Welcome: small, boring, works

Hey, I'm Dani. I played drums on the road for eleven years, and for most of them I did everything wrong: no sleep, gas-station dinners, a back that sounded like bubble wrap at load-out. This course is the stuff I learned the hard way, boiled down to what actually works when your day belongs to a day sheet.

How this course works

• Four weeks, one theme a week: sleep, movement, food, and the "instrument maintenance" week (voice, ears, hands, head).
• Three short lessons a week, 10–15 minutes each. Read them on the bus, in the van, in catering.
• Every lesson ends with one homework. Just one. Small enough to do on a show day.
• No perfect weeks. You'll miss days. Tour is chaos. The goal is better than the default, most of the time.

The Soundcheck rule

Small, repeatable, boring wins beat heroic plans. A 5-minute stretch you do every day beats a 60-minute workout you do once. A water bottle you refill at every venue beats a "hydration plan". Your mask on the bunk beats a sleep app.

What you need

• A sleep mask and earplugs (you'll use them this week).
• A refillable water bottle.
• A light resistance band (optional, week 2).
• Your day sheet, or a notes app.

Your homework

Write down, honestly, how your last tour went for these four things, on a scale of 1 to 5: sleep, movement, food, mood. No judgment. It's your starting line. We'll check it again in week 4.

This course is coaching, not medical advice. If anything hurts, worries you or doesn't improve, talk to a doctor.