Drums with Dylan B.

Dylan B. was born and raised the Live Music Capital of the World, also known as Austin, TX. By the 8th grade he had already performed at several distinctive Austin venues such as the Broken Spoke playing both bass guitar and drums. He attended the McCallum fine Arts Academy, a public high school with a large focus on the performing arts, where he majored in band as a tuba player while gigging monthly or even weekly with the school’s Steel Drum Ensemble and his own bands of peers. Dylan received his BA in Contemporary music from the College of Santa Fe where he studied drums with Mark Clark and composition with Steven Paxton. During this time he recorded on over 30 independent releases playing 16 different instruments and toured nationally, including two tours and two full length albums with Apple Miner Colony. In 2009 he received the Ellis Prize for Composition for his piece “Polaroids” written for the Santa Fe Community Orchestra. Upon relocating to Denver, Dylan completed a year of service as an AmeriCorps member where he developed and facilitated weekly music jams and songwriting workshops for youth experiencing homelessness on top of working to help provide basic needs. Dylan’s diverse musical background allows him to take a highly adaptable approach to teaching. With so much to learn about music that is universal and applicable to all instruments, students can explore their interests and at the same time cultivate transferable knowledge and skills. It is Dylan’s hope that his students will come away from a lesson feeling good about the things they have learned or accomplished and challenged and motivated to keep learning and improving. *** Lesson Details *** In my lessons I strive to share my love of music and inspire it within my students. As an instructor, I am on the laid back side of things. This does not that I won’t have expectations and assignments for students, but it means that I see my role as a teacher to encourage and empower, not so much to be a disciplinarian. In every lesson, regardless of the instrument, I spend a portion of time on fundamental musical concepts. What we work on from that point can be very adaptable depending on the student’s own interests, goals, and ability level. For true beginners, I aim to balance fundamental concepts, rudimentary skill building, and exercises/activities that put these skills and concepts in context. *** Travel Equipment *** I expect students to have their own instruments and may request that they purchase a particular book if we agree that is what we will work on. Otherwise I have books and can make copies of particular pages/exercises as needed. For beginning percussionists/drummers, it is not necessary for them to own their own drums yet, but a practice pad will be needed. *** Specialties *** I specialize in teaching music as a whole with a strong foundation in music theory and musical concepts that are applicable to all instruments. When teaching intermediate to advanced drum set, I specialize in teaching how to drum for songwriters, odd time signatures, and the rock genre in general. With beginner drums, I can teach both matched and traditional grip, and am careful to spend as much time on rudiments and reading as I do on feel-based practice and listening exercises.