Improvising in Your Practice

Routine is important, particularly when you are warming up. Routine gives you a benchmark by which you can judge your progress. For example, if you play the same flam progression warmups everyday with a metronome, over time you will notice that you can play those progressions faster with good quality.

However, it is also extremely important to improvise or freeform during your practice. For example, yesterday I wanted to work on dexterity and sound quality moving around the toms. I didn’t have any preplanned patterns that I was going to work on, I just sat down and whatever came out of my hands was what it was. Very liberating, and it injects some freshness to your practice routines that will benefit you down the road.

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In Person Lessons to Resume June 6th

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Very pleased to announce that in person lessons will resume Saturday, June 6th. The studio will be cleaned (again!) and we will observe the following protocols:

  1. Masks are REQUIRED of students and any family members to enter the studio. No exceptions.

  2. Social distancing will be observed.

  3. No handshakes, fistbumps, etc. Peace signs or shaka signs are encouraged however.

  4. Students should make sure they have their own sticks. We will not need headphones because all the practice tracks will played through the PA.

  5. If you have a fever, or have any symptoms, please do not come in. We will make arrangements to provide a credit or video lessons.

If students or parents are uncomfortable with in person lessons, that is totally respected, and we can continue by video. There are some significant upgrades to the studio happening in the next two weeks to enhance our ability to deliver education over video.

There will be a separate announcement about Virtual Vinyl, the Summer Groovefest, and related activities coming soon.

(PS…this announcement assumes that Chester County is moved to the Yellow Phase by June 5th as the Governor’s office previously announced).

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Introducing: The Wednesday Throwdown

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There is a new program offering here at grooveKSQ: The Wednesday Throwdown. This is a weekly short group workout focusing on building speed and endurance for your hands. All you need is your pad, a pair of sticks and your smart phone.

This program is delivered by Zoom, so click the links for the monthly pass or the weekly pass. If you stick with these sessions, your hand speed will greatly increase, I promise you. But you have to prepare and do the work.

**NOTE, this event is free to current drumset students, but email me for the materials.

Product Video: Evans Calftone Heads

We haven't posted a product video in quite awhile. This is an A/B comparison of Remo Coated Ambassadors and Evans 56 Calftones. Shot with an iPhone, using the onboard mic so you have a familiar sound on which to base your evaluation.

The next step is to do new batter side heads all around the kit and I will post some video of that very soon. Other things you should know: the drum kit is a Ludwig Legacy Classic, which is Ludwig's 1960s build: 3 ply maple/poplar/maple with a 30 degree rounded bearing edge.

As always, there is no payment or endorsement deal for any product that we feature, it is solely for informational purposes only.

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All About the May grooveKSQ Schedule...

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For a teaching studio and live events producer, the current crisis has presented some real challenges. Lessons have transitioned to an online format temporarily, as have some of our other events. Around this time of year, we are typically preparing for the student grooveFEST performances. Of course, these are tough decisions to make, but everyone’s safety comes first.

For the month of May, here is what is happening:

Rhythm & Words is postponed. This event was designed to be live, in front of an audience. To move this particular event online would do a disservice to the performers and to the audience. I absolutely LOVE this performance concept and it will happen, but it will be presented in its optimal format when the conditions allow.

grooveFEST is postponed. For the same reasons. The educational benefit to the students is from the experience of live performance. Moving that event online would likewise not serve its chief purpose - to educate (and celebrate) the students. As soon as we can hold that event live, we will. Stay tuned.

Tuesday Night Vinyl has become Virtual Vinyl. This is an example of an event that can be transitioned online and still accomplish most of its mission. There is no real substitute for having everyone in the same room, BUT, I think that going forward when live events can resume, we will keep a component of this where people can participate remotely. This month’s event is scheduled for Sunday, May 24th, 7:00pm via Zoom. Please email me for the login information. Good headphones highly recommended!!!

Thank you for your continued support, we will all get through this situation together.