Parameter drills

I find that the more a person solos in a given song, the more likely they are to play the same kind of solos. It can be useful to "set" a solo, where you play the same solo every time you play that song, but it can also be self-limiting because it's often hard to play something different once it becomes set.

We're all used to playing patterns and doing movements that are comfortable for us (obviously, right?) So how do you break out of what you're used to? It's not just as easy as "making it happen", because we tend to revert to form before we realize it.

A couple of years ago I came up with Parameter Drills to combat that sort of problem. If I place limitations (parameters) to what you can do, they effectively force you to play in a matter you aren't used to. And from that un-comfort can come brilliance. Well at the very least, it's a hell of a lot of fun. :)

For rhythm-oriented solos, I might have people play with only their non-dominant hand, or have them crescendo gradually throughout. For solos utilizing multiple drums, I may have people strike with both hands for each note, or only play one drum at a time. For movement-based solos, I have a bag full of themes like "slow motion" or "down" which flavor how you'll move.

It's not all that hard to come up with your own parameters that are tailored to whatever solo you're trying to do more with. Odaiko, okedo, percussion, even vocal solos can have creative parameters applied to them as well. Sometimes it's fun to have other people create and/or choose what parameters you should try, and when several people try the same parameter it's really cool to see how people interpret the possibilities.

So there you have it, get parametering!