I went to the practice space last night for a couple of hours to practice two things. The first is the drum pattern I am working on, and the second is the art of messing up.

The way I rehearse a drum pattern is to play the drum pattern. The way I rehearse messing up is to not stop playing. You keep your hands moving and your drum your way back to what you want to play. Practicing recovery is a crucial skill. If you can get back on track, it comes off as “wow” instead of “I can’t believe they messed up”.

So I don’t stop and start over at rehearsal. If a stick flies out of my hand, practice grabbing a new stick. If a drum fill is borked, then you practice getting back to the beat.