Freezing Anticipation: Part 13 of the Drummer's Almanac

The brothers Goble and I got together recently to jam out some tunes we have always wanted to play or thought would be fun. Well, not many of them were fun. In fact a couple of them were boring because we don;t have vocals or the parts aren't fun to play.

We started with Kingdom Come's "Should I". Cool guitar riff and Zeppelin-like vocals, but it didn't make for a real rockin' time. AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" was a little more raucous, yet it was still missing the screaming vocals to finish it out. We threw in a blues song for kicks so Rich could solo. We nailed that one and moved on to The Guess Who's "No Sugar Tonight". A nice grooving song that feels good but, we were missing the organ which carries a lot of the song.

Finally, we got to the magnum opus, Rush's "Freewill". At first listen, it's a terribly difficult song having a 13/8 time signature and all. Rich played one note in the wrong place and it threw Donovan and I completely off. We reviewed the song again and Rich got it. We started again, but only made it through the first verse. Rush is known for it's muscal complexities and now we know why. I already know each and every fill in the entire song, but that doesn't matter if I can't play them. My hands froze up on me and I rushed the song several times in anticipation of the next fill. It was almost painful, yet we trudged along. It had now become a challenge to get through this song. We ended up making it to the bridge part about halfway through the song. That's where things get real complicated, so we decided to work on it individually until we get back together.

It's funny how you think you will handle something and then you react in a totally unexpected way. It told me to go back to woodshed and blister my hands until I get it right. It also told me it is good to stretch out and learn new things that challenge me and push me to my limits.