Good enough to give lessons?

agreed

you absolutely DO NOT want your student teaching you what a "Shirley Murphy" or a "Book Report" is

thats just a bad look

There must be tons uppon tons of drum teachers that do not know what these hybrids are. I think there is little shame in not knowing these hybrid rudiments.

Now if a student asks your what a ratamacue is or a five stroke roll and you draw a blank. That's bad.

My old teacher once had a student come by who spent years in a marching band. Kid could do the nastiest licks with his hands but was hopeless with his feet (which made sense as that was why he came for lessons in the first place).

In other words. Be prepared that students could always be better at an aspect of drumming than you are. There is no shame in this. Just try to teach the things that you are superior in and know when the student is about to surpass the master so you can refer him or her to a more qualified teacher.

My two cents..
 
Yeah I have no idea what those things are. Then again I don't particularly want to teach anyone how to play drums (other than younger children, and only then it will be basic instruction in a fun safe environment).
 
There must be tons uppon tons of drum teachers that do not know what these hybrids are. I think there is little shame in not knowing these hybrid rudiments.

Now if a student asks your what a ratamacue is or a five stroke roll and you draw a blank. That's bad.

My old teacher once had a student come by who spent years in a marching band. Kid could do the nastiest licks with his hands but was hopeless with his feet (which made sense as that was why he came for lessons in the first place).

In other words. Be prepared that students could always be better at an aspect of drumming than you are. There is no shame in this. Just try to teach the things that you are superior in and know when the student is about to surpass the master so you can refer him or her to a more qualified teacher.

My two cents..

I gave those hybrids strictly as an example because I have had students bring them to me and luckily I knew what the were

and I disagree that a student should ever know more in any aspect of drumming than his teacher

if that is ever the case...the student or the students parents did a poor job at selecting the instructor

just my opinion obviously
 
I gave those hybrids strictly as an example because I have had students bring them to me and luckily I knew what the were

and I disagree that a student should ever know more in any aspect of drumming than his teacher

if that is ever the case...the student or the students parents did a poor job at selecting the instructor

just my opinion obviously

What if a hardcore metal drummer wants to learn jazz from a really good jazz drummer. The metal drummer has amazing double bass skills and good all around chops but he swings like a brick. The jazz drummer has no double bass skills whatsoever. Should the metalhead not take lessons from the jazz drummer?

Now I agree that if a student starts to overtake his teacher in several aspects of drumming then It might be wise to refer him or her to another teacher. But for only one aspect..no that would be not enough.
 
Pocket, my apologies!

Thanks Brent, but absolutely not necessary mate. Just glad we're on the same page. I'm not a teacher myself, so like to be very careful if I post on teaching related threads as I'd hate anything I say to be taken the wrong way by a new player and end up being detrimental to their development. Just wanted to clarify in case I'd confused anyone. ;-)

Perhaps ticking off the first 3 of your criteria is something I should before I start tutoring, and then continue to push myself to learn more theory and foundation drumming knowledge, both to pass on and for my own sake. I’m definitely one to take the responsibility very seriously, I’d make sure I’m learning heaps of new shit at the same time and continue to find new exercises and techniques to teach

I think that's the smart move mate. I don't want to stifle your teaching ambition, but I know if I was presenting little Johnny to you as a student, I'd expect you to have a sound grasp of the fundamentals before I handed any money over. I reckon you'll have a greater chance of success if you're a little bit better prepared for the task. No point just taking on absolute beginners, then watching your hard earned walk out the door because they've outgrown you so quickly. Give youself every chance to make a good go of it.

Best of luck. :)
 
Really? I mean, I have my fair share of students who are into that stuff, but it's so challenging to play that fast, and the opportunities to actually play that music for an audience are so rare, that they quickly move on to other things (they don't necessarily stop liking metal, though, they just broaden).

Anyway, I'm hoping the OP realizes that the segment of drummers that wish to only learn metal from someone who isn't a highly regarded professional is too small to be worthwhile (although if Kettles is right, then I may be wrong!). Either way, I hope Obzen has the skills to provide his students with strong fundamentals, so that they can further themselves in any direction they wish!

I should have pointed out, the OP and myself are in the same country. He lives in a city where there are probably already a number of people operating as professional teachers, for lack of a better word. But to start with one or two students and earn a bit of extra cash to supplement the student lifestyle, I'd say he's fine. I wouldn't expect any teacher to go from zero to 30 students overnight. I started with two students for a while and the only stumbling blocks I really came across were things I would have never expected, like the kid who doesn't even know what music he likes or the girl who needs reminding which hand is her left one ;)

High school marching bands are, as far as I know, non existent here. We do have pipe bands, but they have their own instructors anyway. And when I said most young drummers are 'only interested in the metal/punk/hardcore stuff', that swings all the way from Green Day thru to Paramore, into the Rise Against and Blink 182 territory, whatever the current trendy version of metalcore is, and some actual decent real metal too. Kids all love that stuff here. We have the highest number of Tool fans per capita or something, crazy. Metal, hardcore, stoner/doom, and 'indie', would make up the majority of original bands and regular local gigs in NZ.
 
What if a hardcore metal drummer wants to learn jazz from a really good jazz drummer. The metal drummer has amazing double bass skills and good all around chops but he swings like a brick. The jazz drummer has no double bass skills whatsoever. Should the metalhead not take lessons from the jazz drummer?

Now I agree that if a student starts to overtake his teacher in several aspects of drumming then It might be wise to refer him or her to another teacher. But for only one aspect..no that would be not enough.


why would the jazz teacher need to have metal chops if the student is coming to him specifically to learn jazz?

if you are going to a specialist for something specific ....then thats what you get

but an instructor who is not particularly a specialist but a drummer of all styles ....like most should be in this day and age if you want to work consistently as far as live gigs and recording sessions ........then the student should never be above his teacher in any way
 
You should learn your rudiments and brush up on your sheet music reading. These are things you can easily improve upon before taking on a student though. I see some people are giving you the whole " this kid will outplay you" argument. However, I don't see any problem in simply telling a potential student that you think they would benefit more from a different teacher. Just be honest when putting your name out there, don't advertise things you are not confident playing yourself. I read you lesson plan and let me just say this; you'll be surprised how much you will have to adapt that. Students learn at different paces and may come to you with different skill levels, Some students will be able to get through the first half of your list in the first lesson or two. Also, you can't rely on the idea that the student will provide you with a guide as to what to teach, Kids aren't always eager to tell you about the stuff they want to learn, or the type of music they like, probably because they don't know. I have had several students who didn't know who Led Zeppelin was, or even the Beatles. When I ask them what kind of stuff they want to play they give me a blank stare, even when I ask what kinds of bands they listen to they give me a generic answer like, the stuff on the radio. Bottom line, you need to be able to take control of the lesson, you need to be able to have a plethora of knowledge so when your student says they don't know what they want to learn, and they say they are getting bored doing rudiments you can keep it interesting.
 
You should learn your rudiments and brush up on your sheet music reading. These are things you can easily improve upon before taking on a student though. I see some people are giving you the whole " this kid will outplay you" argument. However, I don't see any problem in simply telling a potential student that you think they would benefit more from a different teacher. Just be honest when putting your name out there, don't advertise things you are not confident playing yourself. I read you lesson plan and let me just say this; you'll be surprised how much you will have to adapt that. Students learn at different paces and may come to you with different skill levels, Some students will be able to get through the first half of your list in the first lesson or two. Also, you can't rely on the idea that the student will provide you with a guide as to what to teach, Kids aren't always eager to tell you about the stuff they want to learn, or the type of music they like, probably because they don't know. I have had several students who didn't know who Led Zeppelin was, or even the Beatles. When I ask them what kind of stuff they want to play they give me a blank stare, even when I ask what kinds of bands they listen to they give me a generic answer like, the stuff on the radio. Bottom line, you need to be able to take control of the lesson, you need to be able to have a plethora of knowledge so when your student says they don't know what they want to learn, and they say they are getting bored doing rudiments you can keep it interesting.

could not agree more

you will be surprised at how quickly you burn through curriculum

gotta show them cool ways to apply rudiments to the kit....ya know....make a paradiddle cool....and show the many ways it can be disguised ......6 stroke rolls around the kit.....you can get lots of milage out of that kind of stuff

expose them to different syles of music and the drumming involved.......once and a while the kid will hear something that makes their eyes light up....those are great moments....gotta take advantage of that

introduce the key grooves in rock history
50 ways
when the levy breaks
Honky Tonk Woman
Ebony Jam
Back in Black
Superstition
Walk this way
My Sharona
Cold Sweat
etc etc ....

I always say to my students that we are the athletes of the musician world.....I tell them we are the boxers....the practice pad is our gym and the kit is the ring.....gotta hit the gym on a daily basis so you can perform in the ring

I would also say for younger kids competition is key......set goals with exercises and challenge them to earn points or those silly bracelets or whatever.....it works
 
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Excellent! Thanks for all the advice everyone, I'll be working hard over the next wee while and keeping all your great advice in mind and referring back to this thread and the forum in general.

P.S. the 'lesson plan' was really just a quick brainstorm off the top of my head after being asked for one by a post here. I'll be putting a hell of lot more thought and research into it than I did there.

Other than not having expert foundation theory/rudiment knowledge, everything else comes pretty naturally to me (i.e. developing and nurturing musicality/enthusiasm) I find myself doing that kinda stuff constantly with (beginner musician) friends & strangers in every day life.

I'll keep popping up on this forum with questions as I need to, it's a very helpful resource full of great people! Dedicated drummers tend to be a good sort for the most-part, maybe because it takes strength of character to perservere with it. - whats that got to do with anything? I don't know, It just popped into my head while typing.
 
I would encourage you to teach.

No one person knows everything about the drums. It is the students responsibility to seek a teacher who is right for them. You will have a lot of information to offer all kinds of students, so why not try teaching? The worst that can happen is that they stop taking lessons from you. Furthermore, if a student does come to you and they are skilled, there will still be gaps in their musicianship or theory or technique or dynamics or some other aspect of their playing, and as a good teacher you will be able to notice those gaps and hone their skills.

At the very least, they will like you as a person, and they will bond with you, and it may be worthwhile to them to just come by and talk drums or jam or whatever.
 
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