[Original] Tap, Tap, Tap
Title: Tap, Tap, Tap
Fanfiction or Original: Original
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: None.
Warnings: It's a long monologue? Otherwise, none.
Status: Incomplete
Author's Note: I posted this to my personal journal awhile back, & there's some minor changes to this draft. This monologue is still incomplete since it doesn't have the action directions in it yet. This is also going to be performed by my school's acting class! :D
Tap, Tap, Tap
You know, there’s something that I discovered recently. In my music class, for a certain performance I’m learning to play the drums. For awhile now I’ve wondered what it was like to play them. Smacking sticks against various sized drums and metal hats. A lot of banging and noise. A lot of work to learn. I mean, I’ve been told the drums are hard simply because the drums are actually a vital instrument in a performance. The drums keep the beat steady, so that if other performers mess up on a few chords or miss a beat, the drums are there to bring them back to one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One and two and three and four and one and two and three and four. Constantly. Throughout the whole song. If the drummer messes up the whole performance could be in jeopardy. It’s a daunting task, yet I was brave enough -and maybe just a tad bit stupid enough-to try it out.
I love it. I never realized I might actually be pretty good at this thing. I mean, there was a trial and error period when I thought I could never master doing four separate movements with all four limbs, in sync with each other, and in sync with the beat. My right hand does the fast tap tap tap of the 8th note on two metal hats that rise when you apply pressure from your left foot. I forget the name. Maybe I’ll look it up later. My right foot and left hand maintain the most simple parts of the beat. The big base drum and the other snappier drum that I also cannot recall the name of, but it’s the kind of drum that’s rolled when a person is about to be hung. One-two, one-two, right foot, left hand, right foot, left hand. Over and over and over again, like the beating of your heart.
In a sense that’s what it is, drumming. I can feel the beat of the song throughout my body. It always starts at my feet, with the simple tap of my right foot. From the toes it crawls up my legs. Next my finger tips burn with the same beat and a faster tap tap tap scaling up my arms to combine with the beat from my feet where they collide and explode in my chest. It shoots up my spine where it finally reaches my brain screaming with an intense flame. Not that my brain takes any notice.
You see, to play the drums you cannot use your head. It’s all in your body. To think too hard is to lose the beat. I learned that when I began practicing. If my mind interfered too much I would lose focus for just a split second and blow the whole tempo. Quickly I realized that to perfect the art of the drum, you cannot think. Only feel.
Feel the beat of the drum in your hands, your feet, your heart. The tempo of the music is like electricity that excites your whole body. You have all of those tempos locked away in your soul; all you need to do is forget your mind to release them. You see, your brain holds you back. It doesn’t mean to of course, but the brain is hardwired that way. It wants to keep things in control, rational, calm, cool. Your body on the other hand, is like a caged animal. Something happens to it, it reacts. It responds without a second thought. It throws logic out the window, it doesn’t need it.
Good instincts and a simple grasp of a constant beat is all you need to play the drums.
Fanfiction or Original: Original
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: None.
Warnings: It's a long monologue? Otherwise, none.
Status: Incomplete
Author's Note: I posted this to my personal journal awhile back, & there's some minor changes to this draft. This monologue is still incomplete since it doesn't have the action directions in it yet. This is also going to be performed by my school's acting class! :D
Tap, Tap, Tap
You know, there’s something that I discovered recently. In my music class, for a certain performance I’m learning to play the drums. For awhile now I’ve wondered what it was like to play them. Smacking sticks against various sized drums and metal hats. A lot of banging and noise. A lot of work to learn. I mean, I’ve been told the drums are hard simply because the drums are actually a vital instrument in a performance. The drums keep the beat steady, so that if other performers mess up on a few chords or miss a beat, the drums are there to bring them back to one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One and two and three and four and one and two and three and four. Constantly. Throughout the whole song. If the drummer messes up the whole performance could be in jeopardy. It’s a daunting task, yet I was brave enough -and maybe just a tad bit stupid enough-to try it out.
I love it. I never realized I might actually be pretty good at this thing. I mean, there was a trial and error period when I thought I could never master doing four separate movements with all four limbs, in sync with each other, and in sync with the beat. My right hand does the fast tap tap tap of the 8th note on two metal hats that rise when you apply pressure from your left foot. I forget the name. Maybe I’ll look it up later. My right foot and left hand maintain the most simple parts of the beat. The big base drum and the other snappier drum that I also cannot recall the name of, but it’s the kind of drum that’s rolled when a person is about to be hung. One-two, one-two, right foot, left hand, right foot, left hand. Over and over and over again, like the beating of your heart.
In a sense that’s what it is, drumming. I can feel the beat of the song throughout my body. It always starts at my feet, with the simple tap of my right foot. From the toes it crawls up my legs. Next my finger tips burn with the same beat and a faster tap tap tap scaling up my arms to combine with the beat from my feet where they collide and explode in my chest. It shoots up my spine where it finally reaches my brain screaming with an intense flame. Not that my brain takes any notice.
You see, to play the drums you cannot use your head. It’s all in your body. To think too hard is to lose the beat. I learned that when I began practicing. If my mind interfered too much I would lose focus for just a split second and blow the whole tempo. Quickly I realized that to perfect the art of the drum, you cannot think. Only feel.
Feel the beat of the drum in your hands, your feet, your heart. The tempo of the music is like electricity that excites your whole body. You have all of those tempos locked away in your soul; all you need to do is forget your mind to release them. You see, your brain holds you back. It doesn’t mean to of course, but the brain is hardwired that way. It wants to keep things in control, rational, calm, cool. Your body on the other hand, is like a caged animal. Something happens to it, it reacts. It responds without a second thought. It throws logic out the window, it doesn’t need it.
Good instincts and a simple grasp of a constant beat is all you need to play the drums.