[Seanzzie]

Yea, I completely agree with what is being said, if your not going to put your heart and soul into music, it isnt music, its just a hobby. Music is expressing yourself, your feelings, and your life, some people try and do this before there ready and make horrible, music, then they get made fun of etc. but they will eventually learn, and i'm including myself in that category. and without sufficiant practice and time spent to truly "master" something (although nothing can truly be mastered). And now for my rant. RAP. Rap is destroying america and should be taken out of mainstream music. I dont know what it's like in other countries with rap, but my personal view is that rap is destroying America, it's creating violence and portraying images that we do not want in our culture, now, im not blaming it for everything, but still. And just so im not be a hypocrite here, the music im listening to isnt all 100% pure stuff either, but its not going out directly talking about sex, rape, drugs, and killing either.

[mouse]

And that is a very good attitude Skinslapper, make the most with what you have .

Rock on Seanzzie

[givemethebeat]

The thing aspiring musicians (younger newbies) don't see is the inconsistency, the disappointment and the pitfalls of being a musician. The glamor portrayed by the media is an illusion, and my contribution to the musical community is to assist in breaking the illusion and exposing it for what it really is. Very very hard work.
When a young drummer happens upon my door for tutorial, one of the first lesson he or she will get, is to pull apart and then reassemble the student drum kit. It is a basic 5 piece kit. From this lesson I get to see if they are going to make it or not. Technical ability, musicianship and skill can be taught and practiced. Attitude can be adjusted. Desire comes from within.

[skinslapper]

I gotta say gimmie that sounds like a great way to start drum lessons. You must get a few kids when faced with that just give up and realise they can't be bothered. Better to learn then than later.

[mouse]

That is an excellent and logical way to start a learner off Givemethebeat. By doing that full pull apart, put together, and tune it not only shows interest from the beginner, as well as teaching the correct way before they experiment themselves, it gives an understanding of the instrument and the principles of how each instrument works, set up, and the care and respect required from day one. Would certainly instigate some pride into what the learner is busting themselves to learn before they even crawl. The learner is going to respect the teacher more as that would be an excellent ice breaker getting to know each other, positive stuff.
Gotta be better than page 1 of stick control on the first day which could be a turn off for that kid wanting to be Keith Moon in a week. The next practice when you give them page 1 they will start to realise they have some practicing ahead of them but at least have a grasp and goal ahead to apply the exercises to the kit they just created.

	Ahead Drumsticks Shop for Ahead Drumsticks at Musician's Friend

[UPSTROKE]

Wow--This thread is really pumping out some good info and good vibes.
First of all--Thank You skinslapper for changing the name for me. The other one was stupid.
As usual, GREAT input from Mouse, Givemethebeat,seanzzie and of course Skinslapper.
You guys alone have brought the interest level and the true purpose of this thread up tenfold. It really is nice to see all these great ideas and opinions float around out there.

The Musicworks Company should get a huge Gold star for their efforts to create an environment for musicians to perform. That is certainly the kind of platform we are trying to put together worldwide. I have not seen any National or local music store in any other country come up with a program similar to this.

Here's my suggestion. Go back down to the info from "Mouse" and copy off the article about Musicworld. Photocopy it and take some copies to places like Guitar Center, or other National/ International chains. speak with the manager of that store. Try to get him to approach his corporate people about a similar idea. If all of us do this to the GC managers and other large musical instrument corporations, believe me, the word will go up the chain of command. At the next corporate meeting, we may see some action taken. It certainly is worth a little of our time. Next, take the same photocopy to your favorite music store. Approach the manager with the same information and see what kind of a seed you may have planted in his mind.

We need to be the ones to try to make something happen. It's a good idea for the musical community. It's also a good idea for business, whether the store is large or small. Grab the info, make the copies, go to the music store, and let's see what happens. If several people approach the managers of these various stores, there's a good chance that something will get started. As you make progress, please let all of us know on here. Best of luck.

[givemethebeat]

Lesson number 2: The child student. age 3 to 8. I approach each student as though I know nothing about them and the journey begins.

One day I was struggling with a well above average child. 7 year old boy. First ever lesson. The idea for children at this age to instill good posture, correct technique and make the lesson fun. This student had a high aptitude but very short attention span. Most lessons in this age group start at 30 minutes. Then move to 45 then to 1 hr depending on the speed at which the kids develop.

This day an interesting thing happened. The student could handle all the basics, but what I found about 1/2 through ( this was an hour lesson as his mum wanted to get a full report), he kept converting what I was saying into scenarios and icons that he could identify with. As an example, the felt beater on the kick drum pedal was a marshmellow. The snare drum was a button the cymbal stand was a light pole etc.

So from this perspective I adapted to his comprehension and while still progressing to the final result of the lesson I changed tack.

The ride cymbal became the horn of the car. To hit the kick drum it was the car brake and to hit the snare it was press the button.

The most amazing thing happened. Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep with the right hand, brake on 1 and 3 and yep press the button on 2 and 4.

So heres this 7 year old first lesson playing straight rock beat, in time, with feeling and correct technique.

Anyway, that day I learned a very big lesson from this boy and adopted some of the methods which has gone on to greatly assist in the teaching of young children.

You had a spiderman face paint on and if you ever read this post, you know who you are, I thank you.

[Church Drummer]

This is a great thread, Gimme you've given us a great example about adapting lessons to the students. I also think it's great you start students out with how to take apart and put together and tune the set. The first thing guitar players need to learn before they tackle there first chords is how to change strings, and tune their instruments, but it amazes me that few beginning guitar teachers do that. I've had a couple of students come to me frustrated because they can't get their guitars to sound right, to find out their teacher hasn't taught them to tune, and tunes the guitar for them at their lessons.

The local music scene here isn't anywhere near what it used to be. DJs and Kareoke here like everywhere else have killed the market for live music, both for clubs and weddings. We have another thing to contend with here also. We have the Eastman School of Music which is a great community resourse, but with the wealth of music instructors and students they get a lot of the work that is out there. It has become the practice now when someone needs players for a show they call the college first (one stop shopping).

I've always had a day job, so I've never tried to make a living playing music full time. I got tired of the bar scene, and weddings got to be pretty boring (if I ever have to play the macarena or the chicken dance again, please take me out and shoot me first). Not to mention the older I got the harder it was to go out playing and get up for work the next morning. Being in an Army reserve band until I retired a few years back, also kept me playing and practicing too. So since it has always been more of a part time job / hobbie for me. I practice as much as I can, and take lessens from time to time when things start to get stale. There are opportunities out there for the hobbiest (someone who plays for the love of it, and not for the money), besides playing for church I've played piano and guitar as a solo performer (and sometimes when available I'll put together a small jazz ensemble use a drummer, and bass player, and sometimes a sax or trumpet) for senior centers, nursing homes, I've played in community orchestras, summer festivals, etc. If you love music and just want to get out there and play with and for people you can find ways to do it. At this point I'm just glad that I don't have to rely on music as a source of income. If I pick up enough paying jobs to help defer the cost of strings, heads, sticks, and the occasional instrument upgrade I'm happy!!

[UPSTROKE]

Beautiful story givemethebeat. You obviously handled it in just the right way. You have to be a great teacher.
Churchdrummer, thank you for your input. It's kind of sad to hear how you have to compete for gigs there. I imagine every town around the World has their own unique set of problems in the music business. What I'm trying to get launched here is not providing jobs for every one. Just a place to get together.

The big chains were the first ones I mentioned because they could do it Nationally. Places like Guitar Center, American Music, etc. make space for theirCorporate sponsored greatest guitar player contest, their National Drum-off and other National events. To me it just seems a logical conclusion to put the selling of instruments together with the people that play them. If you sell the musician his instrument and then provide a place one night a week to play with other musicians, I would think you would own that musicians business loyalty and the business of his musician friends. That does not sound like a bad business deal to me. The same rule would certainly apply to local music stores. A great way to take some of the business away from the big guys.

A second step would be to have Guitar clinics one night, Drum clinics one night, Keyboard clinics, vocal lessons, Group nights where proper performance techniques are discussed. How to present a proper show, how to work the audience. On an On. All of these projects bring the music dealer much closer to the music customer. A new way of doing business in the music industry?? Yes. But the building industry has been doing it all over the country for years. Their corporate offices would not continue to hold this type of event if it did not make their bottom line look better.

[Church Drummer]

Upstroke that is a great suggestion to get the music stores, to sponsor events that give players the opportunity to network, jam, compare notes etc. Next time I'm checking things out at the local music shops I'll have to put a bug in the managers ears about that.