Claudio M
Instruments: Drums, Mallet Percussion, Orchestral Percussion, Conga, Latin Percussion, Djembe
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Country, R&B, Gospel, Musical Theater, Latin, Funk, Electronic, Showtunes, Reggae, Merengue, Latin Jazz, Swing, New Age, Samba, Bossa Nova, Soul, Marching Band, Avant-garde
Claudio M
Instruments: Drums, Mallet Percussion, Orchestral Percussion, Conga, Latin Percussion, Djembe
Styles:
Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Country, R&B, Gospel, Musical Theater, Latin, Funk, Electronic, Showtunes, Reggae, Merengue, Latin Jazz, Swing, New Age, Samba, Bossa Nova, Soul, Marching Band, Avant-garde
Where I Teach:
Ages Taught: 10-80
Studied Music Theory at Molloy College
Frame Drumming with Glen Velez
Funk Drumming with Todd Turkisher and Chet Doboe
Vibes and Marimba with Azande Cummings and Arthur Lipner.
I'm very much a lover of music, rhythm, and sound. I enjoy sharing that love of music with my students and helping them achieve whatever goal they may have. I try to always remind the student that there is validity to all that we do, and to not be afraid of experimenting and improvising. I want my students to always think as improvisers and composers from the very start of our studies. It's important to explore sound and rhythm in ways that's more than just reading notes on a page and more connected to trying to capture what's in your heart and soul.
My teaching drum set experiences started over 15 years ago when I was playing many different styles of music. I wanted to be able to assist and encourage my students to be able to play drums and vibes or marimba. Teaching mallet instruments to drum set students allowed me to help the student see why he or she played certain drum set grooves and fills at certain points. It always fascinates me when people see how chords (on a mallet instrument) lock into a drum set groove. Part of my teaching challenges involve helping students see the importance of playing together in ensembles, we do lot's of duos and trios in the studio. We could even play as a duo on a Skype lesson too!
For beginning students we usually start with sitting at 2 drum sets and learning to hold the sticks. It's then about trying to get the sticks to strike the drum and practice getting a nice sound on the instrument. Even at a young age, it's important to help the students to think about tone and how we are creating sound on these instruments. I use the same technique on the vibes, learning to hold 2 or 4 mallets and just creating simple sounds. Once the student can get comfortable with that we try to think about rhythm and time. For adults it's about learning what the student wants to do. I realize that adults have different needs and free time issues. So, it may be more about playing along to music and understanding arrangements of tunes.
We are all lovers of music in one way or another. It's my thought to help students develop a love of learning the art of playing an instrument and being connected to the music in such a direct way. I'm very patient with a students challenges and always encourage them to never give up. I always want to stress that each one of our voices matter when creating music. My teaching style is also about having multi media available for the student to either, see, hear and experience different forms of music in our lessons.
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