.  ADVANCED STUDENTS: (CONCLUSION)    A.  "Spice Up Your FILLS" (PART II) http://home.att.net/~drums01/fillsc.html ALL STUDENTS:    B.   SIMPLE FORMULA: Immediate Drumming Success! 2. SPONSORS WANTED (unique advertising opportunity.) 3. Drum Instructors Wanted! 4. What's a BEATBUG? 5. Humor? 7 COOL WAYS TO STAY AWAKE IN CLASS.  :>) ______________________________________ |__________FEATURE ARTICLE___________| "Spice Up Your FILLS" (PART II)     Last months feature lesson was a mind-blower for many of the new, beginning students.  I fear it may have frightened more students AWAY from drumming, than it helped.      SORRY ABOUT THAT!   That's why I've decided that PART II . . .  SHOULD NOT . . . be included here.     So, I've set it up as a VERY SPECIAL WEB PAGE complete with sound files.     THINK OF THIS AS A CHRISTMAS FREEBY FROM THE OLD GUY THE HOMESTUDY INSTITUTE OF DRUMS . . . http://home.att.net/~drums01/fillsc.html FOR PAID STUDENTS . . . http://207.240.40.16:82/drummers/hsdrum/fillsc.html      Enjoy that lesson . . . I think it will be well accepted in it's newer web page form.  It's much easier to understand, now that it's a full-fledged web page.      MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!  :>)           Now . . . here's ANOTHER FREE LESSON . . . LESSON #2:  Tempo Dispatch, DEC 5, 2000: SIMPLE FORMULA: Immediate Drumming Success! (Study & Practice Tips For All Students.)      Follow this simple little 'prescription' for immediate drumming success . . . #1.  VERY IMPORTANT:  5 BASIC DANCE BEATS      Memorize the 5 basic beats, FIRST.  Put them on the 'top-shelf' of your mind.  Especially, DB #3 . . .  You'll want and need all those beats firmly entrenched . . . to a point where you can play them rapidly and repetitiously, without thinking . . . (like habits.)  I CAN'T STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS, ENOUGH.     *  LISTEN TO THE MIDI FILES OF EACH BEAT AS YOU PRACTICE AND LEARN . . . It'll cut the frustration by a factor of 10!  That's a promise!     *  Then . . . as you go through your day(s) . . . get into the habit of listening DEEP into the music . . . on your car-radio (or where ever.)  Listen for what you've learned in the lessons.  It will be within the music you hear EVERYWHERE, 99% of the time!  #2.  LEARN TO FEEL . . . that 'BACKBEAT' as you listen, (See TD#16),  . . . http://207.240.40.16:82/drummers/hsdrum/td16.txt      The 'BACKBEAT' tells us:      a. The TEMPO, and      b. The BASIC DANCE BEAT CATEGORY, (which is         usually dependent on tempo. LATER, AT THE DRUM SET . . .        Once you've determined the tempo and the beat category of any song . . . you will quickly discover that you can easily play THAT song all the way though, though you may never have heard it before.  The 'fancy licks' will come to you very easily too, as you become obsessed with 'routine jamming' like this.  It's great fun and your skills will develop gradually as you PLAY along with music.      Hopefully, you'll begin PLAYING ALONG WITH RECORDED MUSIC, on a daily basis. This is the way ALL PRO-DRUMMERS develop. (Ask any WORKING pro-drummer and you'll hear this same prescription over and over again.) #3.  DON'T TRY TO COPY RECORDED DRUMMERS, NOTE FOR NOTE:     Just play the BASICS at first.  WE NEEDN'T COPY THE RECORDED DRUMMERS right away (they rarely copy themselves, on the 2nd, 3rd or 49th takes.)  The important thing is to 'FEEL' the tempo and the beat.  The 'fancy licks' (beat variations & fills) will follow in a VERY NATURAL WAY, as you learn them LATER in the 80 LESSON course.      SPECIAL POINT . . .     There's room for MUCH personal creativity here, and PERSONAL CREATIVITY is the MOST IMPORTANT PART of any ART form.       Music theory is virtually a game without many steadfast RULES . . .  It's SO 'artistically free' that we TEACHERS must be VERY CAREFUL with our WORDING, haha. ................................................     The minute we teachers make or 'declare' a rule . . . some guy down the road will BREAK that rule on a recording and catapult themselves (and their bands) to fame and fortune.  ................................................ SAD TRUTH . . .      The recorded drummers may be doing things we as students CAN'T do, (at first.)      You'll hear them play extra bass-drum and snare-notes . . . and they will play unexpected 'fills' (ie; rolls) periodically as a song progresses . . .      That's OK!  . . . You WILL quickly gain a feel for the other things they are doing as you progress deeper into the lessons, and continuously 'jam' FOR FUN on a DAILY BASIS.  It's all in the plan!   Soon (in about 4 months or less) you'll learn to anticipate what the recorded drummers will do . . . then YOU'LL DO IT, AS THEY DO IT, almost instinctively, . . . BECAUSE, the recorded drummers are following PATTERNS . . . the VERY SAME patterns you'll be learning as you progress with the lessons in this course.      Once you know the patterns . . . you'll have little problem identifying the appropriate places to play them . . . and, they'll seem to come natural too . . . DEVELOPING "FEEL":     There's only one 'logical' way I know of, to develop that special, natural 'feel'!      "FEEL" grows a little with every song we play.  That's why I place so much focus on JAMMING WITH RECORDED MUSIC, from the very beginning.     Without 'feel', . . . No amount of study will produce the hoped-for results.  Our 'FEEL FOR THE BACKBEAT' is the KEY ELEMENT here . . .     See TD #16: "FEELING THE BACKBEAT". Don't miss that very special TD article . . . in the TD archives.  It contains the "MAGIC BEAN".     Go here . . . http://207.240.40.16:82/drummers/hsdrum/td16.txt #3.  DEEPER INTO THE 80 LESSON COURSE . . .      You'll be learning all the 'fancy licks' in LATER lessons AFTER YOU ENROLL. This way, you'll learn to READ NOTATION as you go . . . and you won't have to guess at the complex, 'fancy-licks' as so many self-taught working drummers have done.       Here . . . we are streamlining the entire learning process to a point where it's possible to get 4 or 5 YEARS of development into about a 4 or 5 MONTHS of VERY FUN study.      You'll be learning the same things the natural drummers are doing  . . . but you'll use a ROADMAP and  You'll be on AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY . . . OR A FREEWAY, (not a bumpy dirt road.)      #5.  COORDINATION DEVELOPMENT / MUSCLE-SPEED & CONTROL      CONTROL is directly dependent on effort expended.  Most of the necessary muscle-development will occur NATURALLY as we JAM AND STUDY!  if we're having fun learning NEW techniques routinely . . . and if we jam for long durations.  We'll experience the 'FUN' (painless) way to develop speed and control, AND IT WILL DEVELOP QUICKLY. ADAPT TO LONG PRACTICE (JAMMING) SESSIONS . . .     REMEMBER!  The average 'gig' is 4 or 5 hours long. It doesn't hurt a thing to think of a 4 hour practice session as normal!    I'd would rather see a student practice once a week for 4 hours . . . than once a day for 45 minutes. WHY?     Because with longer jams, you'll experience some fairly INCREDIBLE, 'CREATIVITY FACTORS'!  Those factors will often occur ONLY after the 2nd or 3rd hour of jamming . . . (once the brain and limbs are totally focused as a team.)   These factors are the factors that will cause you to become obsessed (addicted) to long jams.     There's a 'natural' high to be experienced this way and there's nothing like it!  We call it a 'groove'.    No drugs necessary . . . ever!  :>) PLAYING FILLS . . . (The easiest way for beginners.)      When the recorded drummer goes for a 'fill' or fancy beat variation . . . all you have to do is STAY WITH THE BASIC BEAT OF THE MUSIC.   He/she will be following the SAME BASIC BEAT PATTERN you are (we hope) . . . and they will return to that beat pattern.  You'll only need to HOLD SOLID . . . and stay in-time  . . . The recorded drummer will always return to the beat, in-tempo or sync with you.      LATER . . . after playing any song several times, you'll learn to anticipate the fills . . . and inject your own fill attempts at the appropriate times . . .  It WILL come natural.  (That's what last months lesson was all about.) http://home.att.net/~drums01/fillsc.html OR paid students, go here . . . http://207.240.40.16:82/drummers/hsdrum/fillsc.html      'DOING', . . . IS THE BEST TEACHER OF ALL!  Our natural instincts will kick-in . . . and we'll instinctively 'feel' the fancy stuff . . . as we continue to play along with song after song.  Think of it as,"on-the-job-training". It's the same thing you'll be doing on the 'live' gigs, later . . . where, YOU WILL BE THE DRUMMER, and there won't be a recorded drummer to follow. IMPORTANT STUDY TIP:  (For Paid students)      *** Skip & Jump around, inside this course after the 5th lesson. ***      Once you have the Basic Dance Beats in your pocket, it's usually ok to SKIP and JUMP around within the course to topics that interest you most . . . at any preferred time. ONE SMALL EXCEPTION . . .      Some of the lessons . . . like the 'TIME SIGNATURE' lesson . . . WILL require the support of other 'more basic' lessons . . .       If you can comprehend a lesson . . . then it's probably ok to study that lesson as your interest dictates. We tend to learn at a FASTER rate when 'interest' is peaked. BUT:     The time-sig (TIME SIGNATURE) lesson in this course SHOULD be preceded by the following lessons, in the following order:         1.  The BASIC DANCE BEATS.     2.  NOTE-VALUES:  At least a vague comprehension.     3.  PERMUTATION THEORY I & II. . . (with 8th rock)     4.  WALTZ:  All  structures in the         Waltz Beat lesson.  Notice how those Basic         3/4 Waltz beats relate to the Basic 4/4 beats &         how PERMUTATION THEORY applies as well.     5.  Now, you're ready for the TIME SIGNATURE lesson.     *  ONLY THEN, will the time-sig lesson reach you with its full (mind blowing) impact. It's by far the BEST lesson in the entire course.  It may be the BEST drum lesson you'll ever take in your life.  That's why it isn't available for free. #6,  HOW FAST SHOULD YOU STUDY?     Think of ANY one-or-two lessons in this course as a FULL WEEK of study.  That's exactly the way I would normally teach them to you in my private ($30 per hour) classes. IMPORTANT!     Every hour of intense study, (or dry, boring practice), should be followed with at least 4 or 5 hours of JAMMING FUN. Don't skimp on the jams . . . or you'll be missing the whole point of studying. IN A NUT-SHELL . . .        *  Learn the beats & rolls from the web pages and 'midi files' . . .    *  Listen for those same beats & rolls in the music that's going on around you all the time.    *  Jam with music EVERY DAY. PLAY what you feel and constantly adapt the NEW techniques you've learned from the course . . .    Your talent will grow like a weed!  That's a promise. :>)                                   Bill Powelson                        The Homestudy Institute of Drums ______________________________________ |____________SPONSOR(S) WANTED_______| Unique long-term advertising opportunity available for a very limited number of sponsors. Send e-mail and I will explain.  You will need a monthly advertising budget of $500 or more to get into this, but it's a very big, long-term idea for just the right sponsor or group of sponsors. Ask for details via e-mail: Bill Powelson _____________________________________________                 ENROLL NOW! BECOME A PERMANENT MEMBER AND STUDENT TODAY! Don't you owe it to yourself to learn all you can? ORDER THIS COMPLETE, 80+ LESSON, ONLINE DRUMMING COURSE, FOR ONLY $49 (In US funds.) (That price may not last much longer.) To order now, with your credit card, from anywhere in the World . . . go here: https://secure.catalog.com/drummers/ccard.html If you aren't a paid LIFETIME MEMBER yet . . . What's the hangup? COMPUTERIZED DRUMSET LESSONS ** $49.00 (US) (Lifetime Membership) UNLIMITED E-MAIL HELP . . . STUDY DRUMS AT YOUR COMPUTER ANYTIME! * It's like having a pro helping you at home. * Study at home anytime via password-authorization (hidden site.) * E-MAIL HELP Questions ENCOURAGED & WELCOME 24 hrs a day, ALWAYS! * DRUMSET TECHNIQUES, Beginner thru ULTRA-ADVANCED. * For ALL ages 10 to 90 . . .(almost) * Student sets the pace & the schedule. * Optional downloadable zip file of COMPLETE web site drum course.  Study OFFLINE. * BONUS!!!! 44+ additional lessons (TD Archive.) * This course in drumset techniques also includes FREE additional MONTHLY LESSONS via this E-mail newsletter. * No scheduling hassles and no rush hour traffic. Getting to your drum lesson is easy. Just turn on the computer! * UNLIMITED PRIVATE E-MAIL HELP TOO, with your instructor, Bill Powelson. * Satisfaction GUARANTEED or your money back. No hassles. TO SEE THE COMPLETE LIST OF LESSONS GO TO: http://www.catalog.com/drummers/contents.html EVERYTHING ABOVE INCLUDED, ($49.00 US) https://secure.catalog.com/drummers/ccard.html ($97 is the NEXT PROJECTED PRICE INCREASE and it may occur VERY SOON!) I am currently and always adding new lessons. Buy now and get everything (including all future updates) at this limited one-time low price . . . (or wait and pay more.) _____________________________ |_____WHAT'S A BEATBUG?_______| DISCOUNTED BEATBUG SPECIAL!!! (SAVE $60.00) NOW ONLY:  $139.00 (US FUNDS) If you purchase a BEATBUG through the school, I will include the entire $49.00 HOMESTUDY PACKAGE (above) for FREE. TRIVIA QUESTION . . . WHAT IS A BEATBUG??? DON'T KNOW? LEARN HERE . . . (FREE DRUM LESSON) Pro-drummers!  You NEED a BEATBUG whether you know it or not. Http://www.catalog.com/drummers/z.html ORDER YOUR BEATBUG HERE: https://secure.catalog.com/drummers/ccard.html *** SPECIAL OFFER *** BUY A BEATBUG ($139) AND GET MY ENTIRE $49 COURSE (Including Lifetime Membership) FREE! _____________________________________ NO CREDIT CARD? HERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO PURCHASE . . . HOW TO PURCHASE (Method #2) US RESIDENTS May pay instantly with an . . . ********* ELECTRONIC CHECK ********* US residents! Now you can pay by check via E-mail. Any of the drum school products or services will be on their way to you in NO TIME! Send an E-mail enquiry to: . . . Mention 'E-Checks' to get details on how to pay instantly, electronically with an E-mail check. _______________________________________ HOW TO PURCHASE (Method #3) REGULAR MAIL $49.00 IN US FUNDS WILL BUY IT ALL!!! SEND CHECK, CASH or MONEY ORDER in US FUNDS to Bill Powelson 107 Douglas Dr. Holly Hill, Fl. 32117 NOTE Please include your E-mail address. FOREIGN STUDENTS: Visit your local bank and have them prepare a check or money order for $49 in US funds to Bill Powelson, then mail it to the above address. _________________________ |____Train yourself to___| TEACH DRUMS *** THE DRUM INSTRUCTORS GUIDE *** If you have some stage experience,why not TEACH DRUMS? Teach my methods in your locality. I WILL SHOW YOU HOW! Great income potential in most areas. TO ENQUIRE: Mention The Instructors Guide in a note to Bill Powelson _________________________________ |___________HUMOR? _____________|          'Might as well go fishing! "          Now, this guy is a salesman!         A young guy from Turangi moves to California and goes to one of those big department stores that sell absolutely EVERYTHING. He's looking for a job.         The manager says, "Do you have any sales experience?"         The kid says, "Yeah, I was a salesman back home in Turangi." Well, the boss liked the kid so he gave him the job. "You start tomorrow.  I'll come down after we close and see how you did."         The kids' first day on the job was rough but he got through it.         After the store was locked up, the boss came down. "How many sales did you make today?"         Kid says, "One."         The boss says, "Just one? Our sales people average 20 or 30 sales a day.         How much was the sale for?"         Kid says, "$101,237.64."         Boss says, "$101,237.64? What the heck did you sell?"         Kid says, "First I sold him a small fish hook. Then I sold him a medium fish hook. Then I sold him a larger fish hook.         Then I sold him a new fishing rod to go with the fish hooks.         Then I asked him where he was going fishing and he said down at the coast, so I told him he was gonna need a boat, so we went down to the boat department and I sold him that twin engine Chris Craft.         Then he said he didn't think his Honda Civic would pull it, so I took him down to the automotive department and sold him that 4X4 Blazer."         The boss said, "A guy came in here to buy a Fish hook and you sold him a Boat and Truck?"         Kid says, "No, he came in here to buy a box of aspirin for his wife,  and I said . . . . "Well, your weekend's shot, you might as well go fishing".             _____________________ THANKS AGAIN:  To Jim Casey at Vermont Drums Online: http://www.angelfire.com/biz3/vermontdrums/sunlitedrumsets.html      Merry Christmas 'Jimbo'!  Thanks for all the great humor this year!  You've supplied about half the humor for this old rag.  We appreciate the humor!  Keep 'em coming!  :>) _________________________________________ NOW, HERE'S ANOTHER FREEBY, CHRISTMAS SPECIAL. ASK FOR THIS FREE E-BOOK!    HOW TO ASSEMBLE A NEW DRUMSET 'Out of the Box and Under the Tree" 'Assembling a New Drumset / Out of the Box'. I've decided to keep this 'Christmas Gift' available at NO CHARGE, all year long.          COMPLIMENTARY E-BOOK           * SPECIAL GIFT *             VIA E-MAIL: Just ask for this E-book if you need it. Send a note to:          (Mention 'NO-COST E-book') _______________________________________             ANOTHER FREEBY! FREE, DOWNLOADABLE, MINI-DRUM-COURSE FOR BEGINNERS & WEBMASTERS. http://home.att.net/~drums01/freedl/dl2.html       It's totally free and I'm encouraging everyone to pass it around to their friends!  Beginning drum students will LOVE this one. VALUABLE FREE CONTENT FOR YOUR WEB SITE:     Webmasters love it to.  Set it up on your own website.  Give it to your own visitors.  OFFER FREE DRUM LESSONS FROM YOUR OWN WEB SITE!     Check it out . . . http://home.att.net/~drums01/freedl/dl2.html ________________________________________ Removal Instructions For instant REMOVAL, simply hit reply and type REMOVE on the subject line. _______________________________________ WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! If you enjoy this little 'e-zine' please show your support by reading the ads and buying the products. TO PURCHASE ANY OF THE DRUM SCHOOL PRODUCTS WITH YOUR CREDIT CARD, CLICK HERE  https://secure.catalog.com/drummers/ccard.html PURCHASE YOUR 'BEATBUG' THROUGH THE SCHOOL AND RECEIVE THIS COMPLETE $49, 80-lesson COURSE AS A BONUS!      Don't forget to check out the FREE web page lesson "Spice Up Your Fills", at: http://home.att.net/~drums01/fillsc.html END OF TEMPO DISPATCH #48 Dec 5, 2000