[blevinspercussion]

Alright, fellow drummers, I'm about to embark on a new venture and I need some advice.

I'm about to start a new blog. It's going to be set up in a lessons format, dealing primarily with drum set, but occasionally branching out into other areas of percussion, such as mallet percussion and marching drum line. I am going to offer it as a free resource to help those that may not have access to quality instruction, but I do plan to make money from it through ads and affiliate marketing programs (tastefully added, of course). The only reason that I am justifying putting ads is that I'm going to put a lot of work into this, and I'm going to be using some of my best material; things i normally only teach to paying students. The main reason that I'm doing this is because I'm tired of seeing so much wasted young talent nearly every time I see a new band.

That's where you all come in. What kind of content would you like to see on a blog for drummers and percussionists? Also, keep in mind that I'm planning on have lessons for a variety of skill levels (from beginner to advanced), as well as opinion and advice pieces. Some topics that I'm toying around with are: applying rudiments to the drum set, playing Latin styles (songo, samba, bossa nova, etc), basic grooves (rock ballad, train beat, etc.), profiles of inspirational drummers, career advice (marketing, making a resume, etc)...you get the picture.

What topics would you all like to see covered on such a web site?

Currently, my budget is right around $0, so I'm using a free blogging site and file hosting will be at a minimum (probably nothing at all). The first thing on my to-do list (except for content, that is) is to get my own domain name and web hosting, so I can post sheet music .pdf files and audio/video examples. If anyone knows how I can accomplish this on a free blog hosting site, that would also be appreciated.

I already have a couple of posts, ready to go, but I want to have a couple more in my back pocket before I go live with the site. When I do go live, however, you all will be the first to know!

Thanks!

[dtxtremeiiispecial]

People pay to attend drum shows, and great stuff goes on there. I recently saw Brian Hitt of REO Speedwagon at the Chicago Drum Show. He spent 45 minutes of his hour clinic talking about how he practices. It was great. He filled the rest of the time with a fabulous drum solo.

If you could put videos of drum show drum clinics on your site, I think it would be fabulous.

[rodrigo]

First I want to congratulate you for this great project!
I find a lot of the "free internet" instructions to be a big waste of time because of adds and irrelevant talk. The meat of the instruction is short, too fast paced, and frequently poorly demonstrated (inadequate audio, the sound is not in-sync with the video, etc.).
My advice is to do more playing, less talking, less non-relevant stuff.
Also to have appropiate sequence of lessons would help to kkep things organized for the best learning experience.
Rodrigo