Question - Keeping drumming students motivated

MD Drummer '75

Junior Member
I teach at a college where students have never been shown things properly..(stick control, Cirrone, Chaffee, John Riley books...etc.). Now that I have been here for a year, I am finding that keeping the students interested is becoming increasingly hard. I have shown clips from drummers that they like, taken them to concerts. What else could I do to keep there movtivation?
 
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Is there a reason why you need to? If they are not interested, so be it. Its their choice to play I assume and if they lose interest, there are many factors why. You can't force someone to be a drummer, they wont enjoy it that way.
 
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Fail them when the fall short.

Quite honestly they're paying to go, if they want to pay student loans and lose motivation that's on their side, I don't feel you're obligated to inspire motivation. You're attempting to provide what they're paying you to do already.

I know it's the harsh stance and everyone wants to see people succeed, but I don't see any reason to devalue higher education because people aren't interested in putting in their time and practice. I say this because I came from a pretty rigorous CompSci program and lost many friends who weren't motivated enough to see it through. I think it's perfectly OK for a student to find the program is not for them, I transferred from a journalism degree after losing my own motivation. That time wasn't necessarily "wasted" and I came out of it with better technical writing aspects that were one of the main reasons I got my current job.

More along the lines of what I think you're looking for, covering material from their drummers or having them incorporate these aspects into original stuff may be helpful.
 
Re: Question

I teach at a college where students have never been shown things properly..(stick control, Cirrone, Chaffee, John Riley books...etc.). Now that I have been here for a year, I am finding that keeping the students interested is becoming increasingly hard. I have shown clips from drummers that they like, taken them to concerts. What else could I do to keep there movtivation?

A couple of things to clarify:

Are these students there for drums? When I took percussion in college, I was the only "drummer" in the class. Everyone else was a music education major who needed x-number of units of percussion for their degree. They weren't motivated, they just wanted to get through it, because percussion was not their passion.

Are you expecting too much? You say these students have no formal back ground, but then you mention Cirrone, Chaffee, and John Riley as standards. Those books are going to go over a lot of people's heads. If you're trying to get kids to jump into that level of material, you will lose all but the most motivated players. I'd say scale back what you expect.

And the other thing to realize is for many kids, learning how to play an instrument is just one of many things they are doing. It's not a career choice, it's not something they hope to excel at it, it's just one of many things they are trying out. They're on sports teams, they're up all night studying for their majors, and music class is just another passing interest. 99% of college football players never play ball again after college. They do it for a while, and then move on. Music isn't quite the same thing, but there is still a similarity. How many times have you met someone in passing who said "oh, yeah, I played drums in band back in college, but I stopped after graduation" ?

I hope that helps.
 
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What's the situation? Are these guys percussion majors, or just your private students, or what? Are they earning a grade from you? Are you getting any pressure from above about it? Most importantly, is it costing you money when the guys who don't want to learn quit? If your bottom line is secure, there are any number of ways you can deal with it depending on your personality, how you lead, how much respect you can command, as well as the character and goals of the remaining students. I would probably be trying to arouse a little esprit in them, a sense that they're participating in something special- it's not quite the same as getting them excited about the particulars of playing the drums- you're trying to elicit some pride about being drummers. It takes time, and not everyone is reachable. My old professor was a master of this- you can get a little sense of his style here and here.
 
Thank you so much for the quick response. I admit that the method books I have listed are at a higher level, however, these students are here as both percussion majors. And as such, these books would be the next step, given the audition requirements.

Next question: What would you recording would you recommend as an example of "broken time" feel?
 
Broken time:
Solar - Pat Metheny w/Roy Haynes / Question and Answer
The Windup - Keith Jarrett w/Jon Christensen / Belonging
Bemsha Swing - Keith Jarrett w/Jack Dejohnette / The Cure
Nardis - Bill Evans w/Jack Dejohnette / Live at Montreux
Monk's Dream - Brad Mehldau w/Jorge Rossy / Art of the Trio Vol. 2
Masqualero - Wayne Shorter w/Brian Blade / Footprints Live
Several things on Miles Davis' ESP or Miles Smiles, to name a couple.
 
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