Working with advanced students is always a pleasure. They’re highly motivated, have plenty of playing experience, listen to a lot of music, and often have a specific direction in mind.

With students at this level, I begin to introduce technical concepts taught to me by Murray Spivack and Richard Wilson such as the wrist turn, rebound, upstroke, downstroke, fulcrum, guide, balancing point, and floor of the stroke. When these techniques are applied to singles, doubles, open and closed rolls, measured rolls, flams, ruffs, and other rudiments, the student truly begins to experience “maximum performance with a minimum of effort.” [For more information on these extraordinary teachers and their philosophies, please check out The Spivack/Wilson Approach to Technique, a 4-part article featured in Modern Drummer magazine from September 2011 through May 2012].

For drum set playing I look at control, balance, relaxation, time and groove, phrasing, soloing, chart reading, and listening skills while addressing all technical and/or developmental issues that arise. All of this is accompanied by a thorough exploration of contemporary musical styles.

Although I primarily use original material when I teach, there are a variety of excellent drum books I enjoy working from as well. Among these are John Riley's The Art of Bop Drumming, Rick Latham's Advanced Funk Studies, Ari Hoenig's Systems: Drumming Technique and Jazz Independence, and classics such as Stick Control, Master Studies, and Portraits in Rhythm.

Naturally, performing music at a high level requires examining matters of the heart and soul, not just technique. This means revisiting lessons we learned as three-year-olds such as “playing well with others” and “being a good listener.”

• thinking musically
• listening objectively
• improving touch and feel
• getting a better sound
• playing with conviction
• finding your voice
• reducing tension
• eliminating clutter
• stimulating creativity
• hearing musical phrases
• improvising within a group
• utilizing dynamics
• understanding form
• staying mentally focused
• maintaining a positive attitude
• establishing healthy practice habits
• organizing practice material
• setting goals

• conceptualizing the ride cymbal, hi-hat, snare drum, and bass drum as equal voices in creating a feel, groove, or flow
• creating color and shading through dynamics, including crescendos and decrescendos
• utilizing contrasts such as light/dark, high/low, loud/soft, long/short, fast/slow, tight/loose, open/closed, etc.
• extending phrases over the bar line and varying the resolution points
• superimposing an implied time feel over an existing one
• exploring metric modulation