Ernie Adams
"Making It"
page 2
From the Top
with
Ernie Adams
Knowledge,
Wisdom, and Guidance
Ernie Adams
Being a responsible artist will always adequate positive credibility,
which you will learn with Ernie can be everything in life to an artist, model,
musician, singer, dancer..... whatever you are perusing in life, you will
certainly go the extra mile if people consider you to be loyal, trustworthy, of
greatness, solid work ethic, can do attitude, fun person, positive..... and
ultimately .... credible to get the job done no matter what it takes.........
Ernie Advice
___________
Can you give advice to up and coming Percussionists / Musicians / Artists.... as to ways they can become
better players, performers, and all around artists ?
Let me start by saying this, when I was young our schools offered extensive musical
programs, marching bands, and even music theory. Back when Reagan was President,
he made a lot of drastic changes in education and spending that cut programs. As
a matter of fact, funding for 50% of the music programs were completely
wiped out. Now, 75% of the programs that were offered to young up and coming
musicians are now gone, and that figure is growing and getting worse to this
day. I give this advice to percussionists and artists alike:
A. I suggest you
remain hungry and seek out to learn every aspect of
your art form as possible. Today
you have to seek information 100 times more than when I was studying percussion.
The payoff is that information is readily available for you on the internet. Understand all of the
aspects related to the field of entertainment you want to be in. As for
percussionists, study all of the instruments you possibly can. As you are studying your
percussion styles, pay close attention to what the other musicians are doing
around you, study bass lines and rhythms, take piano lessons, even if they are
basic lessons, and most importantly, respect the musicians around you. As a
percussionist, you are un doubted, the loudest of the musicians around you.
With that said, make your instrument a musical reflection of a musical
masterpiece that you are a part of. Understand what piece you are playing, where the
crescendos are,
where your expected to be heard, and when you are expected to be the backdrop to
the artists you are playing with. Learn to play as quiet as possible and hold
the same attributes to your art form as when you have to be the most outspoken.
In other words, as a drummer, part of being a better musician is researching and
understanding what it is you are playing, and play it with respect to all parts
that make up the performance.
Which brings us to B.
B. The most important aspect of being a percussionist / musician is realizing
that you are never alone on stage, you are never alone in the studio recording,
you are never alone while you tour. This means team work is a necessity in being
an outstanding artist. Team work is a necessity in general for any art form. Always perform your artistry with a team mentality. Some
of the best percussion work is the work you don't notice. I could go up on stage
and play the whole set loud and outspoken, and everyone in the arena would be
amazed at the percussion ensemble, however the respect I would have gained by
playing my part on stage would be destroyed by the musicians around me for
drowning them out. It was a joke back in my schooling days that a band was
...... 4 musicians and a drummer, and that is the way society thought of a
drummer 80 years ago. Today, as a drummer / percussionist / artist, you have to
know your instrument inside and out, and perform your musicianship with
integrity and 100% respect for the overall stage and sound. As for other forms
of the entertainment industry, you can be assured that you will always be part
of a team effort, even if you are a solo artist, a writer, a designer, a model,
painter, poet, filmer, actor, etc.... because you will always have to work with
a team as your art form grows.
Can you explain this with an experience ?
I have gone to see performances where the percussionist was in the back banging
the life out of the drum with no appreciation to the performers around him. You
could almost see the upset look on the soloists face, tearing his Alto Sax from
his mouth. You could feel the tension building up to where the players could
have just smacked the drummer off the stage. Being a good percussionist means
playing with respect to the music you are learning to play.
C. Study all styles of music as possible. Constantly challenge yourself to grow
mentally and physically behind the kit, or in anything that you aim to
accomplish in the arts and entertainment field. When I was in High School, I
marched in the marching band and learned Polka with an area band around my
neighborhood. I had to learn just the basic patterns of the snare drum, and
polka beats........ I was asked to play gigs in high school that paid me
$70.00, but the most important fundamental carried from my youth was evident
when I entered a studio to play on a commercial and the engineer said, " hey, can
you record the bass lines for the polka section," or, " can you record the
instrumentation for the orchestra parts with just the snare drum and tympani?"
This is also an example of how that same producer finds me to be a credible
artist for future studio sessions. He knows he can count on me to attack any
style and perform the laid out music with no problem. This also creates word of
mouth for you in the studio community.
D. Another thing I want to tell you as a musician, and this
has been said by musicians that play with the Counting Crowes, Dave Mathews
Band, Prince, John Mayer, R-Kelly, Metallica, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Nirvana,
The Rolling Stones, Rush etc.......... Play music you love, and play with
musicians you love to play with. Regardless of how old you are, how much you
know, where you want to go, and where you are now; The best playing and ground
breaking magic that is created in the area around you as you play, is the magic
created out of the emotion you create as the musicianship is prospered by the
elements around you. This in turn builds an incredible respect from the players
you play with, the band members you tour with, and the management teams and
producers that you work with. Never play for money, always play for the love of
the art.
E. Network with the musicians that are around you, and do it often. I grew up
visiting this man named Dennis at a music shop called Uncle Bob's Music in West
Allis, Wi., who David also mentions in this book. Dennis and Jeff who run the
percussion department would always talk to me about area happenings in music,
who was who, and what was going down. This networking often turned into me
playing gigs and earning a lot of money. This was also a meeting spot for
musicians to learn from one another, and lastly, the pin up boards at Uncle
Bob's always carried the best musicians in Milwaukee. I suggest that you find
the same spot in your city where you can talk to the people that run the store
and learn from them as you buy gear. Nothing beats being able to trust and learn
from the people that sell you your gear, and this networking will certainly help
you network with new faces as well.
If you would like to read more about Ernie Adams, his playing, or get one of his
CD's, check out this link below !
http://www.guitar9.com/summernieadams.html
Ernie Adams can be contacted for ?s at : ernie_adrums@sbcglobal.net as well as studio session work
More from Ernie Adams coming soon. You can hear Ernie Adams
playing on the new Al D'imeola DVD Live from Germany. If you are a percussionist
and you want to expand your horizons, I implore you to go find this DVD and
enjoy.
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As you can see, being a credible artist is the combination of building up that you are and the word of mouth that helps to promote you as an artist. Regardless of what you are aiming to do in the entertainment business, the basics to being a credible artist are universal......... Being true to yourself, being respectful to the person next to you, being on time, thorough, and keeping the right attitude with the people around you.............
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