Steve is available at three (3) different locations for Drum Lessons:
Crystal Lake, IL (downtown area)
Huntley, IL approximately Rte. 47 & Algonquin Rd.
MOBILE LESSONS ALSO AVAILABLE.
McHenry County College Crystal Lake Illinois. Credited Course Available. Drum Set & or Rudimental Snare.
Six days a week with open times available, and flexibility to fit your schedule.
10:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Weekly bi-weekly and monthly options
Lessons are for Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced Drummers.
Ages usually range from 10 to 80
Steve teaches the following styles:
Rock (Classic and Hard)
Latin
Blues
Jazz
Marching Band
Drum Corps
Some of the things that will be covered, and to remember:
The Brick Wall Theory – This is when the drummer can't improve. He or She is playing the same beats and fills, and would like to learn new ones to IMPROVE.
Learning to read Drum Music and counting are very important in the learning of
Rudiments and Set Playing.
There are two different ways of holding drum sticks: Traditional (Standard) or Snare
Drum grip; or Matched (Rock grip) or Tenor grip.
One of the most important things a Drummer can learn is to listen, whether it's with a
duo, or a 30-piece percussion section.
Accents (play louder, stick twice as high as a regular stroke) are the key in putting feel
to music or playing rudiments correctly.
Keep palms down when playing on one surface or practicing your rudiments with the
Matched Grip.
Keep all fingers wrapped around stick, not tight, not loose, but firm, especially when
beginning to learn to play drums.
When playing Traditional Grip, keep left hand palm up, as if you had a coin in the center, and you don't want it to drop out.
Ninety (90)% of the time, one of these 3 things will be the reason why you are not
playing an exercise or beat correctly:
• Slow down! You're playing too fast. • Counting out loud. If you count in your head, you'll fool yourself.
• Playing all accents, especially when learning Drum Rudiments or new beats
Play in the center of the drum head or pad, with the tips of the sticks as close to each other as possible, at a 45 degree
Make sure you learn ALL the Rudiments you can. Just watch Steve Gadd, Steve
Smith etc. etc. Knowledge is power, & power with out control is worthless.
*Remember, the sticks must come straight up and down. When learning the double stroke
roll, remember the second beat on each hand has an accent on it when playing slowly. As
you speed it up or get faster the accent will naturally disappear. In other words, the faster
you play it, the more the accent is going to even out your roll.
