5 Things I Learnt From Teaching Drums.
So I get to teach today which is a welcome activity after a weekend of resting my broken wrist. Luckily I don’t need both hands to teach. I hardly ever play or demonstrate in lessons. I try to make sure the student is playing 80% of the time. These lessons aren’t for me to waffle on about the triumphs and tribulations of playing drums.
This did get me thinking about all the things that I’ve learnt from teaching drums and how I believe it’s not only made me a better drummer but a better listener and communicator. It might sound a bit silly but here are just a few things:
If they don’t understand, it’s your fault and you didn’t explain it properly. This is the main one. I am the teacher/speaker/information giver. If I can’t explain something in its simplest form, then I hardly know it myself. how then can I expect little 8 year old Timmy to understand it?
Never assume they know what you’re talking about. Drums and music in general have a lot of jargon (paradiddle, semiquaver, flam etc). If you use these words on a beginner they’ll never know what you’re talking about.
You don’t need to explain everything. Sometimes less is more. If I’m explaining an idea, they don’t need to understand all the possibilities, rhythmic variations and techniques at the beginning, they just need step 1.
Being yourself is why people return. It’s important to establish a human connection with people, not just Mr Teacher who tells me what to do and then goes home with the student’s money. This is why people return, not just for drums, but for you.
Patience is everything. Some people take 5 minutes to learn a paradiddle, others 5 days. Neither is better.
Now there are probably plenty of other things. And I might do some deep dives into these, but these are the first that came to my head. These apply to everyday life too, not just the lesson room.
As always, I like to keep these short but thank you for reading. Hopefully, it gave you some food for thought.
Until tomorrow.
P.s. Alongside my 1-2-1 Lessons, I am now teaching Online Lessons and the 1 Day Intensive. Share if you know anyone who might be interested.