Drum Lessons in Maple Valley, WA

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 Drums Orchestral Percussion Latin Percussion Music

With my teaching style, I prefer to work on what the student has an interest in if they are old enough to know. There is no better feeling than to work with a student who is enjoying the study of the current material. I also enjoy teaching beginning composition and bringing out the music from within. When the child is at a young age, I incorporate curriculum that targets ear-training and listening, reading, rhythmic awareness and time-keeping, and theory. Read More

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

I make my own lesson materials using musical notation software and cater the lesson to the needs of the student. Every student is different and requires special attention. For example, a beginner percussionist would start off learning how to read and notate rhythms all the way up to 16th notes to start. I would then move into how to hold drum sticks and how to hit a drum. I would build upon these concepts to facilitate lessons to come and tailor the lesson to the individual. Read More

Instruments: Drums

For beginning players, I like to start with the books "A Fresh Approach to the Snare Drum" and "A Fresh Approach to the Drum Set," both by Mark Wessels. These books do a great job of laying down the fundamentals that all drummers should learn at the outset of their education. Beyond that, what I teach depends largely on any specific path(s) the student may wish to pursue, though of course it is totally fine if the student doesn't immediately know what they would like to study beyond the basics. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Voice Drums Bass Guitar Harmonica

I'm more of a "laid back" type of teacher.No whips or teachers rulers here. Music is supposed to be fun!!If you're not having fun, what's the point? After 3 to 6 months, you should expect to be playing some of your favorite songs and artists accurately. Remember-Even if you don't want to play professionally,maybe you just want to learn a few chords, licks,songs, for yourself, or to impress friends.That's ok too! Read More

Instruments: Drums Mallet Percussion

Though I have a general flow of lessons for beginner students, diversions from that path are always the most interesting and I like to strike a balance between learning the fundamentals and exploring creative outlets. I like to pepper in lots of listening exercises and a bit of music history to give context to what we're doing. This is especially important for new drummers as the music we're making isn't always instantly recognizable. Read More