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If your preschooler has a penchant for banging on pots and pans, you might have a future Max Weinberg on your hands—not to mention a pounding headache. Fortunately, the city is jam-slammed with instructors who will show your kid how percussion plays a key role in different styles of music. Take a look at what a few local drum experts have to offer.
The Collective, a music training institute in Chelsea, offers private lessons in 16 drumming styles, including traditional New Orleans jazz, rock and Brazilian—with a dash of cultural studies thrown in. “Teaching music, if it’s done properly, is mostly about context: where the music came from and what its place is in today’s scene,” explains John Castellano, the institute’s director. The Brazilian style, for instance, is based on batucada rhythms, traditionally played by large samba groups in Rio de Janeiro during the annual Carnaval. This class incorporates a variety of traditional percussion instruments, such as surdos (large drums), caixa (snare), tamborim (small one-sided drum) and cuica (pitched drum). Most other classes are taught on a standard five-piece set (snare, bass, two mounted toms and a floor tom, along with a high hat and two cymbals). The Collective (212-741-0091, thecoll.com). Four lessons for $244, 12 lessons for $695.
“A large percentage of modern music is based on one fundamental rhythm, which can easily be learned by most beginner drummers,” says instructor Matt Ritter, who specializes in rock drumming. With a standard kit, Ritter teaches newbies the basic “four-four” or common-time rock beat. Matt Ritter (mattrittermusic.com). $65 per hour or ten prepaid hours for $600.
If, to paraphrase Todd Rundgren, your kid just wants to bang on the drums all day, he can cultivate his passion for classic rock at City Music Schools, where students practice using the Rubank Elementary Method for standard drum sets. “This technique helps teach different rhythm patterns, note values and dynamics—loud or soft,” explains John DeBlass, the midtown school’s director. A five-piece set will get kids thumping to songs like “Do What You Want” by Cream and Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” City Music Schools (212-563-6781, citymusicschools.com). Four private half-hour lessons for $86.
At the East Village music store First Flight Music, students practice on a five-piece set and learn to read sheet music and employ proper ergonomics. Teachers will even help kids form bands and provide them with practice space. First Flight Music (212-926-4100, firstflightmusic.com). Half-hour lessons $35, hour lessons $55 (one-lesson deposit required).
Don’t have the space or the funds to get a drum kit? No problem. “Many primitive cultures would use just about anything that makes noise,” says freelance music instructor Ryan Asprion. You might try hitting up the exotic-foods mart for some empty coconut shells, which make great hand drums: Clap the open halves together to replicate a distinctive sound of West Africa. In Asprion’s private lessons, kids are schooled on the premise that drumming patterns communicate different messages, which help to distinguish cultures. “A lot of techniques and rhythms are created from how a phrase sounds when spoken,” Asprion says. He doesn’t provide sheet music, so kids should be ready to learn some improvisation. Ryan Asprion (646-675-6266, ryanasprion.com). Check website or call for schedule and rates.
Got paper-thin walls? Get your hands on some specialized accessories, such as drum-top muffle heads and practice pads that squelch the rat-a-tat-tat but maintain the bounce. And electronic drum pads (all-in-one kits that feature several tops to represent various drums) are both smaller and quieter than acoustic. If all else fails and your supersensitive neighbor is still complaining, your kids might have to stick with Tupperware.
