John Simm.

Teaching drum lessons is, for me, a great joy and a great responsibility. It is a great joy because I get the privileges of passing my knowledge along to my students, of getting to know them, and of watching their growth. It is a great responsibility because, through my teachers, I have been given a very precious gift that I must be careful to pass along safely.

My Teaching Philosophy

I seek to serve my students by teaching them not only how to play, but how to learn. I do not teach "beats and fills" to my students. If that's what a student is after, I'm the wrong teacher. Rather, I teach them how to understand what drumming and rhythm are, so that they can learn things for themselves. I believe that a student's course of study should be clearly planned and directed, with weekly assigned objectives and goals. This eliminates any confusion and wasted time. I want my students to get results, quickly if not easily. I want the skills they earn to last, and to lead them to higher levels of enjoyment and self-expression. I expect a lot of hard work from my students, and I expect their trust, knowing that the things I assign them to do will achieve lasting results in the shortest time.

My Curriculum

I believe that the traditions of the great masters of the instrument are still the best ways to learn the art of drumming. I do not believe in "reinventing the wheel". However, there are modern contributions to the art form that are useful, and I make a point to pass them along to my students also.

Since drumming involves both mind and body, my students spend time on purely mechanical exercises for the limbs as well as on academic rhythm studies, then we combine the two on the drumset.

The techniques that I teach stress the natural movement of the limbs and economy of motion. Drummers need to get the most out of the least effort, with the sticks and pedals doing the majority of the work. I teach my students what to work on to achieve effortless execution of their ideas.

I believe that rhythm is a language, and that a drummer should be conversant and literate in his language. I insist that students learn to read music. I teach them the "grammar" of rhythm and give them the means to increase their "vocabulary".