Tag: Drum lessons
The importance of review in music.
I am doing reviews these days. Not just for myself, but also for my students. I am trying to resolve that pickle for them: how do you make reviews interesting, even exciting? So, I am writing pages of exercises and composing music to play along in order to explore that concept. This is going to…
That town
When I was growing up in France, some music were better rated than others. On top of that, no matter what, you had Classical Music. That was not only revered, but the official music promoted and taught by all the Conservatories of the land. I went to one of them. I studied with someone who…
Tommy Dorsey
There used to be a tradition in this country. For graduation, a Big Band would play. The best one, the most famous was the Tommy Dorsey Big band. Anyone remembers that? Also, there was those big rings people would wear. You would exchange them with your Sweetheart. I don’t see anyone wearing them anymore. Have…
What you want
You never know, really. People come in your studio, they all have different background. You get all sorts. I try to be welcoming because I understand that most of my job is to get in touch with the student. That’s my best bet to make sure we can communicate. My only weapon to beat video…
One man army.
I do not have a boss. I do not have any employee or employees. I do not give checks every other week and I do not have to worry about anybody but myself. But it means that I need to combine many many different skills to be able to run my business. I could bore…
The long game.
So, if you’ve been following my blogs, you know that I have no intention of retiring. You also know that I’m doing very good with my business, lots of enthusiastic people who practice, learn and have fun. If you’re wondering about my health, I’ve never felt better. Yes, better than when I was in my…
You know but you don’t
This is for people who take lessons, practice regularly and might have experience the phenomenon. You go to your lesson and get a new assignment. You’re ecstatic. The teacher was great, the lesson was fun, and the material was a head scratcher but not impossible. You’re off to practice. Now you’re 2 days away from…
Fears
I have been playing the drums since I was 16 years old. Just about 40 years ago. I’ve been teaching since my days in Paris in 1989. I started in Chicago in 91. I remember, at the time, in order to get a bit of advertisement going you had to put an ad in the…
Moving the continent.
There are many reasons why you should pay a teacher to study an instrument. One of the benefit that’s not talked about vey often is the fact that a teacher can hear/see your progress from week to week. If you are serious about your playing and you diligently practice every day hoping to get a…
How long should one practice?
Loaded question if ever there was one. Usually teacher throw a fake card to evade the subject, something like “It depends”, or ‘What do you want to achieve?”. I’ll give you the skinny, I won’t try to avoid to answer: “You give me a half-hour 6 times a week and we’ll be good friends”. There!…