Teaching

It depends on the students level entering my private lesson program.

My lessons are 30 minutes long so I have to try and fit as much information in the lesson as possible in a short amount of time.

For first time students we first start by learning what a fulcrum is and how to hold the sticks. I try to get each student to imagine a bouncing ball on the tip of the stick and we learn how to "bounce" and get comfortable with the rebound from the drum using a fluid motion of fingers, wrist, and a little bit of forearm. Next, we go over the basics of what a staff is, measures, time signatures, etc... After that I have a sheet that I give to them with the Rhythm Tree which is a tree of all of the notes like whole, half, quarter, eight, and sixteenths. I show them the difference between playing the notes on a drum (or practice pad) and the piano. This helps them understand whole notes and half notes better since you can hear the note ring out compared to a staccato stroke on a drum. After explaining the note values and recognizing what each note looks like and it's duration I give them a lesson sheet that starts out with whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes. This is where we start to learn how to read and then each lesson after goes more in depth with rests, sixteenths, tied notes etc..

That's just a short example of what I normally teach to a first time student with no prior experience. Sometimes I might throw in their first rudiment like a single stroke roll, or a single stroke 4.

Besides the notes and playing I try to be real encouraging of their effort and try to goof around a little bit to let them know they don't have to be so nervous. That's something I see a lot of from new students and I def can relate from when I was younger. There is a way to get things done and still make it fun.

Like Scott Johnson says "If your not having fun, your doing it wrong"