teacher profile

Personal Statement/Background

My main focus is to prepare you for the type of musical situation you wish to pursue. Primary areas covered are technique, interpretation, reading (as necessary), instrument tuning/care, communication and networking with fellow musicians, goal-setting and more.

My goal is to teach you how to teach yourself along your pursuit. This is because learning music is a lifelong process and it is not my intention to teach you forever, but to help you attain a level at which you have the necessary tools to teach yourself.

Since I own a commercial recording studio, you will have access to professional real-world performance situations. As you advance, I can teach you how to play on recording sessions, work with other session players, play with existing tracks and/or with a click track, and teach you how playing in the studio differs from live performance. There are also opportunities to play with other musicians in a live setting at the studio.

Education

BM, Berklee College of Music, 1986

Texas Tech University, 1982-83

Studies in all styles of western drumset performance including pop, rock, straight ahead jazz, bebop, jazz fusion, and classical concert snare drum. Extensive studies in contemporary music theory, harmony, chart writing, ear training and piano skills. Specialization in music recording/production techniques.

Private drumset studies with Gary Chaffee, Jeff Hamilton, Joe LaBarbera, Peter Erkine, Alan Shinn, Skip Hadden, Alan Dawson, Chuck Flores and many others.