Tag: Drum lessons

Tomorrow is Friday June 10th 2021. It might sound like any other day. It might sound like February 3rd or October 17th. But tomorrow is a milestone for the city of Chicago. Something is about to happen that will bring new force and new energy to the businesses. It will put people in a better…

Ever since I’ve started to listen to music on high fidelity equipment, I’ve experienced something transformative. But, hold the press! before I get there, I need to tell you how I used to approach playing in a band. It went like this: look at me! Whatever song, whatever tempo, whatever mood, my goal was to…

I just came back from vacation. We were about an hour and a half away from Grand Rapid, MI. Our little haven was closed to a small lake big enough for a row boat and a lot of fun. The location is the famous “out there”, where the tarmacadam is replaced by dirt roads, where…

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,…

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…

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…

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

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.

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…