Tag: Chicago drum instruction

I have been writing regularly now for almost 1 full month. I do write a lot. Two blogs a day 5 days a week is no small potatoes. I’m lucky, it comes pretty easy to me. The benefit of this blog is to get out the tons of ideas and concepts that I’ve been using…

I don’t think there is a tool as useful for teaching anything as humor. This is a favorite of mine. But it’s always a risky one: what if people do not get the joke? Humor is essential when you have a 7 years old who’s approaching a minor scale for the first time. She might…

I have a friend who’s considering becoming a music teacher. He is someone I admire. He works out every day, he never skips. He doesn’t spend time on his phone, he reads. He practices his instrument thoroughly and he’s great at his current job, highly regarded by his boss. He’s balanced in all things, whether…

The new generation seems to be obsessed with fun. If it is not fun, they look at their phone. I’ve seen teenagers and young adult look at a circus act with mild interest only to go back to their portable screen after 10 seconds. That’s the way now. Or so it seems. So, as teachers,…

Musicians are all too often seen under the wrong light. The general population sees us as talented, and lazy. I want to talk about the laziness. I have never met a lazy working musician. We all have this common trait: we don’t count the hours we spend at work. Now, I know that our work…

This is a very common question. As a matter of fact, if you didn’t know it, it’s one of the most ask question on the internet about the drums.   I’ll try to answer truthfully.   How long does it take? No time. Learning a rock beat, a fill. That’s covered in maybe one lesson,…

Let’s suppose you are about to take some piano lessons. You have made your decision, you have chosen a teacher (me!), you have figured out your budget. In one word: you have all your ducks in a row. But, as you were about to dial the number to make your first appointment, you see a…

I think that learning piano is not necessarily a difficult instrument, because difficulty is a changing concept. How? In an amusement park, is going down a scary slide difficult or fun? And why it is that they create more and more white knuckle rides? Because we love them. Piano, I would argue is the same.…

You take an exercise. So simple you can barely call it that. It’s almost just a reflex. Let’s say you have a pair of stick and you strike a surface. Once on the right, once on the left. You got a piano, you put your hands over the keys, you move one finger. Bing! You…

With my gigging students we sometimes talk about performing. Of course, it is always a difficult subject. I am very aware of the shortcomings of our discussions. After all, we are in my studio, there is no audience, no prepared songs, no promotion for the concert. It is almost impossible to recreate the conditions of…