Curriculum - What Sean Teaches

Rudiments - The Foundation

Sean feels that a traditional approach to learning is the best way.  Rudiments are not only the best way to learn how to play the snare drum but to use all around the drum set.  No matter how advanced the drummer becomes, they will admit that the great drum rhythms and “chops” they will have in their repertoire will be a result of the most basic exercises they've learned and practiced.

Technique

Technique isn't about what you play, or how fast you play, or how many rudiments you can put together to be flashy, it is simply how you hit the drums when you play the notes. Not only is technique covered for the hands, but for the feet as well as many times pedal technique gets overlooked when it comes to development at the drum set.

There are many components to good technique: how the sticks are held, how the drum or cymbal is hit, the mechanics and posture that is used while playing. Many develop bad technique that has to be overcome in order to improve as drummers.

Timing

The drummer is the time-keeper of any band. If you can’t keep the time and rhythm, those “killer” fills don’t matter.  Sean insists on practice be done with a metronome until the student can develop and display time-keeping skills.

Coordination

Because the drummer has to be the most coordinated, Sean uses exercises and techniques to help develop limb independence and strengthen the weak side of their body.

Style Comprehensive

Sean feels that the well-rounded drummer should not be limited to any one style of music. He will include different styles in his lessons in order to enhance the student’s knowledge base.

Listening Skills

One of the most important skills that a drummer, or any musician must develop is the ability to listen. Drummers tend to believe that practice is something that is only done with drumsticks in hand, but to become better musicians, serious time and effort has to be put in to the process of understanding the history, ideas and techniques of other drummers. The best way to achieve this is through listening actively.  Special attention to understand what makes a drum part good, the components of a solid groove, how the drummer makes the song and the other musicians sound better, and finally - how this can be applied to our own playing.

Sight Reading

Reading music is fundamental to a well-rounded musical approach.  Many drummers are "ear-trained," only learning to play drums by listening to music and playing to it. While there's nothing wrong with this type of training for the ear, many drummers never learn to read. Thus, for many, a career as a free-lance musician is denied them, particularly in the recording studio.

Drummer / Bassist Interaction

Sean likes to include areas supporting the drummer and bassist relationship and interaction. The drummer should "lock-in" with the bass player to create a solid "groove" as a foundation of a composition.

Summary of Focus:

• Grip and Stick Control
• Technique Development
• Time-Keeping Skills
• Essential Rudiments for the Snare
• Using Rudiments Around the Drum Set
• Coordination and Limb Independence
• Basic and Intermediate Rhythms for the Drum Set
• Basic Sight-Reading
• Playing Musically and Dynamically
• Practice Tips
• Writing quick reference drum charts

Beyond the Basics - Recording the Drum Student

Drum lessons should be more than rudiments, exercises, beats and fills study.  A person that is serious about drumming should insist on learning every aspect of the craft.  From the interaction with the other musicians in large and small combos to session drumming in a recording studio today's drum student should be exposed to all of these things.

There is nothing like the experience of playing live with a band or sitting through a recording session and actually hearing a playback their "product" in the mix. This form of instruction will take the student to the next level.

A lot of times, the drum student doesn't get the “big picture” while they’re playing, so recording a student is a very good way of efficiently getting the point across. During playback of the recorded student, the instructor can present the more subtle aspects of playing such as feel, tone and touch.

When just the mechanics of a pattern or beat are taught the feeling isn't there.  Discussions and demonstrations at length may not get the point across like actually experiencing it through a recording playback. With the instructor's guidance, the student will actually be able to critique themselves.  By adding a way to record a drum student playing along with a music track or with other musicians, it allows the student to hear how they "fit-in" the music.  A single playback can usually take place of several minutes of discussion and demonstrations of the student's strengths and weaknesses.