Syllabus

Lessons will be tailored  to your aims and abilities but fall into four main categories:

Foundation

On any instrument it is important to get a solid foundation on which to build, whether you are a complete beginner, or somebody who feels they have never quite grasped the basics. The foundation lessons will give you a good enough understanding of the basic techniques required for you to become an active member of a band.

At this stage it is important to emphasize a musical approach to playing the drums and not get bogged down in more technique than is absolutely necessary.

Foundation includes-

Rock styles including 1/4 note 1/8th note 1/16th note time patterns.

4/4, 3/4 6/8 and 12/8 time signatures.

Shuffle rhythms.

Triplets.

Basic fills.

Groove and Feel

Hand and feet techniques.

Basic Drum Rudiments

Understanding of song structure.

Music Theory.

Tuning Drums.

Playing with backing tracks.

Intermediate

Intermediate includes:

Posture /Grip.

Improving time keeping.

Working with click tracks.

Phrasing.

Snare drum technique and intermediate Rudiments.

Musical styles include Metal, Funk, Reggae, Indie. Blues. Jazz. Latin etc

Co-ordination development.

Reading drum charts.

Appling the rudiments to the kit.

Advanced

Advanced includes:

Odd time signatures

Latin, Afro-Cuban and Brazilian styles.

Beat Displacement

Linear Phrasing

Studio Techniques

4 Way Co-ordination.

Independence Moeller and “Down-Tap-Up” Techniques

Brush Technique

Specialist

Jazz Co-ordination, Independence and Interpretation.

Study material includes – Syncopated Rolls for the Modern Drummer, The Essence of Jazz Drumming by Jim Blackley and Progressive Steps to Syncopation by Ted Reed.  Jazz drumming is a life long study on its own. In these lessons we will investigate the many ways to interoperate the classic syncopation books in a jazz style plus much more.  Jim Blackley played and taught in New York for many years before moving to Toronto. So when I recently toured Canada I decided to track him down for a lesson. He invited me to his home for the day. He spent the time showing me his approach to playing and teaching some of the ideas in his new book THE ESSENCE OF JAZZ DRUMMING.

Big Band reading and interpretation.

Learn how to sight read Big Band charts. Set up and voice phrases with a brass section.

Examinations

Pupils can if they wish take the Rockschool graded exams.