A Beginning Perspective - from Dawn

Like most, my life changed March 2020 with a global health crisis upon us all. My normal was up-ended. I’m sure yours was, too.

I was preparing to tour with Jane Wiedlin (of Go-Go’s fame), and her band Elettrodomestico, opening for the Psychedelic Furs. I had a full roster of private students in San Francisco and was doing gigs around town with Shana Morrison - enjoying my relatively comfortable life in the City by the Bay. That all came crashing down. In the rubble, I salvaged the opportunity to create the Beginner to Band drum course.

I took a deep dive into technology, attending webinars and discussing techniques and tech with friends and colleagues. Thankfully, I had the motivation and resources to quickly pivot to teaching online. I then decided a good use of my newly-acquired “free-time” – uh, now that there were no more gigs, tours, normal human contact – would be creating an online portal to exchange information with my students. An additional accompaniment to my live virtual lessons. That quickly morphed into the concept of the online drum course and an alternative way to learn/teach.

 I had always intended for Beginner to Band to be a course. It was released as a stand-alone book just before the pandemic struck. I was at the NAMM convention in Los Angeles in January of 2020, letting folks know about the book and connecting with colleagues. Just a little more than a month later, I began work to create the course materials amid unforeseen circumstances. I channeled my energy and new-found extra time usually reserved for gigs, teaching in-person, friends and family – into this project. Things were quite a bit different for quite some time for most of us, right?

This course is a culmination of my many years of private teaching experience, my own drum/percussion studies, and playing in various musical settings. I did my best to distill my knowledge into bite-size, easily digestible and yummy-drummy nuggets. I hope those looking to give playing the drums a try will sense the devotion I have for the instrument and music via the lessons. I am grateful to have what I have and do what I do - now more than ever. Nothing brings me more joy than helping others learn to do what I love to do.