Marlon P  
Instruments: Drums, Bass Guitar
Styles: Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Folk, Country, R&B, Gospel, Musical Theater, Funk, Hip Hop, Electronic, Showtunes, Latin Jazz, Swing, Samba, Bossa Nova, Soul, Punk, Avant-garde

I have taught privately on and off throughout my career in many different iterations. I bring a unique set of skills to the table as far as teaching is concerned, because I was totally self taught, learning very organically-listening and playing along to records, playing in bands-then went to music school at UGA and learned a more formal approach to how drums are taught. I then became immersed in many different scenes and learned very much 'on the job' playing tons of different styles. I was then asked by Georgia State University to be their jazz drum instructor. All of these combined have given me the skills to tailor a curriculum to many different types of students. I love teaching because it continues the lineage and the knowledge of this very important craft to future generations.

For beginning students I begin by talking to them about music and what songs they like. We start clapping along and picking out what the drums are doing and eventually begin playing along. A wonderfully laid out book for beginners that are interested in pop music is "The Funky Primer." I also like to teach the reading of rhythms out of a book by Ted Reed called "Syncopation for the Modern Drummer." This is a great book that you can work out of for many many years to come. For Adults I talk about what styles and types of music they're into followed by a list of goals to see what they'd like to get out of lessons. I teach out of the following books "The New Breed", Gary Chester, "Drummer’s Complete Vocabulary" as taught by Alan Dawson, John Ramsay, "Syncopation for the Modern Drummer", Ted Reed. I also assign transcription projects for the student to perform. I like to provide enough of a challenge to keep the student motivated.