Drum Lessons in Sun Valley, CA

Instruments: Drums

One thing I love to do is understand the kid I am teaching. Because I love to teach, it makes me happy to see my students enjoy what they learn, and that is why it is important to me to develope good teaching habits and a good sense of direction. I like my students to have fun learning, and feel comfortable growing without limiting themselves. I also try to be as organized as possible. Read More

Instruments: Voice Cello Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Latin Percussion

I use a developmentally appropriate approach for preschoolers based on the Music Together curriculum. For ages 6 to 8, I offer Musical Safari, an overview of many instruments with basis in theory, solfege and reading, helping children and parents make the right choice of instruments based on the student's interest. For adult voice I favor the clippinger method added to my choir master experience where besides the technique, I customize the songs you want to learn with personalized arrangements in your most comfortable key. Read More

Instruments: Drums

During the first lesson I always assess where the student is the learning timeline with their instrument. I also find out what the student's goals are with music. Once this has been established we work on a plan of action to acheive those goals. Since the vast majority of drum students are primarily interested in learning drumset skills, we will start working on this from the very first lesson. I tend to break drumset studies into these general groups: skills and technique, independence and coordination, groove studies, and reading. Read More

Instruments: Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Latin Percussion Djembe

Here's how many drum lessons I've taught: An average of 15 lessons per week times 50 weeks since 1993. 15 x 50 is 750 per year. 25 years of 750 lessons is 18,750, and I have fine-tuned my lesson plans all along the way. Between 2013-2018 I taught a minimum of 30 lessons weekly and had to employee an assistant (an advanced student) to teach my beginners. My students often see me for years. I have taught at Berklee College Of Music's Summer Percussion Festival, School Of Rock, IKnow Music, Join The Band, Santa Monica Music Center, Modern Music, Pop/Rock Academy, Pedrini School Of Music, Walpole Music, and Boston Music Co. Read More

Instruments: Drums

I have been studying privatly with multiple Percussion teachers since 1993, and providing private instruction of my own since 2001. Read More

Instruments: Drums

I have found that showing instead of telling comes across really well in teaching. I like to break things down and make sure a student isn't wasting time trying to get something new. I make them set reasonable goals in the moment till they feel like they can walk away having something new under their belt. To me one of the most important parts of showing a student something new is explaining why they should learn it or why they should do an assignment and how they can apply these things to real musical situations. Read More