Those Who Can, Teach.

We're all students.

Irrespective of the number of playing years clocked up (I was regularly picking up the sticks by age 2 so I can now justifiably claim to have been playing for 51 years) or the amount of experience we have gained every serious drummer is at some stage of the lifelong quest for self-improvement. Just two weeks ago I stumbled across a better solution to certain functions of the traditional left hand grip (preview here). Still working at it, still looking for ways to improve and broaden my range as a musician.

I was fortunate that I grew up in a household where drums and music (especially but not exclusively jazz) were part of everyday life, and from a very early age I could not help but become aware of the then contemporary achievements of some of the greatest drummers ever to walk the earth. Before or since.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have that kind of a head start and within a very few years I had taught myself to teach myself, and I remain very much the autodidact to this day. I was able to do this because of having my Dad on hand to answer my questions, show me things from time to time, and take me out on gigs where I could sit in with musicians in their 30's 40's and 50's, which helped me to develop a relatively mature sound and approach for someone in his early teens. Some people grow up around wealth and privilege or in families with impeccable music industry connections. I wouldn't swap my start in life for either of the above.


Back then resources were limited by today's standards. Most of the drum tutor books we had at home (and thank goodness for them) had been written in the 40's and 50's, some earlier still.  Amongst them were a couple of classics such as Stick Control and the Jim Chapin independence book together with a lot of very old school instruction methods aimed at the 'dance band' drummer. Ironically a great deal of this material feels more relevant today than it did in the 70's, but as far as good study material dealing with the contemporary music trends of the time was concerned there wasn't a whole lot of choice and such as there was could be very difficult to source. I can remember my Dad trying for ages to get hold of a copy of Charlie Dowd's 'Funky Primer' without success.

The raising of the standard of playing of the 'average' drummer makes him or her unrecognisable from when I was starting out several decades ago. The explosion of the internet with its easy access to tutorial videos (some good, some not so) and the expansion of music colleges, drum camps, festivals, clinics, masterclasses plus the availability of good, knowledgeable and experienced private teachers means there has never been a better time to learn to play.

So the big question is should the aspiring player take lessons? The simple answer is yes, and you don't need to look very far in order to find yourself a teacher. Ask your local music dealer, or find out who the instrumental teachers are in nearby schools. That way you have a reasonable guarantee of sourcing a tutor with the right kind of skill and experience.

Recently I participated in a nationwide event coordinated by the charity Music for All. Learn to Play Day was rolled out across the entire UK and provided an opportunity for the Great British Public to get hands on with musical instruments, in many cases for the first time. Greater access to developing musical talent, even if only for one's own pleasure, with friends, family or the local community would make us a more civilised and enlightened society.

How I started teaching.

A simple fact of life is that if you are demonstrably good at something, someone is going to want to know how you do it, and if can you help them to do it too.

Simple as that.

By my late teens, mostly due to a rainy summer and a copy of the Stick Control book I had developed a formidable and impressive facility on the drums. Complete maturity and all-round musicality were still a way off but nevertheless I was gathering a good deal of favourable attention which led to inevitable requests for guidance. A number of young and not so young local players were my first students and though I had limited knowledge as compared to today I was able to identify areas of weakness and suggest improvements.
That was followed in by a stint in a comprehensive school in Atherstone, Warwickshire, covering for a fellow player who was on a national tour. This was my first taste of organised class tuition and in 1995 I branched out into higher education with Musicians Institute, London E1 later followed by 10 years at the renowned Drumtech school in Acton.


Why I teach now.

A little over a year ago I returned to private teaching for the first time in a number of years. There is such a buzz from seeing somebody really progressing and feeling inspired about self-development. Part of the year I teach at the London Centre of Contemporary Music, but following on from an extremely well-received series of videos for Rhythm Magazine I found myself inundated with requests for lessons, so I set up regular slots at Bell Percussion in Acton, West London.

Teaching should not be a consolation prize, just occasionally it is mistaken for an alternative career path for those who never quite got the performing career they were after. If you aspire to teach be honest with yourself and make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.

What a good drum teacher could and should do for you:

Inspire

Correct ingrained bad habits.

Direct you towards genres of music and playing styles of which you were not previously aware.

Be available in between lessons to answer questions and clarify any issues arising from lesson content. Do be patient and reasonable though as we have lives too!!

Encourage you to set your standards as high as possible and stimulate a creative approach to musical development.

Most of all a good teacher will be honest. A good teacher will help you set realistic goals and give you constructive feedback on your progress. (This may be slightly painful from time to time!) We all learn new material at a different rate; we have different aptitudes and talents and we all have different calls upon our time and money, all of which are pivotal to pursuing a course of study.

What a good drum tutor will not do;

Tell you that there is 'only one way' to do anything. There are almost as many approaches as there are teachers! There are no absolutes in any of this, only alternatives. Some approaches work better for some people than others. That's just the way it is. Even if your best drum buddy achieved massive improvement with a particular teacher that does not guarantee that said teacher will have the same effect upon you.

Crticise his fellow musicians/teachers.

Give you 'four beats to learn for next time' lessons unless you are an absolute beginner, and even then you should be moving away from that within a relatively short space of time.

Give you an 'off the shelf' drum lesson that does not in any way reflect your specific needs.

Set you a practice assignment without explaining what its purpose is.

Spend an entire lesson making you repeat the same exercise. You don't need to pay somebody to watch you practice. Do that at home. Don't take another lesson until you are ready otherwise you are wasting the tutor's time and your money.

What no drum tutor can do for you;

Work miracles. Although a pair of sticks in the right hands can have the power of magic wands we cannot do the impossible. There are no quick fixes. Irrespective of how big the teacher's profile and how expensive the lesson no tutor can do the work for you. They have done the work for themselves, that is how they got to where they are and they will point you in the right direction. That said it's important to retain realistic expectations and don't expect to improve just by osmosis alone. Undeniably being in the presence of an expert player has its benefits but the bottom line is the work has to come from you.

Also, it's important to be prepared for taking a lesson. Have a wish list of points you would like to cover. Why are you studying? What are your goals? Where do you want to be this time next year? How will your lessons help you achieve these goals? Just occasionally I have seen that crestfallen look on a student's face when they have realised that I am not a mind reader. You wouldn't go to the doctor and expect them to guess what's wrong with you would you?

Also, just because someone is a great player or used to be in a famous band does not guarantee that will have the necessary patience and communication skills to work with aspiring and improving players.

Get you gigs. Don't seek out a leading tutor as a means of an 'open sesame' into the upper echelons of the music business. If you are hardworking, conscientious and committed it's always a possibility that in the right circumstances your tutor might recommend you for a gig. A good tutor will vouch for you however; whether it be for a playing situation, a college application or a teaching post. References are a pleasure, but the days when Max Abrams had a hotline to Geraldo's Navy (Google it!!) are long gone.

This is by no means a self advertisement but I do recommend that any ambitious player has a little formal tuition. An hour in the company of an expert can correct years of bad habits or send you on the road to improvement by the shortest possible route. Take a trial lesson with a couple of different tutors and see who best meets your needs. We all have different approaches and what suits one student may not be quite the right thing for another.

If you'd like to know more about private lessons, clinics and master classes you can email me at this address.


Incidentally before anyone mentions it, the Charlie Dowd book is available on Amazon from as little as £1.08 at the time of writing.