Updated 18/1/2009

Welcome and Happy New Year!

If you'll indulge me I'm going to use this particular update to have a bit of a rant..... about bad drum teachers. Believe me there are a lot of them out there and I hear some real horror stories from some of my students. One of the more recent examples was from a young 8 year old girl I was teaching at a school. I noticed she was waving and flapping her arms around when she was playing and looking stressed which was unlike her,when I asked her why she'de suddenly changed to playing this way she told me that the drum teacher on the previous weeks band camp had told her that using her wrists and fingers to play drums could give her wrist cancer! Can you believe it? When she told him she'de been shown to use mostly wrist and fingers to control the sticks he told her I was an idiot and didn't know what I was talking about and that he'de been playing the drums since the age of four, I since found out he was only 16 years old. The poor girl was now totally confused due to this ignorance and obvious lack of knowledge. Now,don't get me wrong I'm not under the illusion I'm the only guy who can teach drums correctly,or that there is only one correct way to play,there are many great drum teachers out there but there are also a lot of 'have a go heroes' aswell who will happily take your money and give you nothing but bad advise in return. Remember just because a guy can bash out a rock beat doesn't mean he can teach you the correct methods to gain the technique required to play in a controlled and relaxed manner. This industry is not regulated so please be carefull when choosing a drum tutor as it could mean the difference between a lifelong passion for the instrument or a drum kit gathering dust after a few short weeks. Do some research,ask them if they have some sort of music qualification,what playing experience do they have,are they semi pro or professional? Just because you can find a drum teacher closer to you doesn't mean it's necesarily going to be the right choice for you. If possible try out a couple and go with your instincts. As you can probably tell this subject really winds me up but I feel much better now,thanks.

Nowadays there is just so much information out there, a lot of it available for free on drums and drumming and how to play, it's almost overwhelming. Why bother paying to go and visit a drum tutor when you can find all the information you need for free?

Well,teaching yourself to play is perfectly ok for some people,I am mostly self taught and I'm doing ok,though I later had to go back and correct many bad habits I'de 'taught myself' which manifested in not being able to play 'what I was hearing' through poor technique. Sure,videos can show you what you need to know but it's actually very difficult to analyze what your body is doing when you're having to concentrate so hard on just trying to do it!and the guy on the video is not going to be talking you through and correcting you as you go. A drum teacher can also really help to increase motivation buy setting goals and acting as a mentor during the flat learning periods which everyone goes through. As you're playing advances he's someone you can bounce ideas off and help prepare you for performances. So,before splashing out on that 'learn drums in 10 minutes flat' video I recommend getting an introduction to drumming from a professional and get a really good start even if you decide to go your own way after a few lessons,at least then you'll know you're on the right track.

As usual the Christmas and new year period is a very busy time for musos, lots of party gigs happening with the Blues Brothers,After Party Band amongst others. Looking forward to working on some original music in the new year with some collaborations over the net from as far away as France and some local Sydney talent,watch this space....

As always feel free to mail me with any drumming / music related questions.
If you manage to get along to one of my gigs come and say hi. thanks again for
visiting. Bye for now.