My style of teaching
The first 5 - 10 minutes of the lesson we warm up with a playing along
to a CD. I think itīs important to say that we donīt fix on any style -
it can can be a Rob Zombie hammer, a funk tune by Prince or a jazz ballad
or whatever. Also my students are free to bring along their own CDs for
playing along and analyzing it.
Playing along
give the students a good idea of how to work with a band and also
optimize their timing. And itīs fun too. Usually I donīt make any
concrete suggestions to my students what to play with the play-along.
I just give the basic groove and the rest works by itself. Only from
time to time we analize a special arrangement.
After that we are working on my TERRA DRUMMICA DRUMBOOKS. Working with
notes takes ca. 50% time of the lesson. Then we start improvising, often
related to a special rhythmic idea. Iīve made the experience that itīs
very important
for a student to get used to improvise without any notes. For me it also
seems to be the best way to get the student really connected to the
world of rhythm.
Often a student wants to know what drummer X is playing on song Y.
Then I transcribe it and we work it through. I think itīs important
to introduce my students to other drummers and to avoid pulling my
own style over them.
At the end of the lesson we chill out with some playing along.
Johannes Herb from Frankenried: talented, busy and greedy on drumming.
Andi Nieberle from Frankenried: also talented, busy and also a real drumhead.
About 4-6 times a year we simulate a "studio situation": the student plays along some tracks with a (Dave Weckl) play along and I record this mix of live drums and play along on harddisc. The student can choose between a play along with drums or - more demanding - only with click (plus band). When the recording is finished we listen to it and analyse what was good and what was not so good. We do it in a positive way - we donīt search for every mistake, itīs got to be fun and encouragement. From session to session the student can hear his improvement. Finally the student getīs a CD from this recording session - as a souvenir for later.
Of course this recording session is for volunteers (and - according to my students - should be done every week ;-))