Jeffrey M  

5

  5.0 (43)

Instruments: Drums
Styles: Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Folk, Country, R&B, Gospel, Musical Theater, Latin, Funk, Hip Hop, Electronic, Salsa, Showtunes, Spirituals, Reggae, Merengue, Latin Jazz, Swing, New Age, Samba, Bossa Nova, Soul, Marching Band, Punk, Avant-garde

My teaching experience began early; before I left my parent's home. I was teaching friends basic beats and drum fills as quickly as I could learn them! I've continued to teach regularly since then, but I opened my official private studio in Colorado in 2016. Since then, I've been primarily focused on teaching music while continuing to play drums professionally in recording studios and at live venues. In a nutshell: I'm a university-trained music educator and accomplished professional drummer with a wide variety of international and studio recording experience in many drumming styles including Jazz, Ska, Hip Hop, Acid Jazz, Punk, Reggae, Rock, Blast Beats, Country, Swing, Blues, Afro-Cuban, Salsa, Samba, Americana, Latin, Funk, and Afro Beat. I began my career as a professional drummer in high school in Colorado and continued through college where I majored in Music with a focus on Music Performance. During this time I played in a wide range of musical projects including reggae and ska bands, indie projects, singer-songwriter projects, salsa bands, Afro-beat bands, and many more. Additionally, I was in demand as a recording session drummer and gained invaluable studio knowledge and experience through consistently working in Denver area studios. In 1999 I left Colorado for Los Angeles and began playing with the Nina Hagen Band. For more than five years I toured and recorded with Nina nationally and internationally. My experience with Nina was invaluable to my growth as a professional musician, pushing me to perform at the highest level possible, allowing me the opportunity to play many different types of music with many great musicians, and giving me the chance to play at large venues across the globe. In 2005 a deal with Elektra Records for the band Ghettoblaster drew me away from the Nina Hagen Band. I recorded and performed with Ghettoblaster coast to coast. My experience with Ghettoblaster took me into nearly every major recording studio in Los Angeles, allowing me to work with some of the most successful and acclaimed record producers, recording engineers, and music industry professionals in the business. Four years later, I decided to step away from music for a time, in order to reflect on my desired future, and to pursue my own spiritual development. Drawn to Buddhism as a path that provided practical methods to find and sustain inner peace, I decided to commit myself fully. I ordained as a western Buddhist monk, and taught Buddhist philosophy and psychology full-time, until 2014, when I felt called again to play music.

For beginning drummers: After teaching students the correct way to hold drumsticks, I demonstrate a combination of stick control exercises using a practice pad, incorporating practical drum set instruction that includes basic beats and coordination. These beginning lessons also cover the basics of reading music written for percussion instruments to facilitate the continued use of reading music to grow in the future. For more advanced students, I assess their skill level and goals, then begin structured lessons often using instructional drum books as well as playing along with music the student enjoys to learn songs they like and get the experience of playing in a band. Lessons are tailored for each student. The student will be assigned goals for practice time in-between lessons; again, realizing that each student will have different capacities. I tailor all lesson pedagogy to each individual student.