New student.....what to do?

This guy is in his 30's and is just starting out. I dont know how much technique to teach a guy who just wants to have fun. With other students i am very mindful of teaching the moeller and push pull. How many weeks and such on technique without teaching beats and different styles? I don't want him to hurt himself, but at the same time, don't want him to get bored and give up you know?

Funky Crêpe said:

This guy is in his 30's and is just starting out. I dont know how much technique to teach a guy who just wants to have fun. With other students i am very mindful of teaching the moeller and push pull. How many weeks and such on technique without teaching beats and different styles? I don't want him to hurt himself, but at the same time, don't want him to get bored and give up you know?

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He's in his 30's, not his 90's, I'm not sure you should worry about it. I started when I was 35 (I still am, this was like 6mons ago). imo just treat him like anyone else, or ask him what he's looking for out of the lessons.

And maybe he's coming to you so he can learn technique WITHOUT hurting himself (which can happen to anyone, regardless of age). If I ever decide to take lessons, this will be why.

This thread made me feel old(er than usual)

Fuo said:

He's in his 30's, not his 90's, I'm not sure you should worry about it. I started when I was 35 (I still am, this was like 6mons ago). imo just treat him like anyone else, or ask him what he's looking for out of the lessons.

And maybe he's coming to you so he can learn technique WITHOUT hurting himself (which can happen to anyone, regardless of age). If I ever decide to take lessons, this will be why.

This thread made me feel old(er than usual)

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No kidding! 30's are old now? Where's that number for the Scooter Store?

Crepe, I would just teach him basic technique; maybe demonstrate a fulcrum, focus on playing relaxed, etc. Moeller, and all that, may be a little intimidating if he's just starting out. At least if you show him proper technique he (hopefully) won't injure himself when he's out 'just having fun' on the kit.

I thought age discrimination happened when you were well into your 50s....

30s is not old. Teach him normal, that's why he's there. If he feels you're treating him different because of his age, he might go off and find another teacher. And he'll have lots of friends to talk about you with

I wasnt saying 30's are old!!! Ganging up on me and what not. its that he said "I only want to have fun" thats where i got that from. Just, if the person is a student with lots of time, i'll expect them to have time to practice and wok a lot on technique, but he has a full days work and travels at the weekend, maybe he wont have time to sit at a pad and do some doubles for a while. Its just that technique can be a REALLY long thing, or something that you are just comfortable with, i just dont know really where to stop you know, it could take months of just technique and little grooves you know.

Hes what you would all, a fully grown man with responsibilities, just wondering how much work he would put into doing mundane stuff. I may seem confused because i have none of these responsibilities.......and i'm not an agist

i say having just fun because he has no real ambition in being as good as he can be you know? Just messing around

Put it this way, he may well just want to have fun......but imagine how much fun he can have if he's taught the basic principles properly.

I'm gonna suggest that if you're prepared to take his money, then the onus is on you to teach him properly. Treat him like any other student initially, and if you need to chop and change to adapt or simplify, then do it as you go along.

Funky Crêpe said:

Hes what you would all, a fully grown man with responsibilities, just wondering how much work he would put into doing mundane stuff. I may seem confused because i have none of these responsibilities.......and i'm not an agist

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If he is intrigued and interested enough to take lessons, I don't think he views drumming as mundane. He is probably very excited to learn how to play the drums.

As the others suggested, treat him like everyone else - he is still a beginner. Spend an ample amount of time on technique and the basics. If I were to guess, I bet that he will appreciate the fundamentals much more than typical middle school beginners do. Not to mention he will probably be able to focus better than a middle schooler as well! All pluses from a teaching perspective!

Hi Man,

I started lessons a bit over a year ago at 37. My initial goal was to play just for fun too but I'm putting a lot more work in now because if I want to play the kind of music I like, I've recognised that I need the skills. Not only that, the more I play, the more hooked I get and the more I want to be good. Your student might get to the same point? I would still teach him all the proper techniques regardless of his aims. My teacher showed me moeller within the first month, just as something in the background to work on. I think technique is massively important, so if he wants to play with any competence, he's gonna need it, otherwise he just won't build skills. I'd be explaining it just like that to him while saying there's no pressure around it if he just wants to bash out slow and simple rhythms. Show him what you got and he can choose if/how he wants to use it. If he's not into it, just keep feeding him ACDC.

Jennygirl said:

Hi Man,

I started lessons a bit over a year ago at 37. My initial goal was to play just for fun too but I'm putting a lot more work in now because if I want to play the kind of music I like, I've recognised that I need the skills. Not only that, the more I play, the more hooked I get and the more I want to be good. Your student might get to the same point? I would still teach him all the proper techniques regardless of his aims. My teacher showed me moeller within the first month, just as something in the background to work on. I think technique is massively important, so if he wants to play with any competence, he's gonna need it, otherwise he just won't build skills. I'd be explaining it just like that to him while saying there's no pressure around it if he just wants to bash out slow and simple rhythms. Show him what you got and he can choose if/how he wants to use it. If he's not into it, just keep feeding him ACDC.

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"Feeding him ACDC"? Is that the lowest common denominator in Australia? That's funny!

Yeah, starting to see the point. He must know about the technique you need for drumming well. Thinking about it, it doesnt take too long to develop some technique. Playing what it can do for you is a good call aswell, saying that technique will get you this.....want to be abl to play like this? Better not embarrass myself if i choose to do thatI

I get it, hes agrown man anyway, he'll tell me if he likes what hes doing.....agan, hes not a kid like the other students! Thanks everyone

Bo Eder said:

"Feeding him ACDC"? Is that the lowest common denominator in Australia? That's funny!

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ehehehe... well no... ACDC are awesome but they have a number of songs that don't stretch the rhythm skills too far - for folks who like a bit of straight hard loud BOOM KA BOOM KA BOOM KA BOOM KA. Now, if it was guitar or vox... that's another matter... Angus Young is a freakoid.

Funky Crêpe said:

Yeah, starting to see the point. He must know about the technique you need for drumming well.

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For sure. I mean.. if he's not willing to learn technique, there's not a lot of point in taking lessons is there? My guess is he'll get the bug and want to learn... or he'll just figure drums aren't for him and leave.

Jen.

I started in my 40's and my first teacher really inspired me with a mix of basic pattens and basic rudiments all the time
asking me what my goals were.

it is about talking and listening to the student and tailoring a mix of lesson that will help them reach their goals.

I end up two years later at music college.

this is what i wrote on my reflection of my first year which may help

http://www.dannysbeat.com/index.php/2010/07/03/drumming-tips-and-holiday

I approach all of my students differently. I first find out what their goals are, if they want to learn some songs quickly, or if they want to play in a band, or if they want to develop a good technique. Granted they all are learning the same thing more or less, but I structure them differently depending on what they want to learn. If they say I want to learn to play an AC/DC song then I say ok here's the beats and fills you will need to know and work on those for a bit and then eventually be able to play along with the song. They may have poor technique by the time they learn the song, but at that point they don't care, and if they want to get more serious then we'll work on better technique later. So I'd try and find out his goals, you said he wanted to have fun. Does this mean learning to play along with songs, or is he wanting to join a band, or does he want to become a good technical drummer. It's probably better to have an older guy because I imagine he'd listen better and practice more than your younger students.