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Latest News & Views
- Teaching Mallet Percussion in Band Class: A Carefully Planned Program + Appropriate Testing = SuccessSeptember 25, 2019 - 5:28 pm
- Playing and Teaching the Buzz RollOctober 25, 2018 - 12:11 am
- Teaching Percussion Technique: 8 Essential Points for Students and Teachers to RememberOctober 4, 2018 - 7:41 pm
- Beyond the Method Book: How to Engage and Challenge Percussionists in Band ClassSeptember 18, 2018 - 10:10 pm
Get Organized Behind the #Drums with Larnell Lewis [L&M Learning Series C... https://youtu.be/Z3KLjaQBZrI via @YouTube #musiceducation
An excellent lesson on ride cymbal technique from the great Peter Erskine. #MusicEducators and students should take note of his relaxed playing, and how to practise slowly while focusing on time and sound . . . #drumset #jazzdrumming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYSFMeT4LxU
Just notified that November 28 is the last day to watch free stream of Never Too Late: The #DocSeverinsen Story. #trumpet #drums #MusicEducation #jazz #percussion https://watch.showandtell.film/watch/never-too-late-hso/b3809e28-2dd6-11eb-ad95-0fd73ad4e37d?fbclid=IwAR1yf2SdxbcjN9eIbAHQxCSJURm7TYegAVx9JpjY0cKocAPWFTU-n2kJ6Vo
Angela Hewitt plays Bach Goldberg Variations on her new Fazioli from the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/100768-000-A/angela-hewitt-plays-the-goldberg-variations/?fbclid=IwAR0Qsf-yuyFm_nP4Y2Mucd1ljF4gpxg9Fn5F_bG0RJlnbofB0BD8MiVGhdQ
Brilliant . . . with an unexpected ending.
The German Government's new #COVID19 campaign is very clever and, dare I say it, funny.
2 days ago
Get Organized Behind the Drums with Larnell Lewis [L&M Learning Series Clinic]
youtube.com
Figuring out what to practice can be a challenge. Even understanding how to support a song, a moment, or even what kit piece to hit at any particular moment ...1 month ago
3 months ago
Peter Erskine - Ride Cymbal Technique Part 1 - YouTube
www.youtube.com
Being able to smoothly swing a beat on the ride cymbal is an essential skill for any jazz drummer. From the dynamic quality, to the rhythmic placement of each h...4 months ago
Teaching Percussion | Snare Drum | Drum Set | Stewart Hoffman Music
stewarthoffmanmusic.com
Videos on playing and teaching percussion as explained by Stewart Hoffman, author of The Band Teacher"s Percussion Guide: In sights into Playing and Teaching Percussion (Oxford University Press).5 months ago
Teaching Mallet Percussion in Band Class: A Carefully Planned Program + Appropriate Testing = Success
If you’re teaching mallet percussion in high school and have never attempted to sight read music on a mallet instrument, walk over to a xylophone, marimba, glockenspiel or vibraphone right now and try it. Even pianists will be surprised at how difficult it is. With your eyes focused on the music, you can barely see […]
Playing and Teaching the Buzz Roll
A good buzz roll should sound even, seamless, and remain under control at all dynamic levels. The best drummers devote a great deal of their practise time focusing on it. In Playing and Teaching the Buzz Roll – a short video excerpt from my NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) Winter Convention snare drum […]
Teaching Percussion Technique: 8 Essential Points for Students and Teachers to Remember
The development of good percussion technique is not often on the teacher’s or student’s mind during those first weeks or even months of classes. After all, there’s nothing easier than playing a note on a snare drum, xylophone or timpani: any beginner can hold a stick or mallet above a drum head or bar, let […]
Beyond the Method Book: How to Engage and Challenge Percussionists in Band Class
(DOWNLOAD Snare Drum Sticking Patterns here) It’s not easy to engage and challenge percussion students in school band class. Just having them play the method book snare drum part – especially during those first months of classes – won’t do it. Having them work on the snare and mallet exercises in a method book helps […]
Planning Your High School Percussion Program
Summer is winding down and if you’re a high school band teacher, you’ve likely begun to tidy your band room, organize instruments, search out new music and plan programs. But have you taken the time to focus specifically on your high school percussion program? Have you considered whether all your percussionists will be required to […]
Leonard Bernstein’s Centenary: Introducing Genius into the Classroom
I’m always disappointed to discover that my percussion students – and that includes high school music students – have so little knowledge of music beyond pop and maybe some classic rock. I was thinking of this on August 25, the date of what would have been Leonard Bernstein’s centenary. Worldwide celebrations of the event had […]
Finding a Good Drum Teacher (and Identifying Those to Avoid): 5 Points to Follow
What Should a Good Drum Teacher Teach? When parents invest in their children’s music lessons – on piano, trumpet, violin, oboe or whatever – they expect certain basics to be taught. A functional technique is one of them. They would also expect a teacher to relentlessly steer students away from bad habits that inhibit technical […]
Renee Rosnes Quartet at Jazz Bistro: Echoes of Toronto’s Jazz Past
Used to be that Toronto was known as a jazz town. Years ago there was the Town Tavern and the Colonial Tavern – clubs that regularly presented the world’s greatest jazz musicians. As a teenager I heard Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Stan Getz, Gary Burton, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, the Modern Jazz Quartet – the […]
At The University of Delaware: a Jazz Vibes – Ragtime Xylophone Summit
I recently paid a visit to the University of Delaware where Harvey Price, the university’s head of percussion, played host to a pair of extraordinary, week-long series of workshops: the first ever University of Delaware Jazz Vibes Workshop, led by vibist Tony Miceli with guest David Friedman, and the Bob Becker Ragtime Xylophone Institute, which was celebrating its 10th anniversary. Both programs […]
Remembering John Wyre
On March 25th [2007] a memorial concert for percussionist John Wyre was held at Toronto’s Music Gallery. John was a remarkable person and a unique artist who I feel honoured to have known since I was a young percussion student. He passed away on October 31 [2006] at the age of 65 in St. John’s, […]