Charlie E. TakeLessons Instructor Drums, theory willowwood st se, Prior Lake, MN

I have been playing drums 21 of my 23 years. I started out playing to my favorite albums and letting my chops grow on their own without much direction other than what I wanted to play.I grew up on 80's hair metal so up to 5th grade i was playing along to Motley Crue, Metallica, Slaughter, and other funny bands from the times. It was in 7th grade that I fell in love with progressive rock and really started to find my voice on the instrument. Rush was the band that changed my view on how drums were played. Learning all Neil Peart's parts fill for fill. Not even realizing what I was teaching my self as far as the theory side went.

The band that really set me on fire and made my playing grow beyond my years was Dream Theater. Not just the insane ability of the players, but the music itself. Very long songs, odd-time signatures, and drawn out jams just blew my mind.I learned all of their stuff exact, ALL of it. Becoming a fan of the band and its huge online community led me to numerous other great prog bands and thus leading me on an amazing musical journey that still continues today. And although my style and tastes in music have changed dramatically, Dream Theater and progressive rock music in general are the biggest part of my musical interests.

Realizing outside influence and guidance was essential in my growth I started taking lessons from local teachers and started to learn about music, just as much as drums, which was the turning point in my developement. I participated in the Guitar Center Drum Off and did school talent shows, as well as playing in random bands. I eventually went on and won the state round of the Guitar Center Drum Off in 03,04, and 05. Through high school music and drums were my life and i dedicated many hours a day to practicing, and looking back am very glad I did.

After High School it was only inevitable that I would go to a music oriented college, and that school was McNally Smith College Of Music in St. Paul.the school was great for me and really shaped me as a musician. One of my ensembles continued on into a band called Commotus Pax, we were pretty much a mix of every style but based around metal, but literally song to song would sound like a different band in a way. We continued to play out locally from summer of 2005 through til spring of 2007. Recording an EP and disbanding right before releasing it. The band really got my live performance chops down because it was very difficult music with many changes and parts. It was tough enough in the practice space, let alone playing it live where you usually can't hear a thing. Music school in general blew my mind and broke me down, and it helped me rebuild myself into a far better drummer and musician.I was finished in August of 2005.

After college I was a teacher for South Of The River Music School out of Lakeville, MN. I taught for them for about a year and switched back to teaching privately. I started teaching drums right after high school and continued until college a year later, then came back to it right after college.

Now days I teach drums, record for random session work, play live with random bands, and do anything I can that involves music and drums.

I was born to play drums, and teach drums. Private instruction, group instruction, live performance clinics, you name it. I love to teach people how to not only play drums, but understand music and rhythm. When you really learn how music works you view it so much differently than when you didn't understand the true theory behind what you are hearing. It gives me great satisfaction when my students learn not just a new groove or feel, but the principle behind it. Drumming and music is so much more than the physical aspect of playing an instrument. You can become the greatest chops master in the world, but if you don't have the mind to apply those physical skills to music, it doesn't do anything for you, which leads to what you would expect taking lessons.

Lessons with me really depend on the person. I change my ways of approach depending on the person I am teaching.I predominately teach drumset, but also teach rudimental and snare drum.

In general I divide drumset instruction into 2 groups, exercises and styles. Rock/funk, latin, and jazz are my general style groups, with the many sub-styles thrown in where they belong.

Then my exercise groups I seperate into what they accomplish. Physical aspects, mental aspects, and then break it down further into hand speed/coordination, foot speed/coordination, polyrhythms, odd-time signatures, metric modulation, play alongs and writing/reading charts.As my student grows in his playing, his lessons change accordingly.

Everyone learns better in different ways and I do my best to try and adapt to my students learning habits. I know what exercise fixes what coordination issue and can solve their problems right away. I am great at seeing what needs to be done to allow the student to grow in a natural way, not a forced directed way. I want my students to get as good as they can be, in the shortest time possible, because I know how busy peoples scheduals are. If you learn how to practice correctly, you can make use of 30 minutes of practice in what you used to in 2 hours. So my lessons are as much of the mental approach as physical.My goal is to become a top name in the drumming world as a teacher/clinician and performer.

All styles. All aspects and principals including odd-time signatures and poly-rhythmic exercises.

Drums, theory