Drumming and the Nervous System with Adam Gust - EP 219

Adam Gust teaches us how understanding Neuroscience, The Vegus Nerve, and listening to your body and emotions can help you be a better drummer with less pain and tension in your body. Adam began this quest to combine brain science and drumming after traumatic experience where he lost the ability to play the drums after walking through a plate glass window which shattered all over his hands. He applied what he learned and is now back to drumming better than ever and is on a mission to share this knowledge with the drumming community!
Here are Adams links:
www.adamgust.com
Sabian Education Network referral link for free access to my workshops with them:
sabianed.com/?r...
TED talk:
www.ted.com/ta...
and here are some science related Drum History episodes that you may enjoy:
EP 191 - Rhythmic Therapy: Using Drums to Help Kids Through Trauma with Rob Leytham
www.drumhistor...
EP 182 - Biomechanical Drumming with Brandon Green
www.drumhistor...
EP 165 - Drums and Ethnomusicology with William Johnson
www.drumhistor...
EP 112 - The Science of Why We Love Drums with Dr. Kristen Vogt Veggeberg
www.drumhistor...
EP 83 - The Science and History of Acoustics with Thomas Antoine
www.drumhistor...
EP 10 - Wild Thing: The Study of Rhythm in Animals with Dr. Ed Large
www.drumhistor...
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[@terrytk9398]

Arguably the most important episode of any drum podcast. Referencing the dawn of human civilisation to current drumming styles tells us that history is as much about the present as the past. Another important element of this podcast is the recognition - within the drumming community - that we have not as yet reached the infancy stage concerning the examination of the mind-body connection. We may note that sports psychology have led the way in this field since the 90’s and the topics discussed here will not be unfamiliar to the practioners of the sports psychology field. Bart and Adam have presented an area of pedagogy, theory, multi disciplines and history in a very approachable and listener/viewer friendly way. Moreover listing associated podcasts and links in the notes makes this an invaluable podcast. Podcasts like this are making drum history (sic) and undoubtedly have now opened the door for further discursive programmes exploring the ways in which mind and body routinely and regularly function in drummers daily life. A must listen episode.

[@somaticdrummer]

It was a pleasure to read your comment, Terry, thank you! Yes, sports psychology was an early adopter of Somatic principles because applications of Vagus Nerve research in professional athletics have shown clear improvements in performance analytics. I am excited to do the same with drumming. It is encouraging to know folks like you are out there who understand mind-body connection has not yet reached the infancy stage within our drumming community. Let's work on this together!

[@DWRhythm]

WHen I lost my vision in 2015, I went through a lot mentally, but finding I could still place my faithin my playing my accuracy wasn't always perfect, but I never gave up.

[@DrumHistoryPodcast]

Good for you brother. That is a lot to handle. You are a monster drummer so keep it up!

[@jasonshort1437]

Fascinating conversation.

[@DrumHistoryPodcast]

Thank you for watching!

[@pauldrumwell4922]

Never have I scribbled down so much information during a podcast. Fabulous. "intentions of excellence".

[@somaticdrummer]

So glad you found it interesting, Paul! The best I could do in an hour podcast is touch on some key aspects of this work so I'm happy you took some of it down. Feel free to let me know what you uncover down the road!

[@DarrenMcGill442]

This is vintal information! It is essential to drumming and living in a human body! I'll be doing more research. Thank you Adam and Bart!

[@drumdiscussion7776]

Thanks Bart and Gus for a cerebral interpretation of drumming. Obvious thought goes into what we are performing. As in life mind, body🧐 and spirit are truly connected!

[@somaticdrummer]

Thank you for listening! Yes, drumming is such an awesome manifestation of the human trifecta of mind, body, and spirit.

[@emcat1144]

Excellent interview!

[@jasper36]

Thanks a bunch for this Bart! I'm very fascinated and intrigued by the effects of drumming on our brians. My neurosurgeon (Dr. Edward Chang) at UCSF asked me to show him rudiments before I had brain surgery last year. He said the ambidextrous aspect might help with neuroplasticity. Lots of potential!

[@somaticdrummer]

Neuroplasticity and improved brain lateralization result from drum practice for sure! Cueing into tight and varied unisons between all four limbs in particular helps to tune our nervous system and build strong brain/ body communication. Rock on, Jasper!

[@millachipmunk]

What a unique perspective! I can’t wait to incorporate these into my drums!

[@ricardomendez681]

Thanks for bringing up this topic. It's good to know there are ways out of tension-related problems in performance that I once thought were caused by the brain alone. This episode is packed with valuable and helpful information. Best regards.

[@DrumHistoryPodcast]

Thank you very much!

[@somaticdrummer]

Thank you for listening! So glad you found it helpful, Ricardo. Best wishes to feeling more deeply!

[@aZeddPrattFilm]

Hey Adam, In regards to heel up playing, everything that you discuss in terms of balance, makes total sense. I find myself playing heel down on hi-hat and heel up on bass drum. I do this heel up technique because I have no strength and heel up feels more comfortable. I’ve tried lose foot pedal tension and even got a direct drive pedal in order to solve this issue but I find myself still doing it. My technique has develop into a middle point where it’s more of a soft stomp. I’m curious if I’m on the right track and how seriously I should be concerned of this issue. To me, heel down playing feels like trying to push in a clutch on a car with your heel down there’s just no way that’s gonna happen. Feedback: I think Brendan Green does a great job at taking the science and applying them practically. I can’t help but think a lot of this was: Focus on balance; focus on regulating breath work. Kinda, yih know, no shit. When I think of nervous system, for whatever reason I was thinking of how I feel about my speed in regards to the tension in my wrists. I would really appreciate if Adam took a Brendan Green approach and give specific suggestions on improvement. An example of a suggestion might be when firing a gun. You release your breath as you pull the trigger. Maybe he could elaborate on how to apply breath work while you’re playing? The main thing I wanted Adam to talk about was what he did to get past his injuries.

[@somaticdrummer]

Moeller bass drum technique is a great way to get the power of heel up but still feel a sense of grounding with the heel down. Heel down on high hat offers so much more access to nuance in sound along with the benefit of balance. I love what Brendan is doing with musculoskeletal work and drumming, a different science than neurophysiology and Somatic therapy. Brendan's work has far more uniform application than neurophysiology which is unique to every individual due to the emotional context- that which truly makes us human. This makes it challenging to offer uniform suggestions regarding emotional regulation which is why I suggested the Sabian Education Network workshops I did where I had two hours to focus more on the application than the context of this podcast which is conversation. Your point is certainly valid- drummers need concrete examples. I am offering myself as a concrete example of a professional drummer whose health and performance has drastically benefited from Somatic Therapy. It is new. Somatic Experiencing just had its first recognition in a mojor publication, The New York Times, a few months ago. If it were easy to talk about someone else would have surely been doing it by now. The drum exercises I'm developing have to do with nervous system regulation and are meaningless without an understanding of Somatic principles. If you would like to talk more about it sometime that would be great. I'll DM you. Best wishes to you and your drumming!

[@andywitch666]

This is very interesting, I need to look deeper into this!

[@DrumHistoryPodcast]

Thanks for watching!

[@jefftripolidrums]

Awesome episode! @JimDonovanSoundHealth is another fantastic drummer who also discusses much about the Vagus Nerve.

[@somaticdrummer]

Yes, Jeff! I love what Jim is doing. His TED was inspiring for me to do my own. I'm on his mailing list and I've taken some of his classes. He does a great job of sharing this information. Somatic Drummer is a "yes, and..." to his work going deeper into drum set applications. Thanks for listening!

[@jefftripolidrums]

@@somaticdrummer Thank you guys for having such cool content! Jim is fantastic, Ive known Jim for years. I had the pleasure of taking some of his drumming seminars and sometimes our bands play the same festival. His youtube channel is really informative. He does have several podcasts he's done as well.

[@somaticdrummer]

@@jefftripolidrums he got to interview one of my heroes, Stephen Porges. Yeah, it was a breath of fresh air seeing Jim expand on Somatics in performance. So cool that the two of you play together. Say hello for me!

[@kyleestes1244]

Adam Gust is helping evolve connecting the central nervous system in drumming. It’s truly brilliant

[@mecdrum7]

Being a SGI Buddhist you sound like one

[@somaticdrummer]

Right on, George. Western scientific approaches to Vagus Nerve research draw many parallels with long-standing multi-cultural traditions that honor the wisdom of the body. I looked up Soka Gakkai on Wiki and it looks interesting, particularly "wisdom within to surmount life's challenges." Please let me know if there are some links you like that touch more on this aspect of SGI. Best wishes!

[@JackNiles]

☕️

[@only4crap]

sounds like a lot of new age stuff sprinkled with some scientific facts and words. the rabbit hole of Dr Pamela Seraphine and the California Southern University NOT to be confused with the USC!) , plus her percussion videos (she claims to be a "renowned world percussionist") didn't inspire much confidence either.

[@only4crap]

what does that even mean? @@JohnD72277

[@JohnD72277]

@@MattMusicianX precisely!

[@somaticdrummer]

Hello @only4crap! If you honor USC then check out the work of Dr. Antonio Demasio, head of Neuroscience at USC, and his approach to neural Somatic Markers and how the brain interprets emotional impulses from the Vagus Nerve. Drop me a line and let me know what you think after you have checked it out. Best wishes to you!

[@cafe.cedarbeard]

So glad to hear this kind of thing getting more widely known. I got Guitar Craft training years ago that connected my experience with Tai Ji and Yoga to keeping music skills high and clear as I'm nearing my half century mark and taking up kit in a band for the very first time and improving every day. Dissolving tension is one of the most important lessons with breathing and all that in my martial arts tradition. Unlearning tension patterns has been high on my list of training disciplines as I get as good at drums as all the other instruments I play really quick from digging into correct lessons for which I have a good compass from my martial arts training and ergonomics principles from Guitar Craft.

[@DrumHistoryPodcast]

That is awesome, I appreciate you watching and sharing how it has helped you. Martial arts seems to be at the center of a lot of great things

[@somaticdrummer]

Dissolving tension with breathing is a beautiful practice, Greg! Especially at the half-century mark, we need to set ourselves up for health, growth, and restoration for our next half.😀Thank you for listening and best wishes for your continued self-mastery.

[@nathanielnicholson559]

In 7th grade music class we did a short segment on meditation in which the teacher pointed out the tongue as a center of tension. "If your tongue isn't relaxed you're not relaxed." I've found it to be super pertinent and this conversation adds so much more. Great video! I'll be keeping an eye on Mr. Gust, for sure.

[@somaticdrummer]

The tongue is a potent barometer of tension for sure, Nathaniel. Great that you were clued into this at an early age, which is exactly why Somatic drum education can be such a powerful practice. So important to learn this stuff at an early age so you aren't stuck breaking decades of bad habits later in life like I am. Best wishes to you!

[@mattthompsondrums]

Thank you for having Adam on, this is a fascinating discussion!

[@KeyFobRob]

Fantastic! Thank you

[@somaticdrummer]

Thank you for checking it out, Rob! Cheers.

[@robertleytham5515]

Bart!! I was late hearing this. Fantastic episode!! Thank you for continuing to show the health and mental benefits of drumming on your podcast. Thanks for the plug to my episode, and you're right, Adam is a monster drummer!!

[@somaticdrummer]

Thanks, Robert! Your wonderful episode is what made me want to reach out to Bart about becoming a guest on his podcast. I really enjoyed hearing about your work and connection with Dr. Pamela, too. I love what you are doing, best wishes!!!

[@robertleytham5515]

​@somaticdrummer Wow! That's one of the greatest compliments I have received! Thank you, and you keep teaching and preaching drums, brain, and the nervous system!! 🪘 🎶 🧠