Drum Lessons

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. When looking for a good drum instructor, its important to consider the amount of experience the instructor has had, not only as a drum instructor, but as a professional performing musician. There is a lot more to becoming a successful drummer than playing the drums. I have been mentoring students for well over thirty years on all aspects of the life and world of the professional musician; the right attitude, the right mindset for rehearsing and performing - the right things to do and the things to avoid to have a fruitful and rewarding career as a musician or for just the shear enjoyment of playing drums as your own outlet.

Q. What questions should a consumer ask to hire the right service professional?

A. 1. How long have you been teaching drum students?
2. What is the age range or limit (if any) of your students?
3. How long are the lessons?
4. What musical equipment will I need?
5. What and how do you charge?
6. Will I need to buy books?
7. Where do the lessons take place?
8. Do you ever travel to the student's house for a lesson
9. If so how much extra is the charge?
10. What styles of drumming to you teach?

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. 1. Do I have a passion for learning to play the drums?
2. Do I love to dance and do I listen to the drummer when dancing?
3. Do I have the time, money and (most impotently) the true desire to invest in learning the drums?
4. Do I think of the drums as the most interesting and provocative part of a song?
5. Am I willing to invest in the time, effort and expense in learning to play the drums?
6. Do I want to learn to play drums from just anybody, or should I study with a truly seasoned professional?
7. Am I ready to do this for myself because I deserve it and I am truly ready to make the commitment?

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. I've been blessed with a professional drumming career that has enriched my life for the past 51 years and have had the pleasure of teaching drums to a limited number of students for 33 of those years. I enjoy teaching nearly as much as I enjoy performing. The most important aspect of both teaching and learning drum playing is patience. One thing that is vitally important to instill in my students (especially beginning and intermediate students) is to be patient with oneself. I also encourage my students to practice diligently and I help them work out an effective (at home) practice routine that is both interesting and fun between lessons. I work with each student at their current level of proficiency to develop that proficiency at a rate that keeps it fun and reduces the frustration that can creep into a practice regimen.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. It may be hard for some to believe, but I have had a passion for playing drums (and actually started drumming on cardboard boxes) at the age of eight. I had made up my mind that I wanted to be a drummer from that early age. My dad was an exceptional piano and organ player and I was heavily influenced by his music collection and his love for playing. I have lived a blessed life as a musician and my most rewarding activity is sharing my experience and knowledge with people of all ages, genders and circumstances who have that same passion that I've had all my life to learn to play the drums. And after 51 years, I'm still learning. You never want to stop learning.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. The question I am most frequently asked is "Why did you pick the drums to play of all the instruments"? That question is usually asked by people who have offered to help me hump my gear in or out of a gig. My answer is that I love music and the part of the music that penetrates everything and goes straight to my soul is the sound, the feel, the rhythm of the drums. It is the driving force, the foundation, the commander of the music. Drums were man's first musical instrument. Drums have motivated people to dance and have even motivated soldiers to march valiantly and heroically into battle since the beginning of civilisation. There is a definite connection between drums and the human soul.