Piano Lessons in East Honolulu, HI

Instruments: Voice Drums

What does a normal practice session look like for you?
Vocalistss have different endurance thresholds but I strongly feel that novice to intermediate singers avoid singing for more than 20 minutes per session and no more than one hour to 90 minutes total per day. It is important to take intermittent breaks to keep your voice from tiring or becoming damaged. More advanced students who are interested in additional musicianship skills like ear training and sight reading should practice these objectives on musical instruments to maintain vocal health and stamina. For example, advanced singers can practice playing different chord types and voicings on piano or guitar during their warm-up. Most vocal warm-up patterns move chromatically (in half-steps) so this allows the opportunity to practice both harmonic ear training and basic piano skills simultaneously. If piano or guitar is your second instrument then you can study theory and harmony on those instruments while you rest your voice. Rhythmic ear training can be accomplished with a drum pad and a pair of sticks. There’s no need to sing everything you need to practice! Drummers warm up by playing rudimental sticking patterns for 10-20 minutes on the practice pad. If the student is studying traditional snare drum technique then the second part of the practice session would be playing etudes from an appropriate text. The third part of a drummer's practice regimen is practicing drum grooves (beats) on the full set. This would, of course, include the student's musical style(s) of interest.

Does music run in your family? Tell us a little about your musical family members.
My parents were actually quite musical and their library of recordings at home offered me a diverse palette of musical idioms to listen to while growing up. My mother was a tap dancer who performed on stage with her two sisters when she was a youngster. I remember her teacher my sister and I how to "hoof" to the song "East Side, West Side," which I can still perform to this day. Mom also enjoyed singing jazz standards from the American Songbook. She took voice lessons and I used sneak into the library to listen to the reel-to-reel tape recordings she made when she practiced her repertoire to the old Music Minus One vinyl discs. My father surprised us one day when he came home with a full set of drums. We had no idea that he played as a child. On a whim he had decided to revisit his love for Gene Krupa. I think many of my drumming ideas were inspired from watching him play traditional jazz swing.

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