Tag: Chicago drum instructor

  • Weird lessons of COVID-19: Pointing

    Once we were in the thick of the pandemic, I had to rearrange my studio. I had to be able to deliver comfortably as good of a virtual lesson as I possibly could. I discovered many things I could do for that. For example, I put my webcam on my computer screen. Not very original,…

  • An approach to dynamics

    Try this: start at m, meaning medium. Wait! I’m forgetting something. First either sit at the piano or go get a paid of drumsticks. Take your time. I’ll be here when you come back. Ok, got it? We ready? So, as I was saying: start with m, meaning medium. You want an exercise. Ok, for…

  • Like never before

    If you take lessons with me for awhile, you might come across a particularity of mine. I have already talked about it on my blogs, but that’s hardly a clue because I discuss a wide variety of subjects here. I love music. That’s the surprising fact. No, no, don’t quit on me yet with a…

  • Finding Vaccine in Chicago

    To anyone who still needs (or knows someone who needs) an appointment to be vaccinated, for example college students & teenagers: The huge FEMA drive-through vaccination site (at Roosevelt school in Gary, which is on 25th, right off I-94) is not very busy, and is a breeze to get to, and get through.  You sign…

  • Eddie and Michael

    Eddie Van Halen, the great, the dearly missed, played on Michael Jackson song “Beat it”. That guitar solo will be remembered for ever.  

  • Serious Sinatra

    Did you know that Frank Sinatra, after somewhat neglecting his voice, started doing warm-ups and exercises once he had Quincy Jones as his arranger and the orchestra of Count Basie to back him up? A wonderful recording is “Frank Sinatra at the sands”, a legendary album that needs to be discovered or re-discovered.

  • Not a word!

    Music is not a descriptive art. Unlike painting or photography, it cannot carve the lines of a city or display the face of a stranger in a crowd. Music cannot paint with pictures, instead it is forced to evocate or to suggest. And when you have a very precise mental picture of what you want…

  • Children songs 2

    This was the trivia question: Which composers composed themes based on children songs? Answer: Beethoven and Miles Davis. Now, for Beethoven, we all know which piece of music I’m talking about. You don’t? Yes, you do. Did you play the recorder when you were in school? Did you ever try to blow “Ode to joy”…

  • Children songs

    Trivia: which composers composed themes based on children songs?   Do you want me to give you some time to think about it?   All right. The answer is in the next blog.   Here’s a clue:

  • Community

    Some festivals have a lot of band in one day, especially during the weekend. That’s where you meet some of your fellow musicians, those guys that, just like you, crisscross the territory to entertain the crowd. Some are great, with an impeccable act, tight as a .. drum (pun intended). Some are just starting, grabbing…