The drummer of Deep Purple, Ian Paice, uploaded a video about his drum practice routine on his YouTube channel. He admitted that he does not sit behind the drum kit and practice intentionally, but all of his learning comes from playing live on stage or watching other drummers’ performances.
Ian Paice is one of the original members of Deep Purple, formed in 1968, and has remained their drummer ever since. The band went through several lineup changes, and Paice is currently the band’s only original member. Deep Purple is known to be one of the pioneers of hard rock and heavy metal genres, and it seems like they deserve this title as they made it to the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s loudest band.
Drums naturally played a significant role in receiving that title, and Ian Paice was one of the primary contributors. The 73-year-old drummer was recently asked about his drumming skills, techniques, and practices. Paice made a video about it and posted it on YouTube. He began by revealing a surprising truth; that he doesn’t and has never practiced drums.
Paice stated that he cannot sit down and practice drums; instead, he has another way of learning and improving. While live shows were still a thing, he would learn to play while on stage. He would experiment with the kit by himself during a live performance or watch other drummers play and imitate their techniques by combining them with his own. Unfortunately, he noted that his live show practice sessions were canceled because of the pandemic. Hence, he hadn’t properly played the drums in almost seven months.
Here is how Ian Paice stated that he practices without practicing:
“I still keep getting lots and lots of questions through to the Drumtribe site, asking about my practice, or lack of practice regime. What do I do? How do I do it? Well, in the true sense of the word, I don’t practice. I can’t. It’s just not in me to do it that way.
From the age of 17, when I went on the road, everything I used I learned on stage. Whether it was an accident for myself or was watching other great players and taking their spark, their inspiration, and trying to bend what they did to make it mine.
When the pandemic hit, all live playing stopped. Which meant that way of me keeping on top of the art of drumming was taken away from me. So really, I hadn’t sat behind a drum kit seriously for six or seven months.“
You can watch Ian Paice’s practice routine below.
