Over the past years, I have grown into an enthusiastic musician including various rhythmic styles into my drumming repertoire. Ranging from blues to heavy metal, it's always been my belief that one should always learn as much as possible from any and every style, even if you don't enjoy one particular genre of music. For example, you'd be hard-pressed to find me drumming professionally in a slow-jazz band. It's simply not my style. However, odds are you'll hear a lot of the subtle nuances that I brought over from the jazz world to the metal and blues-rock genres that make up my personal style. I never once considered one style to be more important than the other. Drumming, like every form of art or expression, is another avenue for creativity demonstrating the amazing variety of music - all forms of music. And as a drummer, it's our responsibility to keep that music together.
As a professional drum teacher, I intend to help each of my students accomplish the very many goals accompanied with becoming a great drummer. I intend to help each student identify their own goals and approach each one independently. During the practices (especially for the beginners), it will be difficult training your limbs to do things they otherwise wouldn't do; I like to call them "physical barriers". Often times, people confuse drumming to be one of the easiest instruments to pick up and go. I never really understood that. Unlike the guitar or keyboard, drumming requires full-body functions working together in concert and independently. So it's important to remember not to get discouraged or frustrated. Unfortunately, it’s fairly common, for example, if you were able to play one beat effortlessly and you find that adding one more bass-drum hit to the beat confuses everything. I've been there, and it's totally natural.
As a result, during the lessons, I try to help each student feel as comfortable as they can. Keep it as open-ended and free-minded as possible. Doing so helps to alleviate a lot of the annoyance caused by "physical barriers". And to help reach each goal set for the student, I set my own goals to help each student overcome these barriers during the lessons in whatever way is most suitable for them, and most importantly, effective. In the end, drumming is fun. After the day is done and the concentrated practice is over, it's always fun to just relax, breathe deep, and go wild on the drum set. Sometimes you'll even discover things you never knew you could do before. That's the only reason I've kept with it, and it's definitely the only reason I've decided to teach it. It's fun. My hopes are that each student learns to love drumming just the same. Maybe even help out later and become teachers, too?
I gear my drum lessons toward the student. If he or she wants to feel more comfortable and not get the idea that I'm forcing it on them, I'll lay back and have a great time teaching in a stress-free environment. If he or she wants to feel regimented - practice by a strict schedule - I will teach the lesson accordingly. The idea is to allow the student a freedom of instruction. I remember what it was like to take lessons. And as a child, I always wished I could have learned this way or I could have learned that way. Maybe if I was allowed to play this style or play that style, or even learn that certain song where the drummer played a fill I couldn't quite figure out. Things like that are important in the learning process, especially to the younger student.
Naturally, if I feel the student needs work in certain areas, I'll gear part of the lesson toward the development of that particular skill. Part of my job is being able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each student and thereby solidifying or developing those skills, respectively. It's important to me to see the progression of my students. I've never had a job that gave me a reason to smile on my way home to and from work. It's truly inspiring to see someone else discover their own talents because of something I taught them or helped them learn.
Please use the form below to email me any questions you may have about my drum lessons in Las Vegas.
I primarily teach drum lessons in the Summerlin area of Las Vegas.