Antonio | Teacher #4830

Teaching Philosophy

The drums have the ability to move people. It is also like a human heart that supplies energy to other musicians. My first Rock & Roll concert was Rush. And I still miss the great Neil Peart. My advocate to all students: 1. Attend as many concerts as possible. Free or a splurge. Justin Bieber or Beyonce, ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers’, Led Zeppelin, The Police, etc. You get to visualize the physical and emotional interaction between the musicians on stage(and if they screw up, they screw up together with a smile on their faces!). 2. Play music around the house as much as possible. Music is both healing and inspiring. Your body actually responds to frequencies. 3. If there are other musicians in the house, then jam with your kids. It is the most rewarding activity for a family to gel. 4. Take your kids to the music store. Going to the music store is still a big toy store to me(and I get good deals because I hop knob with the sales guys!). 5. As a drummer myself, playing to music is THE BEST way to improve on, and enjoy the drum set! They say mimicking is the highest form of flattery. My teaching philosophy is: There are essentially 13 steps of drumming. The drum set is not a melodic instrument. But it is the most important driving force in contemporary music. When people ask me if I teach the drum set, I say, "I teach drummers how to play music." Kick, snare, hi-hat, simple grooves, simple fills. These first 5 steps are the foundation of playing pop or rock music. In other words, my approach is PERFORMANCE BASED. And then there is technique. What is technique? Technique for the drum set is the mastery of manipulating muscle memory to use as little energy as possible, and being able to control your strokes in time without hurting yourself(carpal tunnel, tendonitis, etc.). And finally, drumming has now been unequivocally proven to significantly reduce the chances of dementia. Neuroplasticity in drumming has also helped post concussive and post-stroke patients to regain a significant part of body movement. How about that?