Drum Lessons

Drum lessons provide students with the chance to live out their rock ‘n’ roll fantasies, while learning lessons about music, rhythm and tuning their fine motor skills. Involved in learning to play any musical instrument, though, is of course plenty of practice, which can get tedious, especially for young students. Keep students on track by injected a little bit of fun into the proceedings.

Instead of just encouraging repetition, help your students see WHY they are learning the things they are learning. Use your drum lessons to discuss different drumming styles for different genres with the students, and help them understand how the skills they are honing become part of the bigger musical picture. Make sure they are exposed to lots of different kinds of drumming and encourage them to see how the basic skills they are practicing will eventually translate into the sounds they hear in their favorite music.

Have your students take an active role in their drum lessons.  Devote one week a month to their favorite music. Encourage them to bring in songs they like for you to hear so you can get an idea of the style of music they are interested in playing. When the student is advanced enough, help them learn how to play along to their favorite songs.

Sometimes it is hard for students taking drum lessons to hear how far their playing has come, and it is hard for them to image how their playing would sound within a band. Join up with teachers of other musical instruments and get the students to work on songs together. This will help everyone get a feel for their progress, increase students’ comfort level with playing in front of other people, and help students learn to focus on their part in a song, without becoming distracted by other players. If a student is serious about taking their playing further, it is an essential skill to develop.

Keep drum lessons fun by incorporating students’ favorite styles of music into their lessons.