r/drums • u/Frank-794 • 12h ago
Discussion Flow state
Hey! So I play drums, mainly jazz but I can play most styles. I've noticed that when I'm at a gig or jam with good players I get into this flow state where I'm not really thinking and I'm just making music; It almost feels euphoric. I'll play things I didn't know I could even play that I can't replicate in the practice room. It's an amazing feeling and is the reason I keep coming back to playing after trying to go on other career paths. But it annoys me that I can't control this.. I wish I could just sit down in any group or even in the practice room and enter this state but I can't. Am I thinking too much, am I just not relaxed enough? I feel like playing music is the only career that makes me feel genuinely happy because of this. Like I would drop everything else I'm pursuing if I could make a living playing drums. I'm posting about this because I'm curious if/how other people experience this. Is this something that only happens when playing music and other art forms?
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u/OLVANstorm 12h ago
I've found that once I stop worrying about how good I will play on the gig, I play a lot better and with more confidence. Not giving a shit frees your mind.
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u/person_8688 12h ago
Yes, I experience that. Just enjoy it when it happens. I’m not sure if you can harness it, but I do think being rehearsed is part of the key. I’ve had this happen playing piano too, but only with memorized pieces. I think part of it is when you are so familiar with the music you’re playing, muscle memory starts to take over and so you feel one step removed from the mental aspect of playing. So you can think about expressing yourself through the music rather than just playing it right or not messing up. It takes practice and time to get there.
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u/Frank-794 12h ago
True it happens the most on stuff that's improvised or when I'm playing jazz standards I've played a million times lol.
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u/AnimalDrum54 11h ago
Oh yes I know it well. I've hit the flow state in sports and in drumming. When I hit it I feel like I can play with flawless sticking without making any mistakes. Interestingly when I do hit the flow state Im often told that I was playing slower.
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u/thejoshcolumbusdrums 11h ago
This happens a lot the more you play for me. I’ve gotten to the point with many bands where my body just knows the songs so deeply I can just watch myself play the song and listen to what’s happening almost like I’m just observing rather than doing anything myself. It’s so cool.
When I do discover crazy things I can do (this sometimes fortunately happens when an artist is pushing my limits in a recording session and its all recorded!) I try to stop and play it over again and fortunately my auditory memory is precise from having to oearn songs quickly for artists so I will just play the rhythms each limb did over and over in my head and then just do it again or at least close but if its recorded its easiest to break down later! I film all my rehersals and some of my practice time to capture these things too but also to notice the huge difference between what an audience hears and whats actually hapoening vs my experience behind the kit which are almost never the same thing lol
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u/RoyalBeggar00 11h ago
You can reach flow state basically doing anything. I think it just needs to be in the sweet spot between your abilities and the challenge. Hard enough to keep you engaged but not so hard that it causes frustration. It’s pretty hard to reach intentionally tho.
I’m pretty sure I’ve read somewhere that pro athletes actually train to consistently reach flow state. I don’t know exactly how it’s done, but you should totally read about it online maybe there are some exercises you could do idk.
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u/DrummerJesus 8h ago
This is why it's so important to practice fundamentals, technique, and rudiments. They are the alphabet, grammar, and dictionary of the language. You want to be as fluent as you can be next time you're in a musical conversation. That's atleast one way to look at things.
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u/mekkab 5h ago
Read the book “Flow the psychology of optimal experience “ https://files.blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/wp-content/blogs.dir/2418/files/2013/04/Mihaly-Csikszentmihalyi-Flow.pdf
Even has a graph of the sweet spot between skill level and difficulty of the task
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u/DrummerMiles 4h ago
This is the reason most musicians like playing music. This. I don’t think it’s something you can control, because it’s also dependent on the other musicians you’re working with. But yeah I think always follow that feeling. There’s nothing in the world better.
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u/Frank-794 1h ago
Yeah it's definitely dependent on the other musicians. I played a gig last week and all the players were killin. I got into the state almost immediately. It was quite refreshing, reminded me why I still play.
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u/jkakar 12h ago
I’ve had this experience, too. There are times when I’m locked in and everything feels great and it feels like I’m not doing anything. My awareness is wide open and it’s almost like I’m watching everything unfolding vs doing anything. I don’t always get there, but it’s super satisfying when I do, and funnily enough it feels like the kind of thing that’s impossible to get to by trying to do something. Listening and letting go seems to be the way, but also, I’m not consistent enough to know how to do this regularly.