TEACHING & MASTERCLASSES
YOU'RE A PASSIONate and Highly motivated drummer who's committed to being the best you possibly can.
AS an EXPERIENCED TEACHER, AUTHOR AND CLINICIAN, I've helped literally hundreds of drummers JUST LIKE YOU, TO take their playING to the next level.
SO WHO AM I AND WHY SHOULD YOU LISTEN TO ME?
I think the most important thing is, I am truly passionate about music education.
But also, I have a wealth of unique experience, which I've acquired over the last few decades, both as a student myself and then as an professional educator and performer. Even now, after playing and teaching professionally for over thirty-years, I still try to find time each day to practise because like you, I'm still striving to improve. I love to learn, to understand how our great art form evolved and continues to evolve and how drumming, as a form of self-expression relates to other aspects of our lives. I'm obsessed with finding solutions to the technical challenges that we all encounter as drummers and I love to share all of this information with others so that they can benefit from everything I've learnt on my journey so far.
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Speaking of that journey, perhaps I should tell you a little bit about myself . . .
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Although I started drum lessons at age eleven, for the first few years I had no apsirations for drumming to be anything more than a hobby. In fact, after school I went to university in the UK to study Mechanical Engineering but
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After spending the early 90s in the USA, studying at Berklee College Music, I returned to the UK and got my Master’s Degree in Music Performance from the London College of Music. Along the way, I had the great fortune to be able to study privately with some of the most well-respected drum teachers in the world including Gary Chaffee, Mike Mangini, John Ramsey, Ed Kaspik, John Marshall and Pete Zeldman.
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Over the next few years I built up a busy career playing and programming drums and then, around 2001 I started to become increasingly involved in music education.
My passion for teaching drums has led to work at a number of institutions such as Thames Valley University, Drumtech and the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance where I was Head Of Drums for several years and, in addition to teaching, was involved course development and curriculum design at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
For several years, I wrote a monthly educational article for UK drumming magazine, Rhythm during which time I had over one hundred articles published. My first drum tuition book, Learn To Play Drums, was published in 2008, translated into eleven languages and available in fourteen countries worldwide. Shortly after, I co-authored a book with guitarist, Justin Sandercoe (founder of www.justinguitar.com) to help students develop their ability to read music. Entitled Rhythm Reading, the book was initially self-published, selling over 20,000 copies before being re-published by Wise Publications (a part of the Music Sales Group).
Throughout this time, I've also maintained a successful private teaching practice and have helped literally hundreds of students, including Elliot Fyffe (Blue, Ronan Keating), Aaron ‘Breakbeat’ Fagan (N-Dubz), Aicha Djidjelli (Rachael Stevens, Amy Studt), Lawrence Colbert (Ride), Adam Ficek (Baby Shambles), Olly Betts (The Duke Spirit), Stephen Simmonds (Groovejet), Matt Thomas (The Joy Formidable), Jack Cowens (The Dub Pistols), Louise Bartle (Bloc Party), Jay Sikora (Paulo Nutini) and Greg ‘Rozzy’ Ison (New Device).
As a natural extension of the teaching that I do on a weekly basis, I also conduct drum clinics and have performed them throughout the UK and Europe, appearing alongside drummers such as Thomas Lang and Gerald Heyward.
WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“I've had the pleasure of knowing and working along side Justin for many years. The thing that sets him apart from everybody else is not just his incredible depth of knowledge of the drums, but his understanding of music as a whole. There is nobody who cares more about the art form and passing on the correct information to anybody who needs it. In short, he is an extraordinary musician and educator.
I just wish he was my teacher, but in a way, he already is.”
Tom Meadows, Drummer with Kylie Minogue, Will Young, Duffy & Girls Aloud
SO HOW EXACTLY CAN I HELP YOU?
Some of the info from justindrums.com might work here
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I believe that drum clinics should be inspiring, educating and motivating experiences so, in my own clinics, attendees are encouraged to participate throughout. There are plenty of opportunities to ask questions and I provide printed handouts, which support learning and provide a convenient exercise sheet for attendees to take home and practice. I cover a vast range of subjects, from beginner to advanced levels, such as hand and foot technique, linear and harmonic coordination, stickings, polyrhythms, beat displacement and metric modulation, as well as the the rich history of drumset and it's place in evolution of African-American music. As well as being highly educational, I truly belive that things should be entertaining, so everything's presented in a relaxed, often humorous style.Most recently, I launched his own drum tuition website, Therefore I Drum, helping anyone with a pair of drumsticks, an internet connection and a desire to learn, to improve their playing whatever their level.