Kennett Symphony conductor Michael Hall joins Bryan to discuss his thoughts on being a professional musician, good work/rehearsal habits, and a bit of drumming talk as well.
Learn more about studying with Bryan at: http://grooveksq.com.
grooveKSQ Turns Two!
It was two years ago on October 1, 2018 that grooveKSQ opened its doors to aspiring drummers and percussionists. This is a thank you message to all the aspiring musicians who have or are studying here, and especially their families for their support and also to our donors and financial supporters who recognize the value of arts education and community building through the arts.
I am very much looking forward to year three and beyond. One great way to stay in the loop is to join our email list, by texting GROOVEKSQ to 66866 on your smartphone. If you are interested in studying at groove, or want to know more about any upcoming programming, please email me.
Student Spotlight: David R.
Congratulations are in order to David R, who has been prepping for his University jazz program audition here at grooveKSQ. As one progresses through high school and into the college and university ranks, the material gets tougher in all subjects. This is also true with music schools and the audition process gets more and more competitive as well at the university level.
So, those going through University auditions know that they have two challenges: 1) harder audition material, plus 2) more competition. The audition material David had to navigate was some serious stuff.
David worked hard to prep all the audition material here at groove and once he was ready, we filmed and recorded his audition video here at the studio.
Again, we see that hard work pays off.
David was accepted into the jazz program and University of Delaware for this Fall semester. Congrats, David!!
Recording Services Now Available
One more way grooveKSQ can help young musicians advance their craft is by providing professional video and audio recording services in house!
The studio upgrades were designed to both facilitate distance learning and provide young musicians with a way to record themselves for solo performances or collaborations with other performers. grooveKSQ can now work on Protools (or any other DAW) based projects remotely.
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.
In Person Lessons to Resume June 6th
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:
Masks are REQUIRED of students and any family members to enter the studio. No exceptions.
Social distancing will be observed.
No handshakes, fistbumps, etc. Peace signs or shaka signs are encouraged however.
Students should make sure they have their own sticks. We will not need headphones because all the practice tracks will played through the PA.
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).