Violin with Claudio R.

Claudio R. is a recent transplant to SF from NYC/Seattle. He was born in Massachusetts and studied classical violin from the age of 6. He attended Vassar College where he earned a degree in violin performance. During college he started playing the drumset because of his infatuation with Jazz. Claudio went on to attend the prestigious Jazz and Contemporary Music program at the New School In NYC and studied drum set under Chico Hamilton, Joe Chambers, Ari Hoenig and Peter Retzlaff. During his fifteen years in NYC Claudio was the house drummer for Freestyle Mondays, NYC’s longest running hip hop open mic, and performed and toured with variety of artists in many different genres. Performed/recorded with: -Hip hop legends Slick Rick, Lauren Hill, Praswell (Fugees), Doug-e-fresh, -Adam Duritz (counting Crowes), Jason Mraz -Jazz greats John Hicks, and Gary Bartz Toured with: -Afro-pop band Chris Berry and Pangea -Tropical chart-toppers Xtreme, -Southern singer/songwriter Lipbone Redding -Indie rock band Jonny Lives In Seattle Claudio was the in-house studio drummer at Robert Lang’s recording studios. As a result of his recording work he became a voting member of the GRAMMY board in 2012. In the Bay Area Claudio currently plays with swing band The Klipptones, and works as a freelance jazz drummer. Claudio taught basic musicianship and drumline in NYC public schools for nine years, and was a private drum instructor for three years at Donn Bennett Drum Studios, Seattle's premier drum shop. His teaching goals for drumset include establishing reliable technique that is useful in all styles, understanding differences and similarities between music styles, developing strong time and rhythm (through transcription and metronome games). Claudio is also adept at incorporating electronic elements in acoustic playing and can coach students on how to use programs such as Ableton Live in their setup for performances and as a practice tool. *** Lesson Details *** Welcome! I’m looking forward to helping you learn drum set. I’m an engaged, patient, and enthusiastic teacher. I teach all styles of music and, together, we will get great results. At the first lesson I ask new students about their goals. It’s important to me to discover why you are interested in lessons, and what type of music you wish to explore. I will ask you for a playlist of songs you’d like to learn and, from that, I’ll create a lesson plan that will teach you fundamental technique and the particular skills you need to play the songs you love. Later, I’ll introduce new musical styles and you’ll learn more about the role of drum set in music. I think it is important to understand music (and related drumset styles) in context, so I’ll frequently play examples of classic recordings and we’ll have conversations about the history of the instrument and the great drummers who changed the music through the drums. Beginning students: Nurturing your passion for drums and music is my number one goal for beginning students. I like to do this by finding a simple song for the student to play along with and give the student their first “grooving experience” by having both of us play along to the same song at the same time. Also covered: beginning technique, basic rudiments, music theory, basic beat playing. I also encourage free improvisation on the drumset and teach the student how to create his/her own musical piece. Intermediate students: Intermediate students will: develop more flexibility in their time keeping by working on independence exercises, solidify reading basics, learn new styles (good for cross training), and examine stick mechanics more closely. Students will update their repertoire playlists to more challenging material as they gain new skill. We’ll set goals together based on the songs they want to learn how to play. Advanced students: Advanced students will learn advanced stick technique including the moeller stroke, advanced finger technique, and advanced rudiments. We discuss how to improve time and feel by playing a with a displaced metronome as well as how to use the metronome in other non-traditional ways. Also covered: over-the-barline phrasing, odd groupings in even meters, even groupings in odd meters, latin drum styles, metric modulation, triplet based styles such as jazz and afro-cuban 6/8, and studio recording. Advanced students will also examine some of the modern modern drumset vocabulary (drum and bass, dubstep etc, blast beats etc.) and the drummers responsible for those styles. I love music and I love sharing my passion for music with students, young and not-so-young. It's thrilling to see students progress in their abilities. In order to make progress, you must practice regularly. Practicing everyday for 20 minutes is much more effective than practicing 3 hours the day before the lesson. *** Studio Equipment *** 2 drums sets, congas, shakers, bongos *** Travel Equipment *** practice pads, basic drum set if necessary. *** Specialties *** When I teach drums I focus on mechanics, time, sound, feel, and coordination. I specialize in jazz, hip hop, funk, pop, electronic and rock music. I try to show my students the similarities between music styles and how mechanics, time, sound, feel, and coordination apply to those styles. For violin I use the Suzuki repertoire and incorporate music literacy at the same time.