During this semester, I have given drum lessons to multiple students of different abilities. In this essay I will chronologically explain my rationale behind my teaching methods and how these differed between students as a result of their level of ability and their prior musical knowledge. The students I taught were a bassist, classical guitarist and a drummer. As The Cross-Eyed Pianist (2016) suggests ”there is no “one size fits all” approach to music teaching”. This idea is shared by Frances Wilson (2024) in an article titled ‘For the Love of Music’ where they state ”Every student is unique, with distinct musical tastes and preferences… Customise your teaching to suit each student” (Wilson, 2024).
Lesson Plan:
Lesson Intro
During this teaching process I have found the first five minutes or so is one of the most important parts of the lesson.
I always begin my lessons with a brief chat (approximately 5 minutes) with the student. I have found this part of the lesson is one of the most important. Firstly, my intention is to break the ice with the student and have a genuine human catch up with them. This is not specifically related to practice but can be anything they choose to tell me. I found this extremely useful and important in developing a relationship on a more personal level with the student which aided the lessons by making them feel comfortable. I found this very useful in reducing the tension created by a formal lesson setting. The most important thing I maintained is to simply speak to the student in a relaxed and friendly way. I observed that if I spoke to a student in a conversational manner rather that like a lecture, they seemed to be disarmed immediately and the lesson would feel relaxed, this became easier with each lesson I gave each student. As part of an online course from Future Learn working with The Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) they teach that building good rapport with your students can increase motivation, comfort, quality and enhance communication. I wanted to benefit from this.
As seen in the video above, I would ask the student about their practice from the time in-between lessons. I was interested to find out what specific elements of our last lesson they have worked on. If they have any questions about their practice I encourage them to ask me and I try to give them a safe space to ask for help. It is important to me to make sure the student knows that just because we already covered a certain topic, they can still ask for help if they are unsure and I want to avoid making them feel bad for not remembering. I do my best to make the lesson feel like a safe space for learning, rather a pressured environment of constant assessment, simply through positive mannerisms and reminding the student to ask me any questions they have. If the pupil is unsure of something and feels like they can’t talk to me about it, they may not be able to practise it and therefore stunt their progression on the instrument. The Cross-eyed Pianist (2016) highlights that students can feel the need to please their teacher and this can intimidate them. I want to avoid this.
Next I briefly explain what activities I have planned for the lesson and why these are useful. Then I take the student through a quick stretch and warm up to get blood flowing round their body. In early lessons in the progression of my students, this warm up included stretching their forearms and wrists properly, as well as allowing them to play around the kit for a minute or so to warm their body up. I have gone in depth on warm up methods as a main topic for a lesson with one student, however in a thirty minute lesson there is not time for a full warm up. Nevertheless, I think it is very important for my pupils to know how to properly warm up during their own practice, hence I took the time to teach one pupil effective warm up methods. I explain to each student the reasons why neglecting a proper warm up can be dangerous and lead to injury.
Upon reflection, I found my approach to the start of each lesson to be extremely effective. I have built up a good relationship with my students and seem to have made them feel relaxed and have fun in my lessons. I found that giving them a dedicated time for them to ask me any questions proved useful as it showed to them that I cared about their progress. On the contrary, I could have used some of this time to have my student do a starter activity to flow into the main part the lesson lesson. This would have included more practical activity and possibly allow me to structure the lesson slightly better while covering a broad topic. I could ‘ease’ the student into the lesson. However, I value the catch up/questions time more as a result of the way I have been taught and the way I prefer to learn. If the student had no questions, and not much they wanted to talk about, we would move straight into the main part of the lesson, however I always made the time for it incase they wanted it.
Main Lesson
Throughout lessons I have used certain teaching techniques to explain methods and principles to my students. As a form of accelerated learning, I used multisensory learning through different analogies and exercises to demonstrate techniques and sound varieties on the kit. An article from the University of Oxford (2023) states that learning through engaging multiple senses improves memory. Wherever I could, I also made connections between techniques on the drums and my students’ first instrument to relate to topics they already understood.
In a first lesson with one of my students, we were discussing different hand positions and techniques of holding drumsticks. I was explaining the difference between French grip (thumb on top) and German grip (hand on top) and the benefits of using each of these techniques. I explained that the German grip is favoured for using a technique called the Moeller Method (Moeller, 1965) and I used multisensory learning to describe feeling a string pulling up on the top of the students wrist so that their wrist becomes the highest point in their ’swan neck’ flowing motion. This explanation seemed to help the student understand the motion and flow of the Moeller Method. In terms of linear progression of this student, the Moeller Method is too advanced for the first lesson. I deduced that I needed to re-structure some of his technique before continuing onto more advanced techniques. I explained to him that the teachings of the Moeller Method would be the topic of a future lesson in more detail, but to for now bear in mind the string analogy to instate good technique.
In a later lesson with this student, I focussed a full lesson on technique, rudiments and warm ups on a practice pad. I made sure to explain what a practice pad is and what the benefits and uses are of using one. However I asked the student if he knew what it was first and then explained more after he told me what he already know. This allowed me to not only find some more of the surrounding knowledge of playing the drum he already knew, but also gave me an opportunity to praise him for what knowledge he had. I will discuss my teaching relationship with praise in further detail later on in this evaluation. After discussing the practice pad with him, I linked back to the previous lesson where I introduced the idea of the Moeller Method and explained that in this lesson we would be focussing on this mainly. Again I explained the flowing, swan neck like motion of their arm and reminded the student of the imaginary string pulling their wrist. This repetition in my teaching seemed to work as the student remembered the wrist-string analogy from the first lesson. As well as this, I taught the student to vocalise the word ‘triplet’ in three sections as ‘trip-a-let’. This is another form of multisensory learning which is meant to solidify the rhythm of the main strokes of the Moeller Method. Throughout the lesson I would often remind him to ‘remember the string’ and he immediately knew what I meant. This multisensory learning technique made a fairly complex drumming technique into an easy to remember sensation that seemed to greatly help the student.
In the above video I asked the student if he knew what a rudiment is, he related them to scales that as a bass player he understand. I then explained that rudiments are simply blocks of notes with specific ‘stickings’ referred to as right (R) and left (L). Much like the idea of rudiments, he related ‘stickings’ to fingerings that he uses on the bass. The idea of comparing what I was teaching him on the drums to what he already knew on the bass was something I wanted to encourage.
In this video, I am showing the student a rudiment called a paradiddle. I played the pattern for him and demonstrated which notes were accented, allowing him to hear the different note volumes, then showing him now to notate it. This is a sound before symbol approach. Jennifer Ausman (2022) discusses how a sound before symbol approach develops musicianship rather than creating note reading ”button-pushers” Ausman (2022). When the student felt comfortable to try the pattern, I would play it along with him, then finally let him play it on his own instructing him to vocalise the sticking (Rlrr, Lrll) while playing it as a form of multisensory learning to secure the sticking into his memory. At this stage it was not to a metronome, as this could seem too daunting and pressured. Once he had the pattern consistent, I brought in a metronome at an appropriate tempo.
I used the paradiddle, as well as a paradiddle variation, single and double strokes to create a warm up exercise for this student to use in his home practice, shown in the video below. I demonstrated that warm up exercise and the potential of the progression of this exercise.
Later in this lesson, my student asked me follow-up questions on the paradiddle exercise that were more advanced than the level we were working at. I made sure to praise him for asking the question, for thinking ahead of the task at hand. I went on to briefly explain an answer to his question but then divert the lesson back to the paradiddle activity. My thought process behind this was to ensure that the student felt like I was answering his question seriously and not neglecting his curiosity, however I was careful to not let this take up too much of the lesson and possibly confuse him by explaining further on a topic too advanced for him. To reassure him that is was okay if he didn’t understand what we were talking about, I explained that he didn’t need to worry about further exercises yet, such as the one we were now discussing, but to focus on the task I set him. This interaction tested my in-the-moment thinking while dealing with a student. As I have explained, my immediate main concerns were to not belittle him or confuse him.
Another way I attempted to break down tension and bond with my students was to make the lessons feel collaborative. I did this by playing along with them on a bass guitar. This was to show them the application of what I have taught them, and make them feel like they are playing with another musician effectively. This is also a fun way to progress the student-teacher bond.
In lessons with my student who was a first study drummer at the Conservatoire, I took a much more open ended and co-operative approach. My instincts were to simply ask him if there was anything that he is currently working on or if there is anything specifically he wanted to learn. Then we could work on it together as we are at a similar ability level. This more conversational and team-working approach was more fitting for this student. The way I spoke to him was naturally different than the way I spoke to my other students as I used all of the drum related language easily without needing to explain what it meant.
While teaching my lessons, I valued giving praise to my students highly and made sure to congratulate them on any achievement. However, upon reflection I realised that although my praise was consistent, I usually was specific and didn’t give much detail to what I was praising the student for. In the moment I was more concerned about simply saying ”well done” to give instant gratification to them, rather than being specific about what they were doing well and why. Being more in depth with my praise would have been far more beneficial for the student in the long term as it would have meant I could point out what they were doing well, allowing them to be confident in what i have taught them. Because I did not follow up my praise with more detail, I missed opportunities to further the students’ understanding of playing the drums.
As I have already discussed, I employed a ‘copy me’ strategy for much of the teaching. However I could have played more for my students. Not only to demonstrate exercises and give ideas to them, but I could have shown them some of my playing in an attempt to inspire them or give them examples of styles of drumming to see which one takes their interest. I steered away from this approach as I was concerned about overwhelming the student with my level of playing and possibly dishearten them as I may play something they see as unachievable.
Lesson Ending
To finish my lessons, I recapped what we covered and once again allowed time for the student to ask me any questions from the lesson. Similarly to the intro to each lesson, this time is the student’s to use me for information. I would then set homework, usually a continuation of the lesson with a goal in mind. In this video, I am giving my student a goal tempo to reach for the exercise we covered in the lesson.
The topic of homework and practice is an area I feel I was not effective in. I would set homework tasks for my students such as to practice certain drum beats or achieve a goal tempo for a certain exercise, as seen in the video above. However, the tasks I set had little creative prospects for the student and upon reflection seem mundane and didn’t challenge my students further and get them thinking. These tasks were almost repeats of the lesson we had just completed and although this was necessary is some cases, I feel like I missed an opportunity to encourage creative thinking and development with more engaging homework tasks. As well as this, I did not set homework such as writing and listening exercises – or even just listening recommendations. This type of homework could be more engaging for students and offer some fun and insight to the world surrounding playing the drums. Furthermore, I did not provide my students with a practice diary or any way of tracking their practice. I would give them copies of any worksheets I used in the lesson and verbally explain what I wanted them to do for practice as well as writing this down on the worksheets. However this was not an organised and efficient way to provide instructions for practice. Having an individual practice diary for each student would allow me to see the practice I set them, and look back on the history of our lessons to help me decide what to teach them next.
Examples of my Lesson Materials:
Bibliography
Ausman, J. (2022) Sound Before Symbol Strategies and Beginning Band Performance Skills. Canada, University of Alberta
Future Learn (no date) The importance of rapport. https://www.futurelearn.com/info/courses/adult-teaching-essentials-student-centred-delivery/0/steps/323175#:~:text=Why%20is%20rapport%20important?,is%20a%20rapport%20between%20them. [Accessed: 05/05/26]
Moeller, S.A. (1956) The Art of Snare Drumming. Revised edn. New York: Ludwig Music.
Rockschool (2012) Rockschool Drums Grade 1. Rockschool Ltd.
The Cross-Eyed Pianist (2016) A Special Relationship. Available Online: https://crosseyedpianist.com/2016/01/30/a-special-relationship/ [Accessed: 05/05/26].
University of Oxford (2023) Researchers discover why multisensory learning is beneficial for memory. Available Online: https://www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/news/researchers-discover-why-multisensory-learning-is-beneficial-for-memory#:~:text=The%20research%20used%20a%20multisensory%20learning%20paradigm,of%20the%20color%20and%20odor%20sensory%20streams** [Accessed 05/05/26]
Wilson, F (2024) For the Love of Music. Available Online: https://interlude.hk/for-the-love-of-music [Accessed: 05/05/26)
