We all have a heartbeat - we all have rhythm...
The only thing I know is that I know nothing...
After nearly 30 years of drumming, I still find new rhythms and new ways of playing drums and percussion. As musical influences from around the world have trickled into our own culture, drummers have had to broaden their rhythmic horizons.
My tuition programme comprises four modules (click each one to review it): Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Electronic. Each module can be tailored to suit your specific interest, ability and progression.
When you start drum lessons, I give you a drum book which is yours to keep. This book contains all the information you will need to practice and develop as a drummer. As you progress, I add more complex patterns and material to it.
This module covers the following:
Exercises for the hands and feet.
Counting.
8-beat grooves.
16-beat grooves.
Simple drum Fills.
4-bar Phrases.
Simple Cross-Stick and Open-Style drumming.
Drum Notation and Tabs.
Sitting at a drum kit for the first time can be quite daunting with all those drums, pedals and cymbals spread in front of you.
So to start, I begin with the basics, holding a pair of drum sticks. Control and speed with both hands is essential if you want to progress as a drummer. I discuss the sticks and show you how to hold them.
Then we look at how you position yourself at the drum kit. Your feet should be placed correctly on the bass drum and hi-hat pedals. All the drums and cymbals should be at a comfortable distance from you. Everything should feel easy to reach without having to stretch.
Getting your brain and body into gear is next. Warm-ups and exercises are essential to get you ready to play the drums. Experienced drummers still do these activities and appreciate the benefits that they bring.
Now it's time to play the drums. We start with a simple 8-beat groove and I take you through the counting process and how you play each instrument as you count. We play more 8-beat patterns so you can 'feel' how the pattern changes as you add extra beats to the groove.
Then we move to 16-beat grooves. The counting process changes here and I talk you through how the extra beats are played and which hand does what.
Up to this point, you will have been using only three instruments on the drum kit: hi-hat, snare drum and bass drum. These are played more than any other instrument in the drum kit. We now look at playing simple drum 'fills'. A fill is where you include the other drums (tom-toms) and cymbal crashes to make a phrase or statement on the drums to mark a transition point in the song. For example, when you move from a verse to a chorus. Timing and control is imperative with fills to ensure that you don't speed up or slow down.
Finally you will learn to play 4-Bar Phrases. These are more challenging, but much more interesting to play and to hear. They let you express yourself and expand the basic pattern into a more complex series of grooves.
By the end of this module, you will be playing a variety of grooves, adding drum fills, playing off-beats on any hand or foot and playing longer phrases of drum patterns. You will also understand drum music.
You've may have been playing drums for a while at a reasonable level and understand various grooves, drum fills, tempos and time signatures. You may be self-taught, or have had lessons previously.
Now you want to build on your versatility, knowledge, technique and style.
This module will allow you to expand your ability and develop your own 'style' or personality as a drummer. You might want to specialise in a particular style, or look at different ways of drumming and interpreting music.
This module covers the following:
Complex hand and foot exercises.
Compound time signatures.
Complex pattern phrasing.
Hi-hat and bass drum pedal techniques.
Ghost notes and dynamics.
Cross-Stick and Open-Style drumming.
Normal-time, half-time and double-time playing.
Triplet & shuffle beats.
Syncopated drum fills.
Playing grooves and fills to various tempos.
Playing along to music without drums.
As your playing confidence improves, you start to relax into your style and counting becomes less of an issue. You play your range of grooves well and don't really have to think too much about them.
So there are other things to consider now. Such as how many bars of music you have played or, how do you mark the transition points in a song.
You must also be able to keep good rhythmic time and instill confidence in your fellow musicians. Speeding up or slowing down may be a problem that needs to be addressed.
In this module, I mainly focus on improving your technique and discipline.
You will be playing more complex patterns to expand your repertoire including triplet and shuffle patterns. It's easy to fall into the habit of playing the same patterns to the music that you enjoy listening to. My job is to show you what other grooves may also work so you can adapt your style to suit particular requirements.
We'll explore compound time signatures and how these affect a drummer. Most western music is written is 4/4, 3/4, 6/8 or 12/8 as this seems to fit in with our particular sense of rhythm. Visit other cultures around the world and you'll soon discover that they can operate to a very different pulse. We'll explore 5/4, 7/8, 11/8 and how this affects your rhythmic sense as a drummer.
I have a range of click tracks and songs without drums that you will play along to. This will allow you to 'lock-on' to the pulse of the music and ensure you play in time to it. We'll explore playing ahead of the beat as well as behind it to further define your style.
By the end of this module, you will be competent at playing a variety of grooves at high speeds. You will be able to play fast syncopated drum fills, triplets and have a good dynamic playing range. You will be reading drum notation confidently and be able to keep strict time to a range of tempos. In other words, you are ready to join a band!
You're competent, fast, versatile and most probably in a band or two. You've got a great kit and know how to use it. What more can you do?
This module builds on your work to date and looks at enhancing you as an individual. Every musician has a 'personality' when they play and this is what I want to draw from you.
When listening to a drummer over a period of time, you can recognise subtle things they do which helps to identify them. This is what makes you sound different and is often why one drummer is chosen over another. You can be as technically fast or as proficient as the next drummer, but there is something about you that appeals more - it's not just your name!
Your drum set is your personal 'space' and how you intend to fill that space is up to you...
This module covers the following:
Rhythmic interpretation of songs.
Performance techniques.
Linking to the bass part.
Soloing techniques.
Expanding your drum kit.
Adding percussion to your playing.
Hybrid drum kits (electronic/acoustic).
Recording drums.
The guitar and bass start up a laid-back melody...and you blast in with a wall of double bass drum beats with smashes on the china and snare... We will work together on interpretation of melody, feel and expression.
You may be a brilliant drummer, but it's important to integrate into the band. For certain styles, it's most important that you and the bass player complement one another to form a solid back-line of rhythm. You will play along with a variety of tracks to help you find the right groove and 'lock-on' to the bass part.
"And on the drums, it's...." the moment of truth when you get to play a drum solo. What do you do? We will explore techniques to ensure you don't run out of ideas.
All drummers go through phases of wanting to add to their drum kit, remove items, or just change things around. We will explore kit configurations and see what can be done to alter them.
Many drummers integrate percussion instruments to their kits. Cowbells, agogos, bongos, tambourines, chimes and a whole host of accessories can help to expand your playing. We will experiment with different instruments and their playing positions around the drum kit.
We will also experiment with merging electronic and acoustic drums so you can see what technology can bring to your playing style. This is one of the most exciting aspects of modern drumming and keeps you up to date with contemporary playing styles.
The recording studio can be a heartless place. The positive feedback and energy from performing live is often lost when the time comes to commit it to tape or hard disk. You will be recorded playing to a variety of tracks and then we will analyse your style and technique.
By the end of this module, you will have a range of drumming styles to choose from and be comfortable playing at any tempo. You will be able to improvise with a drum solo or complex groove and be able to include percussive patterns whilst playing a groove. You will be comfortable with the live or recording environment, playing along to click tracks, backing tracks, or with an entire band. You will have explored various drum kit configurations and be familiar with electronics in and around the kit.
Electronics have revolutionised drum kits and changed the way in which drummers think and work. Some agree with them and some don't. I've been using electronic drums since they first hit us in the early 80's and see them as a vital tool for drummers to explore. They've come a long way since the pioneering Simmons kit which had drum heads made of riot shield material!
With hundreds of sounds and drum kit combinations at your fingertips, a modern drummer can now compose and play entire songs on their own.
In the recording studio, drum programming is an essential part of a drummer's capability. Understanding Midi and sequencing is no longer just the job of the keyboard player.
You may want to add a small percussion pad to your existing acoustic drum kit. Or you may want to add drum triggers to your acoustic kit and trigger an external drum module to 'beef' up your sounds. You may even be, or thinking about, upgrading to a full electronic kit. Whatever you are considering, this module is designed to show you what you can achieve with electronics.
It covers the following:
Electronic pads with an acoustic drum kit.
Percussion modules.
Midi communication and sequencer programming.
Pad triggering parameters.
Sampling drums, sounds, music loops and sample triggering.
Electronic drum kits.
The most important thing to remember about an electronic drum kit is to forget that it's a drum kit.
What you have in front of you a series of pads - a blank canvas. These pads can be arranged in any physical configuration that you wish. They can be programmed to make any sound that you wish (via Midi if necessary). You can set the pads out to the left, to the right or behind you if you wish. You can have a bass drum on any foot or hand and change it between songs if you wish. You can even have the sound of a cow mooing, if it takes your fancy!
A flexible playing style is vital for electronic drum kits because the kit is only limited by you. This is the key difference between an acoustic kit and an electronic one. You make the electronic kit what it is...Sure you can make it sound like a drum kit, but you can also make it sound like an entire band with the right connections and programming.
Depending on the lesson options you choose, you can learn on my electronic kit at my home, I can teach you on your electronic kit or I can bring my kit to you.
I will take you through a series of kit configurations and let you explore the sounds that are produced. It is remarkable how it changes your playing and rhythmic perception.
We explore drum loops and you will learn how to programme them. For this we will use sequencing software such as Pro Tools or Logic Audio.
We will produce a variety of music samples and you will learn how to trim and edit them to ensure they loop correctly. Then we will configure the drum kit to play these loops and you will drum along with them.
By the end of this module, you will be familiar with the principles of an electronic drum kit and its components. You will be able to review drum kit configuration and modify settings to change the internal sounds or triggering parameters. You will understanding Midi communications and be able to link a drum pad to an external sound module via Midi. You will be able to programme a drum pattern/loop on a sequencer and also organise drum samples on a sequencer track. You will be able to record a drum loop played live into a sampler and retrigger that loop.