Up front: it’s hack teaching, don’t do it. If you already do it, no judgment, just… stop doing it. I’m surprised I’ve let this topic slide this long, the approach is very common, and it […]
Category: teaching
Doctrine
Not a word we use a lot in music, doctrine has a lot of unsavory religious connotations, suggesting bureaucracy, rigidity of thought, and the opposite of creativity in general. Indoctrination, orienting someone to a way […]
Common failings
Or, in YouTube speak: 40 things that are DESTROYING/KILLING/MURDERING/OTHER VIOLENT THING TO your drumming progress OMG!!! [photo of genius youtuber looking non-specifically surprised] Not forty, these are some persistent habits of behavior I see with […]
Bad words
I hope we’re all thinking people who use words deliberately, and not as the common citizenry does: as vibe-based idea-smears. Words shape your concepts, insidiously at times— you try to do a thing based on […]
Snare drum vs. drum set training
The following are some comments I made in a contentious online conversation about snare drum training and drum set training— or playing— and the differences between the two, that I think stand on their own— edited […]
You should get drum lessons from me
Making my periodic public observance that I don’t get enough drum students through this site. I know everybody doesn’t instantly get everything I post on here. And I know people are overloaded with information about […]
16th note reading boot camp
Plotting out an intensive couple of lessons with a younger student, who has been doing extremely well with his playing the past year, but who is deficient reading 16th note rhythms. It’s not unexpected that […]
How to stop – 01
Kind of a mundane item here— a multi-parter, believe it or not— mainly for teachers, about handling ordinary materials in a more real-life musical way, including how to stop in the conversation. Younger students and […]
Teaching in Washington
The drive home— the wilds of central Washington. I was out for a couple of days teaching some kids in the tri-cities area in central Washington state. The people who run the Portland Youth Jazz […]
Garrison soldier / combat soldier
There were four platoons in the company, and of them all, Second Platoon was considered the best-trained and in some ways the worst-disciplined. The platoon had a reputation for producing terrible garrison soldiers— men who […]
Sidebar: mind what you say
Teachers, speaking to students: I know everyone thinks we’re not being heard, but a lot of them are more engaged than we think they are, and a lot of things we say to them, particularly […]
Natural music
Some open ended musing here. Lately I’m getting a lot of accidental music from younger drum students. Like with that “worst drummer ever” video from a few months ago, they naturally do some things that we […]