you are very right on this, i'm new to playing too. basicly set up a kit and plugged in a cd player right by my head and started banging away to Brooks n Dunns. i finly got the nerve to record myself. it made me laugh, but i did put them on youtube and posted them to my face book. by watching my vids i have learned...i have a long ways to go yet, i shuck! lol.

anyway keep up the good work, keep your head in there and you'll go far. main thing to remember...have fun playing and always play from the heart.

ps if anyone would like to laugh at my vids to you can find them on my youtube or facebook, robyn stufflebeam

pss watch at your own risk.

I've had my wife record some live shows. I laugh at the weird faces I make!!!

Yeah I know me too. It's cause we're into it right? Ever see Buddy Rich's face when he's playing?

It's like 80s hair band guitar face!! Hahahah

Not only video recording, but mirror helps a lot to watch your moves.

More important than seeing yourself, (which is very important if you play out,) is 'hearing' yourself. Because many of my old bands' sessions were recorded on tape, I got to sit back and listen to myself. Stuff I thought sounded great to me, didn't sound so good on playback. I could hear every little glitch and mistake and some of it made me cringe when I heard it, it really sent me back to the woodshed. From listening to myself, I was able to tighten up my playing and focus more on dynamics, on making my playing more tasty and it also made me think more about what my part was adding/contributing, to the music.

Listening to yourself can be a real wake-up call. It was sobering for me! But, it made me a better player/band member. You have to -know what your weaknesses are- before you can work on eliminating them, or strengthening them. It's always a good idea to record all your practice sessions on tape and then listen back later. You'll find plenty to work on, I promise you. If your goal is to be a better drummer, listening to yourself is not only a real eye-opener, rewarding and a motivator... sometimes it's a painful one too.

No pain, no gain! baby crawl2

John

my brother plays guitar and bass, you should see some of the weird faces he makes, lol. i commented to him once about the faces he makes and he replied "i'm not making faces...i'm making expressions" so now i kid him about the "expressions" he makes.

and John, you are so right.