Giving my first formal lesson

[drummerchick435]

Last week at a fund-raiser for my church's youth ministry, I sold a thirty minute intro drum lesson. I'm just giving one...I wasn't allowed to give more than one. What should I teach? Should I teach the little kid ,who bought the lesson, what he wants to learn or needs to learn first? I want him to think that drumming is fun but I want him to learn something serious too.

[NUTHA JASON]

just teaching him the simplest beat and perhaps getting him to play it to a song on a cd should get both goals in one.

here's one. teach him to drum 'we will rock you.'

see also the thread in the archive on teaching drums. lots of helpful stuff there.

j

[TonyAMOF]

I agree with Jason. And I also know that a topic like this will produce a billion posts. However, my 2 cents......What I am finding is the "old school" method of instruction is taking the feel and emotion right out of the instrument. Too much emphasis has been placed on reading music and perfecting rudiments. It is very true you cannot become a great drummer without those fundamentals yet kids today need to feel a sense of accomplishment first. They need to see progress right away or they may become overwhelmed and quit. I have four kids of my own and have seen this happen. They need to feel like they are able to do it! Then you can take their excitement and begin implementing the rudiments.

The we will rock you is great starter. 4 on the floor is another cool beginner beat.

[anp27]

Last week at a fund-raiser for my church's youth ministry, I sold a thirty minute intro drum lesson. I'm just giving one...I wasn't allowed to give more than one. What should I teach? Should I teach the little kid ,who bought the lesson, what he wants to learn or needs to learn first? I want him to think that drumming is fun but I want him to learn something serious too.

I think the first (and most important) thing you need to do during the lesson is check the student's grip, how he or she holds the sticks. Correct technique starts from the grip. Also check the student's posture.
Then you should teach the proper technique of making the stroke, using rebound instead of playing 'into' the drum. Instill the importance of producing musical 'tone', rather than just bashing on the drums.
To make things a little more interesting, and depending on the student's playing level, bring along some 'drumless' tracks. This way, you can teach the importance of time-keeping while allowing the student to have fun at the drums. I'm not sure how you're going to fit all of that into a thirty minute lesson, though.. but I'm sure you'll figure out how.

I'm a female drummer too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5WkRHFm5Tk

[NUTHA JASON]

yes tony, give them enough initial inspiration and they will be prepared to put the perspiration in themselves.

j

[NUTHA JASON]

I think the first (and most important) thing you need to do during the lesson is check the student's grip, how he or she holds the sticks. Correct technique starts from the grip. Also check the student's posture.
Then you should teach the proper technique of making the stroke, using rebound instead of playing 'into' the drum. Instill the importance of producing musical 'tone', rather than just bashing on the drums.
To make things a little more interesting, and depending on the student's playing level, bring along some 'drumless' tracks. This way, you can teach the importance of time-keeping while allowing the student to have fun at the drums. I'm not sure how you're going to fit all of that into a thirty minute lesson, though.. but I'm sure you'll figure out how.

these are all good ideas but way too much and too technical for an initial lesson ofonly 30 minutes. if the kid has decent co-ordination you may get them hittting the hihat 1234 and the bass on the 1 and the snare on the 3.

be very careful not to overload. even be prepared to overlook bad technique for the first few lessons.

j

[drummerchick435]

I think to get the kid in good spirits first I'll teach him "We will rock you" then maybe something basic.

Edit: anp: nice to see another "drummer chick" on here and cool vid. Nice groove and pocket.

[bballdrummer34]

[QUOTE=NUTHA JASON;304212 even be prepared to overlook bad technique for the first few lessons.

j[/QUOTE]

very good point. You'll stuck in a hard place if you over do that to begin with.

[OldHippy]

It's like the introductory flying lesson I took one time. Go up on a nice day, see what the world looks like, fly over your house, and hold the wheel and make a couple of simple turns. The whole point was to make you go nuts and sign up for real lessons, where you would then learn all about technique and regulations. Just show the kid a simple rock and roll beat and then let him bang around on the drums. Don't tell him yet about how much work it is.

[Drummer Karl]

Well, the first thing I did with my student was to speak with him, to build up a good base. Get to know his character, his personality, what he likes, what he dislikes. From the pure musical aspect, I first showed him how to USE a stick, that means: Making clear that a stick is worth the money and that it is hard to find the right stick with some drumming experience. Then those technical things like: Where is my balance point? How can I find it? How do I hold the stick and how do I hit.
All those technical aspects...I think it is really important to do that first (rudiments, notes, reading etc.)...though it is so important to show them the fun of drumming, using the kit, laying down a groove being creative on the kit with what you have learned.

It is difficult what to do in just one lesson I think. If it is his/her first lesson, show him/her that fun side. Show him a groove but also that you need discipline to reach goals. Make clear that drums are beautiful instruments, an art like every musical instrument and so much in life.

Karl

[Auger]

Yeah, IMO on a first lesson you should be spending a substantial amount of time on “this is how you hold the sticks.”

In think that teaching drums is like playing drums -anyone can do it, but it's really difficult to do it well. One of the things that I think makes a truly good teacher is the ability to get a student, especially a beginner, heavily into the basics and 'nuts and bolts' stuff without squelching their inspiration and love of music or overwhelming them. This is not easy. Even the best teachers don't have success with every student at the beginner level. But, also like playing the drums, you won't ever be able to be a good teacher if you don't work at it by trying to teach reading and the basics while still maintaining enthusiasm.

I'm not saying teachers shouldn't try to make lessons fun or incorporate beats or recognizable tunes early on -that’s part of playing the instrument. But, I also think teachers definitely shouldn't exclude things like rudiments and reading music or 'the basics' either, or make the assumption that their student isn’t interested in learning that aspect of playing -that’s not a decision you should be making for them. Reading especially is the type of thing that, the longer you wait to begin learning it, the harder it will become to learn, so by not teaching reading early on, you can actually be hurting a student's future potential.

Anyway, I was just speaking in general about teaching and not so much specifically about drummerchicks’ first teaching gig. It’s hard to give much advice without knowing more details, but I’d say, whatever route you take, good luck!

[d.c.drummer]

I agree with Nutha. If you can convince the tyke that he could make it in a real band playing something siimple, hell go bannanas.

[NUTHA JASON]

thanks DC
it's kind of like teaching someone to fly fish. you could take them to a trout infested stocked pond, give them a rod and stand with them until they get a bite ... and they themselves in all the following excitement become hooked for life into fishing so to speak.

or you could insist that they make their own flies, practice in the back yard trying to land the fly in an old tire and when on the first real fishing trip they must fish in a river where bites are hard to get. yes they will be getting into the real deal but how many young potential fishermen will even get past making their own flies?

j

[crazyhorse]

You guys need to keep in mind that the question you should be answering isn't "What do you do in a first lesson?" and that it's really "If you only had one lesson to inspire someone... what would you do?"

If it goes well... try to talk to your parents about how exciting it was and see if they'll let you teach him again. If his parents are OK with shelling out a little money it's a great way for you to save up for more drum goodies.

I'm teaching an 11 year old now and that lesson essentially pays for the lessons I'm taking in return. I may pick up some more students when I've got more time but I really do enjoy teaching something that I love.

[drummerchick435]

Thanks ,everyone. I'm so excited to teach!

[Class A Drummer]

I would suggest first getting him to do some singles with you. Then Show him how to do doubles (ive learned a great way to teach doubles because i have had to do it so many times which i can help you out with if you need.). Then after you do a little bit of that, get him goin in the basic rock groove. Although if i ever gave a first lesson i would only do a little bit of drum set grooves in the first lesson, like in the last 5-10 mins just so he has some more fun, because it is important to make sure he is able to get the basics down and able to practice them. Also, it is important to help them with reading music. Reading is a biggy.

[NUTHA JASON]

all in half an hour??

[Auger]

From what I can remember, classA, that's almost exactly how my first lesson went back in the day, and it was also a half hour. I didn't start doubles on the first day, but letting the sticks rebound to get many bounces -no specific number of times and not hand to hand, so first for a while with the right hand, then the left ...etc. Then, as that go better, after a lesson or two (can't remember exactly) it went to catching the stick on the second bounce. Then it went to doing this once hand to hand slowly on the lesson after that. ...etc ...etc.

Although he was quite an accomplished drummer, the guy specialized in teaching beginners (still does at the same music store, actually. I talk to him now and again and he doesn't really take advanced students)

We started with "this is how you hold the sticks" then "this is how you hit the drum" -it was the free stroke, but he didn't bother with that sort of descriptive detail, he just showed me how to do it. This is all on a practice pad, too. Then some singles, as you said, but not alternating, just one hand at a time for a while. And he laid the foundations for reading: had me get a book before the lesson -I think it was the buddy rich snare drum book- that had a chart showing the basic notes and rests and quickly explained them, but in a "don't worry if this is too much for now-we'll come back to it -I just wanted you to see it and start thinking about it" sort of way, and then just focused on explaining the quarter note and how to count it. Then he wrote out a practice assignment of playing quarter notes as we had practiced, one hand at a time.

Then, for the last few minutes of the lesson, we did what he called "basic beat #1" which was just quarters on the hihats and bass drum together and snare on two and four. He showed me, wrote it out, and let me try.

By the end of the lesson, I couldn't really do any of the stuff he taught me, but I knew what I needed to work on for next time. It was all terribly exciting too -legit stuff doesn't have to be boring!! In fact, it was exciting to the tune of me still remembering it pretty well about 17 years later! Unfortunately, I quit taking lessons after a few months for school sports, but he gave me a solid foundation that served me well up until I started studying again about three years ago, when I really started learning to read as well. I've had teachers intermittently several times in between for similar periods of time, but the basics he taught me are really what propelled me off on the right foot. If I hadn't had those first few months of lessons, I wouldn't have been able to play half the stuff I was able to play in the sound clips I posted here a while back, which were from just before I started studying seriously again.

[bballdrummer34]

all in half an hour??

I second that statement.

[xMrJeffx]

well im sure u already did this but if u do it again! i can give u some advice

1. Becarful about the age! because the younger they are the harder they are to teach and they dont know jazz kinda stuff...and they dont have as strong legs as u probably do...
so they cant do alot of hi-hat stuff

2. The 1ST THING YOU SHOULD DO! is talk to them get to know them a little and ask what they know...have them play for like 5 mins. so u can see and observe what they do and know...THEN B4 You get into all of the big stuff....2 Words....WARM UP!
Otherwise there hands/arms will start to hurt...

3. Go over rudiments (Paradiddles, Flams, Single Stroke Roll, Double Stroke Roll, Flam Paradiddles etc.)

4. Give them subjestions for music to listen to...Be sure it's normal APPROPRIOT MUSIC! Not like Slipknot, KoRn etc.

5. And The Most Important One Out Of All These....HAVE FUN!

God Bless!

Jeff

[burnthehero]

Young kid?

One lesson?

30 minutes?

Yeah, just let him do whatever he wants.