The oppertunity to become a teacher

[-TGP-]

There have been numerous occasions when I have been asked to teach someone drums. There is also an oppertunity to teach at a local music store. I think it would be a great oppertunity to earn some cash and pass on my love of something to someone else.
Problem..
Where would I start?
I don't even know what I would start with, end with.. I mean ive been to my fair share of lessons but I havent been taught the basics in years.
Could anyone on here who teaches give me some tips, ideas, anything to help me out here?

-Scott

[bobby__johnny]

basic rudiments and technique would be a good start.

singles/doubles/paradiddles and such

[-TGP-]

Yeah, but how would I keep a students intrest with that.
I already figured I would start with that stuff.
How would I go about explaining these things.

[Cheungman]

i would start with rhythm. Explaining how music works and such. But it really depends on the level of the student.

[bobby__johnny]

when i first started lessons, the teacher asked me to bring in a few songs that i enjoyed. from there we would pick the drum parts apart and learn the different patterns.

made lessons fun imo. we'd do rudiments/theory for a bit, listen and analyze, then put it into practice by writing it out and playing along by sight

[We_Love_Lime]

I was NEVER taught basic rudiments.
I don't think any of my friends who've taken drumming lessons have been taught them either.

How I started out was with songs I liked, (with easy drum parts).
With stuff like that, it makes them want to play.
Nobody wants to play rudiments.

But as bobby__johnny said, maybe a bit of rudiments wouldn't hurt, but in sort of an interesting way. Like of there's a part on the song that has one, you could stop it, and explain it to them.

[mullets suk]

the main reason it took me couple years to actually start playing drums seriously was because my first teachers (i had 4 in the first year) all did 15 mins of rudiments then 15 mins of set.

the set stuff wasn't fun (straight out of a book) and of course the rudiments made me lose interest.

depending on how old they are, try explaining to them why rudiments are important. my teachers just said "they are the basis of drumming *played paradiddle*

[bobby__johnny]

thats why when you teach rudiments, move it around the kit to make it sound interesting :thumb:

because to a learning drummer, a single stroke roll, and a paradiddle are gonna sound the same on a pad. sure the hand control is different, but all they will hear is a drum roll.

[Harrow]

When you are teaching someone who is totally unfamiliar with the drums it would probably be best to split the lesson up into rudimental playing and fun playing. So for the first part of the lesson teach them about a rudiment, how to practice it and how to apply it. Then for the second part of the lesson you can teach them something fun and easy like a rock beat that any beginner can play, or a simple fill. Once they have a grasp of the basic rudiments you can start the lesson with a warmup like 16 measures of singles/doubles/paradiddles.

[-TGP-]

Should I Invest in a second kit?

[bobby__johnny]

gettign a cheap CB kit with some cymbals would be worth while if your doing it out of your own home.

if your doing it at musicstop, where they would have the conservatory or something like that, they would have their own i would imagine

[-TGP-]

Musicstop is about an hour away, we have a small local store.

I might go stop by and ask if they have space availiable.

[ace76543]

Rudiments don't seem to be very popular with drum teachers. They're boring and can be taught to oneself easily. My teacher says they're ****ing stupid and he'll never touch them.

[billdrum]

The answer, of course, is start with a combination of things. Each lesson should combine study of rudiments or stick control exercises (necessary for building basic coordination and hand speed), working out of a book such as Alfred's Drumset Method (for beginners) or The Encyclopedia Of Groove (for rock drummers who are a bit further along), and listening or song learning. Get some play-along materials for them to jam to such as Groove Essentials, or the Turn It Up & Lay It Down CD's.

Of course Stick Control is also valuable if you orchestrate the exercises around the kit too, as is Syncopation.

Be creative, assess each student's strengths and weaknesses, emphasize the need to practice the mundane things as well as the fun things, and keep them balanced.

[bobby__johnny]

bill's avatar reminds me.

start them on a metronome early :thumb:

[billdrum]

Rudiments don't seem to be very popular with drum teachers. They're boring and can be taught to oneself easily. My teacher says they're ****ing stupid and he'll never touch them.

I don't think you can make a blanket statement like that.

And I am sorry for you that your teacher wouldn't want and expect you to use them as tools to improve your hand coordination and speed, which the study of rudiments is bound to do, let alone giving you more options and ideas when applying them to the kit. I would think you would want and expect more from your teacher.

[ace76543]

I don't think you can make a blanket statement like that.

And I am sorry for you that your teacher wouldn't want and expect you to use them as tools to improve your hand coordination and speed, which the study of rudiments is bound to do, let alone giving you more options and ideas when applying them to the kit. I would think you would want and expect more from your teacher.

He's used them in excersises and stuff, he just doesn't go "and THIS rudiment goes like this." As for the blanket statement, I just just talking about my experience. I know a few people who teach drums, and everyone i've talked to basically says that yes they're important, but they don't want to spend entire classes just learning rudiments. I agree with them. I don't want to sit around for half an hour and try to do certain stick paterns at like 60bpm. It's just not fun. I'll do that at home, and just apply it at practice.

[-TGP-]

Regardless if it's "not fun", it's super important and personally, I feel any teacher should spend hours drilling rudiments into students heads.
Just from playing over the past year ive realized that EVERYTHING you play on the kit is a rudiment, and knowing different sorts can do nothing but increase your playing ability in a small amount of time.

[ace76543]

Can't students drill rudiments into their heads themselves, with GUIDANCE from teachers? "hey, how's this one go?" "like this, now do it for a bit, then go home and practice and i'll give you some excersises for it"

as opposed to

"it goes like this"
"like this?"
"yes, now do it over and over until class is done"

[-TGP-]

Who said anything about doing one rudiment?
Who says they have to sit at a pad for an hour? Why can't they take that rudiment and apply it on the kit, in a fill, in a groove, in an ostinato after some work on the pad?

[ace76543]

Do you get where I'm coming from though?

[-TGP-]

Yes, but that's not what I was arguing against.
Of course they can take it home, and the teacher could give them exercises, but whenever I went to a lesson, I found if I didnt do something enough, I went home and was clueless on how to do it.
What good does that do?
You can't properly practice and it gets you no wheres.

[sLarkin20]

Having any sort of preplanned lesson for anyone besides the basic beginner is pretty useless in my opinion. Not every person signing up for lessons is going to be at the same skill level OR wanting to walk away from lessons learning the same things. For someone to say "Use this book and this book and this book plus rudiments and blah blah blah" for every student is ridiculous. As a teacher you have to find out what it is each individual student wants to learn, take into account their skill level, and tailor each individual lesson for a particular student.

That is just what I think however, and how a teacher goes about that is probably going to be different for each teacher. But I still think the basic idea behind a teacher should be to cater to each students individual needs, not creating one lesson plan from start to finish and using that one with every student you come across.

[ace76543]

I wouldn't doubt if my teacher is on this site somewhere.

>_>

<_<

[Harrow]

I'm required to play a massive amount of rudiments as my warmup exercise for each class, the first 15-20 mins of my 1 hour lesson each week is playing rudiments to a drum machine while playing a pattern with bass/hi hats. I'm honestly AMAZED that there are drum teacher out there that don't teach and make rudiments part of their lessons.

[billdrum]

Again, if you read my posts, lessons (and practice sessions) should be a combination of the fun and the not so fun (read "necessary"). No one is saying you should spend the entire lesson hammering rudiments through someone's head until they pass out. But to say they are a waste of time is ignorant and lazy.

[Damo]

Yeah, but how would I keep a students intrest with that.
I already figured I would start with that stuff.
How would I go about explaining these things.
In all seriousness TGP, I would hold off on the teaching until you can answer those questions.

Teaching is not like playing - Its one thing to know the material yourself, but passing on that knowledge clearly and concisely is an acquired skill that takes many years of practise. The best teachers are communicators, not necessarily great players.

I tell my students to go rent out a movie called the Karate Kid. Its a cheesy, yet awesome flick about a kid that thinks he's getting riped off by having to fix up some old guys house, but as you later learn.... well I wont spoil it for you. But its a brilliant example of how a student cannot always see where the lessons are taking them till they get there - And holding their interest until they get there can be tough!

Take a trip inwards and soul-search for what made this stuff so useful for you once you had learnt it. Use that as inspiration towards a method that you can use when you decide to start teaching.

[Imperial Star]

think back to when you started playing.
I know that I wouldn't have liked to start with rudiments, boring.

My first lesson was learning some fills and beats from Sad But True and that was a lot more fun.

[NUTHA JASON]

i'm afulltimedrum teacher ...

go here for some advice:
http://jasonhorsler.tripod.com/id86.html

[DrummingBen]

I'd suggest to show off a bit when you play for him. Obviously don't play too much, but when I started I loved to see how good my teacher was and aspire to get that good.