Advice for Students

Advice for Students and Parents

It’s always exciting to begin drum lessons with a new teacher. RhythmicLee Music Studios will help you reach your goals, whether you’re a beginning who's just learning to play the drums, or you're an experienced drummer who wants to improve a one or more elements of your playing. Here are some tips for drummers of all skill levels.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

Lessons with RhythmicLee teachers will guide your development, but to become proficient you must practice at home between your lessons.

• Practice what you learn in your lessons, and focus on the difficult areas. Repeat those areas slowly, until they become easier to play.
• Practicing a little bit daily is better than a single, long practice session just before your next lesson.
• Improving your talent level on any musical instrument can be difficult, but the rewards are tremendous. If you spend the time patiently practicing, you will improve.

Practice Smart

Occasionally change your at-home practice routines to keep them fun. During practice you should:

• Start with a warm-up routine that gets your muscles warm. Over time your warm-up will become more complex, and advanced warm-ups often evolve into part of a student's awesome drum solo!
• At the end of each lesson, write down your teacher-assigned homework and complete it during your at-home practice. If you have questions about your homework, simply contact your teacher for clarification.
• During your drum practice, improvise (invent) a cool, new beat you’ve never played before. If you like what you created, play it a few more times until you have it memorized, then demonstrate it for your teacher at your next lesson!
• Listen to your favorite music artists on your iPod or other device, analyze the parts played by your instrument, then play along with the music as well as you can.
• Expand your musical horizons. Listen to songs and artists outside of your typical, favorite music styles. If you usually listen to rock, check out some blues. Enjoy jazz? Listen to some Latin.
• Chart out the drum parts of your favorite songs. Ask your teacher for tips on writing drum music.

Know Your Instrument

• When learning to play you don't need top-level drums, cymbals and hardware. But you should avoid low-quality instruments too.  There are plenty of good quality, reasonably priced used drum equipment available, but you should always be wary of damaged or over-priced items. Ask your RhythmicLee teacher for advice.
• Join online discussion groups to learn how others set-up and customize their drumsets.
• Experiment and make improvements to your drumset to make it sound better and to make it fit you better.

Play!

• Seek out, meet up with, and play with similar-level musicians.
• Conduct “jam sessions” with your musical friends, and improve the best songs you create together.
• Challenge yourself to write, arrange and record your own songs.

It's up to you

Remember, we’re all in this together. All music students go through essentially the same learning process. There are few shortcuts. The time and effort you spend practicing (especially working your way through new, difficult areas) will dictate how fast you progress.

Advice for parents of students

A parent's active role in their child's music lessons is important. Some key points include:

• You do NOT have to know how to play your child's instrument.
• You should regularly attend his/her lessons, and watch and listen to them practice at home.
• Ensure your child has a designated time and location to practice.
• Provide them with a quality (but not necessarily expensive) set of drums to play.
• Give your child positive reinforcement (ex: "That sounded wonderful!") and take the time to celebrate their musical accomplishments.

Contact RhythmicLee Music Studios today to get started!