Lessons

 Manifest Your Musical Visions

Ever have one of those days when you hear your playing, either live or more likely from a recording, and you

think “I really suck!”?  You then get real depressed, start moping and even contemplate quitting?  You’ve just

had an “I really suck” day (an IRSD).  If you  have, congratulations!  Seriously...You have one of the things it

takes to become a great player...a discerning ear. 

If you soon thereafter stopped moping and then started practicing  whatever you needed in order to address

your playing's shortcomings, then you have other qualities, such as resiliency and stick-to-it-iveness, required

to become a great player.

You can never be better than your ear.  IRSDs are days in which your ear has taken a quantum leap.  It has

become more refined and will enable you to take your playing to a new, higher level.  Through practice your

skills will eventually catch back up to your ear.  States of premature bliss and thoughts such as "I have finally

arrived!"  are common at this stage.  But soon, hopefully, this mania is reduced to rubbish as the ear takes

another quantum leap and another IRSD forges its way into your musical psyche.

For the committed, this cycle goes on and on.  IRSDs are a real drag until you see them for what they really

are: the gateways opening to your becoming a better player.  Celebrate them - as painful as they may seem -

then go about the business of refining your practice routine to bring about the improvements your ear is guiding

you to make.

And be thankful you have IRSDs and the wherewithal to exploit their potential positives.  Your eternally average

players never or rarely have IRSDs...It's so much easier to think you're good than to actually become good.

I specialize in working with students who have at least some musical vision for their drumming.  Some of the

areas I pull from in order to build a practice routine that will help you realize your musical vision as compre-

hensively and expediently as possible are:

• Improvisation: Expand your rhythmic vocabulary, effortlessly play what you are hearing;
• Recording: Get your playing to the canvas as you want it to sound;
• Ear Training: Again, you can never be better than your ear;
• Time/Spacing: Solidify your internal clock - fundamental to sounding great in the studio or live;
• Groove/Feel: Make your playing inviting and the perfect compliment for the song;
• Transitions: Flow through transitions effortlessly and with complete control;
• Snare Work: Fundamental to control, touch, dynamics, independence, counterpoint and improvisation;
• Soloing over ostinato (repeating) patterns: Keep the groove going while soloing, be free within control, find a solid and palatable backdrop to any craziness you might be inspired to play;
• Kick Drum: Develop control and multi-strokes (Why settle for only singles and doubles?)
• Hi Hat: You have one - Use it! Play it colorfully without tying up the hands;
• Odd Times: Step into another universe;
• Odd Phrasing: Add great variety to your book, avail yourself to innovative grooves and fills and never get stuck in an improvisational corner again;
• Polyrhythms: Add a whole new palette of colors.
  

RATES 

One hour:                               $45 at my Ventura studio or $50 outcall if in Ventura

45 minutes:                             $35 at my studio or $40 outcall

Every 15 minutes thereafter:     $10

I rarely teach 1/2 hour lessons and only do with children who are less than 8 years old. The bulk of a 45 minute or longer lesson is "what" to practice. The remainder of the lesson is "how" to practice...At this time students practice the "what" of the lesson as they typically would between lessons and are at this time taught such concepts as isolating problem spots and making exercises to address these problem spots. The result is a student who excels quickly as he or she has learned to practice most efficiently and productively.

Recording Session Lessons

Other Services Available:

Rhythm/groove lessons for other instrumentalists - individual or group. Contact me for rates.  

Band Coaching:  Tighten things up rhythmically, arrangement-wise and pitch-wise.  Outcall only. Contact me for rates. 

Check out the drum tracks below recorded at my studio.

Included are brief descriptions of some of the concepts each track embodies at some point or another.

Snare Work  

Improvisation, Rudiments, Control/Touch, Odd Phrasing, Dynamics, Counterpoint

Snare and Toms

 Improvisation, Rudiments, Control/Touch, Odd Phrasing, Dynamics, Counterpoint,Hi Hat Ostinato
 

More Snare and Toms

Control/Touch, R-L-L Triplets

More Kick Drum and Hi Hat Please

Kick Drum Multi-Stroke Grooves, Hi Hat Ostinato

Left-Overs

Left Hand Counterpoint, Hi Hat Independence, Right Hand Independence

Jazz Improv

Up-Tempo Swing and Samba, 1/2 Time Swing Improvisation, Transitions,  Soloing Over Bass Drum and Hi Hat Ostinato, Left Hand Counterpoint,Odd Phrasing, Polyrhythms
 

Keep It Solid

 Spacing, Keeping Tempo through Different Grooves and Fills
 

Keep It Clicking 

Playing to a Click Track, Spacing, Right Hand Independence
 

Seven Times the Fun 

Playing to a Click Track, Odd Times, Hi Hat Ostinato, Kick Drum Multi-Strokes,Left Hand Counterpoint, Four Against Seven, Melodic Triplets 

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