Happy New Year and Welcome to my drum blog for Januaray

I am set up into a new location called The Shop Building at the Bedford stop on the L train. It's is a cool building which plans on opening a coffee cafe and restaurant in the Spring of 2010. Drumming students will be able to wait in an outdoor cafe for their lesson and take in the sites of local Williamsburg.  On the premises are music studios mostly rented by drummers and on a good night you can hear several of us playing and practicing at the same time. The room in which I am teaching is spacious, mood lighting, comfortable with two drum kits and no sound issues so even the most ardent rocker can play full out.

A lot of my teaching for the Rock students is how to play dynamically ie. , learning how to use the sticks, to work more with the flat of the stick, to incorporate methods whereby the student is using power strokes with the least amount of tension, going around the kit with speed and accuracy, breathing and good body psoition (ergonomics) on the kit, reading from text, and honing skills to lead the band into songs. The beginners are learning how to do more than play a beat...but reather how to play in a band with basic skills to start.

I currently teach children, teens and adults of all ages in any style or students can make a special request to study a particular area that they want to develop. I am enjoying my drum instruction immensely and I welcome any questions or comments about the studio.

Please write or call and let me know that you have seen my site and what you would like to see on my page in the future or with any question or feedback.

Forever drumming,

Paula

femaledrummersworkshop@earthlink.net

646-427-5595

Hello and welcome to my blog!

The latest update on my studio change is complete. For the many people that have been inquiring about where the studio will be moving, I have an answer and I am very excited!!!!

I am in the midst of packing up my studio and will be moving to 290 Metropolitan Avenue located at the Bedford stop on the infamous L train. Now almost completely computerized with a few problems here and there. Yes....after 23 years, I am moving my residence and the drum studio. I had no idea how much stuff I have collected and now must make a decision about everything. What to save and what to let go. This is the hardest part about moving. Papers, letters, all sort of objects musicial and otherwise that decisions must be made about. So....I am sorting out the dust from the good stuff and will make my move at the end of November. I will be accepting new students after the Thanksgiving holiday. The new studio will open December 1 and all of us will figure out how the new space flows. I will have have more information for you about the space in December once I am settled in. Please be patient while I go through this transition and again I want to thank all my wonderful students for their extra effort and mad studying and playing and for their support of my teaching and to the music community at large for their support to get me to this point in time ie. to continue my life's work teaching the drum kit to adults and children of all ages. 

Many thanks and have a super Thanksgiving holiday whatever you do!

See you in December!

Paula

themust be diot to musiras of L stop  finally have ainnAfter a couple of decades at my MetrWelcome to another installment of my It's Wednesday night in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and I am just about to tie things up here at the studio to take a little time off. The studio will be closing on August 31st and reopening on September 9th. I have been reflecting on this past year and am quite amazed at the progress and determination of my drumming students.   

I see many students thruout the year. All ages from every description of life. Many of my students are beginners and I find that the students who are most likely to advance are those who have willingness and an open mind and allow themselves to be beginners.

Must one strive to make the drum lesson come out perfect? Perfection is something very elusive and I have yet to meet a drummer who has done anything close to perfect. That is a myth about one's studies. Doing a lesson thoroughly is really the emphasis. Reading over the new material, playing the new material on drum pad and then taking it to the kit. Practice slowly and steady at first. Then increase your speed. Stay with one tempo at a time. If you practice faster and faster, you will teach yourself to speed up when playing with others. 

Practice every day helps refresh the mind and helps press the sticking or drum kits moves to muscle memory. Counting aloud helps enormously when first learning drums. This method of counting helps muscle memory as opposed to counting only in your head. Eventually the counting becomes second nature and feels less invasive in the playing. It becomes our friend, and sometimes we find that we don't have to count at all. It really depends upon what we playing. The lesson well read and well played leads to learning the roots of the instrument. We seek progress rather than perfection. And at the root of all progress is willingness. 

I will take some time this week to reflect and meditate and gather my energy for the year to come. I want to thank all my students for their constant support and inspiration. To the beginners for their struggle to be excellent and to the players for pushing the envelop of questions that drive me to practice and stay sharp on my own playing. Speaking of which....I am in rehearsal with new music... hopefully coming out late Fall or early Winter...maybe sooner. New sounds, new challenges for the stage. I hope folks will come out to see me play drums. Always reinventing myself. Staying in shape. Keeping the hands and feet supple. Moeller system 8ths, 16ths, triplets, rudiments, hand excercises, foot moves, Stick Control, traveling around the kit, fills and grooves, just a few of the things that whirl around in my head every day. I practice on a drum pad and then to the kit. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. I pick up the sticks every day. 

Willingness also means the desire to be great. Go for it and I will write more next week. Thanks for stopping by and have a cool Labor Day weekend. ! 

Your friend and mentor in drumming,

Paula