Tag: drum instructor

  • A dirty subject: Being responsible. part 2

      Now let’s stop messing around and go into the heart of it. Here’s a situation I hear about all the time: The person, let’s call him Dillinger, comes to Chicago. He wants to be a pro musician. Only he has no money and Chicago can be an expensive town. So, what to do? First…

  • A dirty subject: Being responsible. part 1

    Dirty subject, being responsible. Even bloody. That’s one I’ve been putting off for a long time. That area of being a pro musician is full of traps, of half truths, of misconceptions, of nerves and anger.  This is not tender meat. This is a rock concealed in a thick crust of slimy mud. Oh, well,…

  • Big news: Cooking can save musicians! 2

    So far we have determined that, on this cold Chicago winter, we are broke. But life is still worth living and we need to spend more time practicing our instruments. We have also determined in one swift move that cooking is the answer to this particular situation. Cooking cheap that is. Onward to a few…

  • Big news: Cooking can save musicians! 1

    Ouch! We are coming out of the holiday season tired, overwhelmed and… broke. December is the month where all the big bills are due: car insurance, renter’s insurance, house insurance, subscription for this service, and that one, bill for the food and the partying that took place with family and friends, and, of course, all…

  • The wish

    “- Hello Houston, we are go for 2020, we have the means, we have the tools and we have the energy. Send me the mission statement, please. – Hello Apollo, here’s your mission statement for 2020. You’re going to have to: Make more money. Spend more time with loved ones. Practice your instrument without complaining.…

  • Lean on me 2

    This holiday season I am thinking about the role of the drummer, about the fact that people lean on him in modern music. The drummer needs to be aware of his musical surrounding. He’s useless if he’s soloing double bass in a soft ballad. Oh, don’t laugh, I’ve seen it happen. Then, at the end…

  • Lean on me 1

    Ah, the drummer! So many jokes about that guy! So many punchlines! He plays too loud, too fast, too much. He’s drooling as he works up a sweat, he can’t count further than 4, he’s the best groupie of the band. Yes, the drummer provokes a lot of laughs. He’s  also the guy nobody understands…

  • The speed of learning

    When someone starts to learn the drums, they come to my studio and I show them the first beat in the style of music they’re interested in. Usually, it’s a rock beat. We go with a simple pattern, not too many limbs, not too fast with no dynamics. They are often surprised that, even if…

  • How to learn technique.

    Suppose you have decided to learn the piano. Good! That’s a great idea. Suppose you don’t have a teacher. Ha! Could be a problem. You go online, find a few tutorials, a few ideas, a few songs, you get yourself going. Again, great! And then you hit a wall, a hard one: you can’t play…

  • The most difficult thing

    Once someone has studied an instrument for at least 2 or 3 years, they can usually play a few songs well, they understand what a tempo is, what a metronome is, they know how to read a few written notes, they can deal with an accompaniment, a song structure and a few other things that…