Blog

And, because no rock band goes without the guitar, I picked up the guitar. I liked it. I’m still the one who does most guitar parts in our band. It is a complete instrument as much as the piano. I know that statement will make many people cringe. But guitar is among theRead More

Because we were forming a band, I had to pick up the bass. Every one dabbles in bass playing. Every one thinks they know how to play. But what a complex instrument. How difficult it is to carve a groove, how demanding it it to hold it! The bass is very difficult. One has toRead More

You would have asked me twenty five years ago if I will ever be playing another instrument, I would have said no. At the time, my life was consumed by the drums. I was, at every second, thinking about it in one form or another. Then came the piano. The beautiful piano.Read More

Anchor points: In the rock beat accent the hi hat on the down beat (Which goes great for many rock songs.). Or accent the up beat (For a song like Heavy cloud no rain” by Sting.). Drummers should really understand what are the anchor points they need to emphasize in the beatsRead More

Dynamics 1: The simplest way to approach it is to go from soft to loud and back while doing the rock beat. But playing soft is very difficult. Most of the time, the beat will lose its energy, its drive as the player struggles to feather his strokes. One way to sidestep that landRead More

One rock beat: 8th notes on the hi hat, snare on 2 and 4, bass drum on 1 and 3. Use this beat for all the different concepts. Simultaneity. This is when two or more sound sources happens at the same time. In a simple rock beat it means the bass drum and the snare drum must beRead More

As a self employed person, I am constantly hit by questions only I can solve. Questions about my schedule. Questions about my teaching concepts. Questions about my budget. My hopes. My plans. My relationships with people. Because everything affects everything, because all in myRead More

I went to Boston for Easter vacation. It was nice. I went with my family. Great people. The best on earth. I remember Boston very well. That is where I studied. At Berklee. That is where I discovered America. I was fragile at the time. I didn’t know if I could make it as aRead More

Is there a case made for the dirty playing, the sloppy technique, the approximate sounds you can get from an instrument? Yes. One name: Theolonius Monk. Another name: Singer Louis Armstrong. And Bob Dylan. Yes! Yes! Yes! We love those sounds. They create emotions from their veryRead More