Drum Lessons in Federal Way, WA

Instruments: Piano Drums Orchestral Percussion Latin Percussion Music

I have taught in the classroom, small group settings as well as one on one in both piano and drumset. My favorite thing about music instruction is connecting with the students on a musical and personal level.  I started studying piano at the age of 5, making it my career as a teacher after college and into adult life. Choosing to focus more on drumset and percussion studies at the age of 11, I then studied Percussion Studies in College, playing in many bands and in multiple styles. Read More

Instruments: Trumpet Trombone Clarinet Drums Mallet Percussion Conga Latin Percussion Djembe

My teaching style is laid back and technical. I like to go at the pace of the student and really make sure technique is perfect. With good technique you set yourself up for success and develop good habits from the start. I can't tell you how many times I've seen students, even in college, dramatically improve their sound with just a simple posture change. Once technique is handled, the doors to all genres of music are open. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Trumpet Drums Bass Guitar Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Latin Percussion

No matter where the student starts from, I always spend a significant amount of time in the first lesson discussing with them what they want to gain, what they are interested in, and how much time and effort they want to put into this endevor. It is important to me to understand the student so that I can cater to their needs and desires, and hopefully encourage them to continue playing music. Read More

Instruments: Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Conga Latin Percussion

For my beginning drum students, I use Mark Wessels "A Fresh Approach to the Snare Drum and Drum Set", Rod Morganstein's "drum set musician", and Mitchell Peters' "Developing Dexterity". For students that have a good grasp of the basics, I work through material that caters to their specific interests (jazz, rock, latin, West-African, orchestral/school band, or marching percussion). I also write original etudes for my students based on their needs and include a midi accompaniment to motivate students to work on their assigned material. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Drums Bass Guitar Ukulele Double Bass Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

For beginning to students I like to have them learn their notes on the bass guitar first and foremost. Once we have become familiar with the neck of the bass we introduce Hal Leonards's Bass Method Book 1. This will build our foundation for learning to read time signatures, notes in bass clef, rhythms, as well as playing complete songs. For intermediate bass students I like to gauge the level and tailor a program for that individual. Read More

Instruments: Drums Mallet Percussion

Proficiency in reading music is a top goal for my new students and we start to read music within the first few lessons. I balance working out of a book with listening exercises, playing along to songs and the occasional game or two. A typical 60 minute lesson run down: 5 minutes - check in from previous lesson and a warm up 15 minutes - beat/groove workshop - digging into a style and working on various drum beats in that style 10 minutes - technical piece that relates to the beats/grooves weve been working on and some exercises to improve technique 5 minutes - game or improvisation break, something to give our brains a rest 20 minutes - working on a song. Read More