Lessons In Drumming & Confidence

For a free consultation or to sign up for lessons, contact me.

One of the key themes of this site is the concept of how we learn. I’m a completely self taught drummer and I love interviewing other drummers and finding out how they acquired their skills.

My dad was a schoolteacher and a great bass player/working musician.

I learned a lot from him. He was a true pro, could go into any musical situation and know what to do.

When you put yourself in a position of teaching people you have entered a mysterious field called education.

When you’re a musician you only have to account for the reality of the musicians you are playing with and the intended audience.

When I started playing drums I took a few lessons. They didn’t go well. By that I mean the teachers were great people, great drummers, well intentioned, caring…all the “right” qualities.

There was, however one brutal fact. I didn’t learn anything.

Now, this might be a bit harsh, and may seem arrogant, but it is true.

Let’s park the idea of “natural talent” or “gifted” aside for a moment.

The question you have to ask is ” How would you know if teaching was effective or not?” This question is never asked in the current education system.

There is only one answer. Can the person DO the things he is taught? If yes, the teaching was effective. If no, it was not.

When I’ve taken on students, I am only interested in one thing. “Has the person improved IN THEIR EYES by the end of the lesson?” If the answer is yes, the person will practice and improve upon their own ability.

This is how confidence is built.

The cycle is 1. Observe what the person IS doing. 2. Give them something slightly more complex 3. repeat ONLY that thing until the person can DO this new skill. Repeat.

One thing about drumming is that is requires a complete balance between mental ability (which we could define as : the ability to decide and execute) and physical dexterity (which we could define as: The ability to physically execute what the mind conceives) success is accomplished by coordinating these 2 factors.

This applies to drumming and is a key ability in life.

One thing unique about my teaching methods is I view drumming as first and foremost a form of COMMUNICATION. Therefore it follows the laws of communication. Many people “talk” but do not communicate to anyone or anything.

People mumble, say things they dont mean, grumble to themselves about their boss, swear under their breath, yell at their computer screen, give the finger to the driver in front of them, call the cops, text, chat, email, tweet, IM, PM…

Few people actually communicate.

If you dont believe this, look at it this way.

I’m sure we all agree that any problem can be solved with communication. We’ve seen marriages fall apart because of lack of communication. We go to war with other countries instead of communicating with them to resolve our differences.

You’ve heard it said ” well, I tried to talk to them, but….” failure of communication is the failure of life.

To play the drums requires a person to become confident in his ability to communicate.

This is what I specialize in. Even though my spelling sometimes sucks.

If you are interested in a free evaluation/consultation regarding lessons for you or your children please contact me at the contact page here