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So relating that back to my last rep as an instructor, my last time teaching high school drumline was back in 2013. How this came about was that I had a career in real estate that was taking off and I was not able to invest as much time as I normally do as an instructor.

This different career choice led to my final weeks as a drum instructor and ultimately, my last rep. It was a very emotional moment for me because I had been teaching this specific high school for a total of 16 years starting back in 1997.

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So back in March, I had the opportunity to meet up with the amazing Amanda Muse!

For those of you who do not know her, she is a snare drummer and has grown quite the social media following from the content she creates and posts on her social media accounts.

During the time I met with Amanda, she shared the three most important ideas that helped her get to where she is today

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You need to learn how to teach drums! Let me give you 3 good reasons why:

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So back in February, I had the opportunity to work with a middle school-aged group that I write for called Bravehearts based in the Bronx in New York and this topic was something that came up in conversation with the Bravehearts Staff.

With my writing, sometimes it would take the students a little longer to learn some parts because I may have written some parts that are a little too difficult for them.

So then, after talking with the staff about this, the question arose, “Should we dumb the parts down?” aka: “water the parts down?” aka: “Should we simplify the parts by removing some diddles or flams?”

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At first thought, it would make sense to think that quality would be better than quantity, right? Well, what if I were to tell you that sometimes quantity can be better than quality??

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The exercise known as “ABC” AKA as “shups” or “stanford shuffle” is the perfect exercise to improve your diddle quality!

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As an Asian American, I’ve experienced my fair share of racism. With the Covid-19 Pandemic, I’ve experienced it as recently as last month. But the centuries of systematic and institutionalized racism that is directed towards African Americans (our brothers and sisters in humanity), has far deadlier consequences and IT NEEDS TO STOP!

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So, I’ve gotten a lot of heat for saying this phrase:

“sometimes it’s ok to go on autopilot…”

Yes, I’ve said this to students before and there are instructors who would respond with, “I would never say that to a student.”

But it depends on the context…right?

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To get good at drums, you sometimes have to think outside of the box…

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Ok, so now that you’re home, as a Percussionist, what should you do to pass the time under quarantine?

Well, here’s some quick tips you can implement TODAY to make the best use of your time as a good musician should!

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