|
Writing an article explaining my teaching approach has given me time to reflect on my thirty-six year journey as a drummer-and my obsession with trying to figure out just how to play this instrument. The simple fact that there are so many wonderful drummers out there keeps me driven. Made it to the Stadium, Just Never Got a Hit I started taking drum lessons at age 13, started playing clubs at age 15, and at age 16 I began studying with Al Miller. Al's teaching approach made me feel that I too would teach at some point in my drumming career. It's what I've been so fortunate to experience along the way that has set the foundation for my teaching philosophy. You see, I know what it feels like to play in front of seven people in a club-five of the seven being club employees. And I also know what it feels like to play in front of 20,000 people in a stadium. I know what it feels like to get a major record deal on one of the best labels around, being told by one of the biggest record moguls in the biz that you were going to be the next flavor. I know the feeling of playing a recording session with some of the "baddest cats" in town. I could go on and on, but at the risk of sounding too self-indulgent, I won't. I truly feel blessed to have had these experiences. They have brought richness to my soul. My point is simply this: being a musician you're always trying to get to the next level-an endless trip measured by time spent on that journey. I feel the time I have put in has helped to shape and inspire the Art of Drumming, giving me the vision to create a learning environment that is over the top. Stimulation = Motivation I feel my biggest responsibility as a teacher is to size up my student. My goal is to tailor a lesson that keeps the student challenged, stimulated and motivated. The lesson takes on a different shape depending on who walks through the door. So I've tried to construct a room that the student does not want to leave, a room that has many different ways to teach, depending on the student's needs. Upon entering the Art of Drumming you find yourself standing in a room draped in thick black velvet curtains. A large stage with two facing drum sets sucks you in. Stage left is my set up, outfitted with my bass guitar and bass amp. My ability to play the bass offers a unique teaching concept-the instant rhythm section. Creating this rhythm section environment made perfect sense, and has proven to be very helpful to both novice and pro. It allows my students to work on song form, arrangement, and looping through transitions. I find no matter what instrument you play, if there are inconsistencies, they happen at transition points within a song. Whether it's rushing a fill, or tripping through two different groove sections, this approach is an effective way to work on some of these problems. We want to become well read as musicians, allowing us to speak the language. It is most important to make our musical point. Words become meaningless if the listener does not understand them!
Stepping off stage right we have a practice pad station outfitted with mirrors. It is here we work on posturing, grip, stroke, stick-in-hand relationship, and limb coordination. The understanding of note values, note groupings, subdivision of quarter notes and eighth notes, and streaming sixteenths, are some of the points we cover, helping the student build a strong rhythmic dialogue-part of that endless trip! There are many songs within a song-hear them all! Across from
the practice pad station I have my recording / listening analysis
station equipped with pro tools, video cameras, 400 gigs of music
files, and 500 plus LPs. It all starts with listening. If you're
not listening you should not be talking or playing. It's so important
to listen to the song. We must enslave ourselves to the song. Listen
to the song; it will tell you what to play. A song is a body of
work. There must be rhythmic DNA in our drum part that relates to
that body of work. It is so important to listen to as many styles
of music as possible. In every style of music there is something
to embrace. Listen deep so you can embrace it. With pro tools I
can put the student in a recording environment. The student is able
to record to a bass line, or a minus one track. Video cameras capture
the student's movement and posture. Within these four walls I have
created an environment that has enabled me to bring an incredible
amount of depth of field to a drum lesson, helping to address some
of the challenges drummers face today. Some of the best advice I give for practicing is to bring more depth and focus to your practice routine. I stress the importance of phrasing with dynamic blend. Many drummers spend too much time subdividing. You can always cut a space in half and cram something into it. At some point you must stop and ask yourself, "Is this musical?" Too much subdivision can bring square-ness to your playing. Make time in your practice routine to work on things that apply to your playing needs. Try to practice things that are musical and of use. Drumming is not an extreme sport! It makes no sense to me to spend time working on playing 32nd notes with your feet while your left hand is playing 16th notes on the hi hat, and you're banging out "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" on the top of your head with your right hand, in preparation for a club date. Bad practice habits will make you a really good bad player!! Things to think about I was once asked by one of my students if I could teach him how to play in perfect time. This student did not play on his last album because he was having trouble playing to a click track-he was in fear of this happening again. What I told him was this: "It's not about playing perfect time. It's about playing around time perfectly". Understanding the motion of time/tempo in relation to the style/idiom of a song enables you to define your note placement. The understanding of this concept will help open the channel to playing around time perfectly! Perfect time is when everyone in the ensemble is playing the same time together. A click track is a time reference. Music should ebb and flow around that time reference, the ebb and flow is the music's EKG bringing a lifeline to the music. If you're playing flat lines on the click track you kill the music. If you can sing a lick you understand its make up. At that point it's just a matter of time-practice time-before you can throw it down. For years it has baffled me to see triplets and 1& ah counted the same way phonetically when it is clearly not the same figure, contradicting this simple concept. Say it and play it! I stress the importance of becoming the best musician possible who happens to play the drums! Remember music is a universal language. It's important to be a well-read player. That doesn't mean use every word you know to make your musical point. When conversing-musically or verbally-there is nothing worse than knowing someone in the conversation is not listening. On second thought, maybe there is-listening to someone who babbles! The ability to communicate through our instrument to the listener is the final goal. Beat Well! Be Well! |
