Drum Lessons Essex County, MA

Instruments: Piano, Drums, Recorder, Orchestral Percussion

I teach students how to play, as well as, read music.  I teach a variety of techniques and styles of music using books and making up lessons for my students.  I teach my students at any age how to play the set, along with snare drum techniques, and play with songs. For beginning students who are children, I typically start with Vic Firth books. Once the student has progressed to have a grasp of the fundamentals, I will begin to introduce more complicated styles and techniques that are appropriate for their ability. Read More

Instruments: Voice, Drums

My lessons for vocalists are divided into two sections: technique and repertoire. For singers, breath management skills are of primary importance as this directly affects intonation. I like to begin with Anne Peckham's The Contemporary Singer. My students can choose any songs they would like to sing while we work on musicianship skills including expression and lyrical phrasing. Singers who want to study jazz and improvisation use one or more of my pedagogical texts on scat singing. Read More

Instruments: Drums

For beginning students, I begin by introducing proper technique and the most basic rudiments, start George Lawrence Stone's Stick Control, and introduce basic rock beats. When the student has the fundamentals mastered, we'll begin working on more advanced rudiments and work from Ted Reed's Syncopation. For more advanced students, we will cover odd time signatures, latin grooves, jazz concepts, improvisation, and ways to compose grooves and fills. I encourage students of all skill levels to set goals and bring me materials they would like to learn. Read More

Instruments: Drums, Orchestral Percussion

Currently, I am a member of the Raider's drum and Bugle Corp's (Burlington, NJ) percussion staff. The raiders are an open class DCI group that competes in the summer against other open class groups. My job duties include running rehearsals, providing weekly assignments to members, and providing individualized critique and information for students. This ensemble meets once a month from November to April then moving to every weekend, and then eventually a 3-4 week long tour over the summer. Read More

Instruments: Drums, Mallet Percussion, Orchestral Percussion

I believe the proper technique is essential in order to be a successful percussionist. We would start by how to hold the stick properly, whether it be matched grip or traditional grip. From there we would move on to how to properly hit the drum and bounce the stick. The first few lessons are usually all about technique and approach and we would mainly stay on one drum or surface, but after that we would move to the drumset or another area that interests the student. Read More