“I’m not a teacher, only a fellow traveler of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead – ahead of myself as well as you.”

- George Bernard Shaw

Nearly all of my life so far has revolved around my unwavering passion for music and rhythm.  When I was about 5 or 6 years old, I would sit in front of the radio every Sunday morning and listen to the entire Top 40 countdown.  A few years later, I convinced a buddy of mine to be in a “band” with me.  I gave him 2 blocks of wood to hit together, and I fashioned myself a drum-like contraption out of an empty cereal box.

By junior high, my love for rhythm had expanded to include an obsession with breakdancing.  Don’t laugh!  You have to remember that this was the early to mid 80’s, and breakdancing was everywhere.  It was in movies, television shows, commercials, music videos, and school hallways around the globe.  For whatever it’s worth now, I was generally considered to be one of the better “breakers” in my school.  OK, you’re right – feel free to laugh!

Toward the middle of high school, I bought myself a used drumset and started taking drum lessons.  My first teacher, Tom, introduced me to the technical elements of drumming, such as stick patterns and reading.  My second teacher, Konrad, showed me that drumming could also be deeply intuitive and expressive.  This revelation, coupled with Konrad’s encouragement and support, inspired me to commit the rest of my life to exploring all aspects of playing the drums.

And that is exactly what I have continued to do right up to this very day.  After high school, I went to college and spent 4 years working on playing jazz.  During part of that time, I was also performing in rock bands with my brother, who played both guitar and keyboard.  After college, I moved to New York City, and proceeded to study with teacher after teacher, gathering as much knowledge as humanly possible on the art of drumming.  To date, I have taken lessons with 19 different teachers.  About half of them were long-term mentors to me.

Of course, I’ve also put my extensive studies into action by drumming in a variety of professional music situations.  I’ve played in numerous Manhattan rock clubs, flown with my drums to perform overseas, gigged with legendary jazz musicians, subbed Off-Broadway, and drummed in 32 states on a full-blown national tour of a popular theatre show.  To some degree, I’ve lived the drumming dream.

But my real calling so far has been to constantly expand and share my drumming knowledge and passion.  I began teaching drum lessons in New York in 1996, and have been one of the city’s leading instructors since about 2001.  So far, I have worked with over 400 private students.  I’ve tried to figure out how many individual lessons I’ve given, but the number is too high to precisely calculate.  I estimate that it’s somewhere between 10,000 and 11,000 lessons at this point.  One of my current students has been taking weekly lessons with me since 2006.  Another student has been taking weekly lessons with me since 2004!

By teaching so many people for so many years and so many hours, I have been continually growing as a musician, as an educator, and as a person.  All the while, I have pushed to not only understand the present and the past of drumming, but to also envision its future.  With this in mind, I’ve written educational articles for Modern Drummer magazine, and I even released a DVD presenting some innovative teaching concepts of mine.  These ventures have brought me accolades from several of the world’s most famous drummers.  In fact, one of them contacted me in 2005 to come and take a couple of lessons with me.

And the journey continues.  I intend to keep moving forward, keep growing, and keep creating a world of rhythm for myself and others.  This is not something I do “on the side.”  This is my full-time career…and more importantly…this is my life’s path.  If you feel compelled to walk a few steps of it with me, I will graciously welcome you into my studio.  I promise that you’ll learn more about drumming than you can possibly imagine…and we’ll both have a heck of a lot of fun in the process!