Alvaro G
4.0
(3)
Instruments: Drums
Styles: Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Folk, Country, R&B, Musical Theater, Latin, Funk, Hip Hop, Electronic, Flamenco, Salsa, Showtunes, Reggae, Merengue, Latin Jazz, Swing, New Age, Samba, Bossa Nova, Soul, Marching Band, Punk, Avant-garde
Alvaro G
4.0
(3)
Instruments: Drums
Styles:
Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Folk, Country, R&B, Musical Theater, Latin, Funk, Hip Hop, Electronic, Flamenco, Salsa, Showtunes, Reggae, Merengue, Latin Jazz, Swing, New Age, Samba, Bossa Nova, Soul, Marching Band, Punk, Avant-garde
Where I Teach:
Ages Taught: 8-80
MM, New York University, Jazz Studies BM, Berklee College of Music, Drum Performance
2014 - Performed in Blue Note
Born and raised in The Netherlands with a Spanish upbringing, I came to New York to continue pursuing a career as a musical performer and educator. I am a passionate, patient and enthiusiastic instructor who loves working with students of all ages and to realize the students full potential. Coming to Boston in 2009 to start a Bachelor of Music in Berklee College of Music, I started to perform around the greater area, including renowne stages such as the Berklee Perofrmance Centre and the Beantown Music festival.I then moved to New York City to start a Masters in Music in New York University. I also carried on performing around New York, including performing in The world famous Jazz club, Blue Note, with the NYU Big Band, including performances as a sideman and leader in venues such as Silvana and Cornelia Street Cafe.
I have been teaching from a young age in The Netherlands as a independent private instrcutor, where I had the experience of teaching young students from as young as the age of five. As I got more experience, I was able to start teaching at the Centre of Young Musicians, where I would lead dedicated young musicians in a Jazz combo.
My teaching methods always vary to suit the aspirations and needs of a certain student. I start off by finding out what my students like to listen to and what they want to learn from their lessons. For example, if my student was a twelve year old beginner student who wants to learn to play drums to start a rock band, then I would teach him drum grooves to his favorite songs, in order for him to be able to play it with others. As he gets more comfortable, I would then teach him the drum rudiment fundamentals in order to execute and improvise the students own ideas. For my more advanced students, I aid to point them in the right direction depending what they would want to improve on. These teachings could be how to read and interpret drum charts and lead sheets, as well as snare books such as Stick Control and Wilcoxon-All American Drummer. My more advanced students can also bring in a combo and I can assess and postively critque how they can improve their drumming in a more musical context.
My most important goal to all my students is to only inspire them to keep working on their craft and to explore new music to listen to. I always communicate with my students to make sure they are satisified with what they are learning and to not get frustrated if they are 'stuck' on a certain lesson/exercise. Experience on learning music and an instrument should be fun and exciting! If there seems to be a lack of motivation or bored of a tedious exercise, I always make an effort to show the exciting part about it. For example, many students find reading snare books exhausting, therefore I have certain exercises to disect a snare piece and be able to use it in there own natural drum vocabulary.
Brad Schimmer
I have been playing the drums for about 5 years and I have to say that Alvaro is very patient. He has opened me up to new styles of music and I can now play a Songo groove! What I liked most was that he was flexible in what I wanted him to teach me and would also bring in new material specifically to what I wanted him to show me. Overall, great patient teacher and would highly recommend! Thanks Alvaro!
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