Drum Lessons in Chatham, PA

Instruments: Drums Synthesizer Djembe

Im Patrick R.; musician, teacher, and tinker-er. Music has been both my catalyst for cultural communication and my foil for scientific toil. Born and raised in Tulsa, I was first surrounded by the country/rock of orthodox white suburbia. The only music in the haven of All Souls Unitarian was still all organ and choir. Utterly bored by studio piano lessons, I started taking drums at a local music store at the end of 5th grade, right when my world opened up. Read More

Instruments: Drums

For beginner students Ill usually start with George Lawrences Stick Control and Ted Reeds Syncopation. Once I know they have a grasp of the fundamentals, Ill usually see what their interests are or what they are working on personally and help them improve and build upon those things. This could be repertoire for school or auditions or simply a song they have been trying to learn for a while. Once I understand the students interests and goals I try and tailor my curriculum to that. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Drums

My teaching style relies heavily upon training the ear to dissect what it is hearing. Developing the ear is crucial to being a self-reliant musician. In drums, the visualization how a rhythm works in time is essential to being able to perform that rhythm. Dissection and mapping are the key to furthering one's abilities on the drum kit. In guitar or in piano, being able to isolate frequencies with your ear will lead you to a more accurate understanding for chord structures and progressions than simply looking up tabs, which are often deeply flawed. Read More

Instruments: Piano Drums Bass Guitar Conga Latin Percussion Music Keyboard

I begin with building a strong foundation with the basics; -counting -internalizing the tempo with your feet -isolating limbs -basic grooves We then graduate to novice material; -performing songs with hits and breaks and form -reading lead sheets and counting -internalizing tempo with grooves -3/4 meter -blues/shuffle/swing patterns For intermediate; - we learn 4-way coordination -review reading skills from books such as stick control, syncopation and and 23 drum rudiment etudes -we will learn three camps -we will work on advance songs with hits and develop comping and soloing Advanced; -we will learn the rudiments ritual -we will learn to ready drum sheet music - we will learn jazz Melodies and common improvisation for jazz and Rb shows -we will learn odd time meters, metric modulation and imposition - we learn advanced grooves from different regions Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Drums Music Keyboard Electric Guitar

For beginner students, I often begin with the foundations of the instrument. For drums, we would be practice the rhythmic subdivisions (quarter, eighth, sixteenth notes) and slowly work them into grooves that they can easily start to pick out of their favorite songs. When the fundamentals have been established, we can learn more advanced grooves, dissect songs together, and learn how to improvise and write our own drum parts. My biggest focus as a teacher is to help the student discover the music that they want to learn and make so that they can develop their own unique voice. Read More

Instruments: Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion

I have learned that every student cannot be taught the same way, so I tailor my instruction to the individual student. I encourage my students to set personal goals of achievement at their own pace. I want my students to know that our lessons are reciprocal.In my experiences I have come to love that in music, there is always more to learn. There is essentially more music than we would ever listen to in our lifetime. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Trumpet Drums Bass Guitar Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I began teaching informally while I was in high school, giving friends and family tips and impromptu lessons on basic musical concepts. This continued to develop as I went to college, forming long-term teaching relationships with a small studio of friends who were eager to learn. I also had a small studio in Hudson, NY, while I was living there. Since moving to Philadelphia I've taught around 25 students over the course of the last 10 years. Read More