For over 15 years now, I have been developing and proving a theory about how we teach rhythm. After watching hundreds of students go from being confused by rhythm and not sure how to read something they haven’t seen before to students who fully understood what they were seeing AND how to play what they were seeing, I am convinced that we need to look at teaching rhythm in a different way.

Most students learn rhythm by having someone play it for them and repeating it enough times to memorize how it goes (you would be surprised that most students learn this way even though music educators do what they can to test and check). That works to some degree, but when the tempo changes and you mix up more rhythms than they are used to playing together, they get lost somewhat quickly. They don’t really get “rhythm” as a concept and how the notation gives them the information they need to learn. They get the information, but they don’t get how to synthesize it!

So, I have developed the Additive Rhythm Technique (ART) to alleviate this and other problems I have encountered in students. The experience of teaching students one-on-one, in a small ensemble setting (say a band class of the 6-10 percussionists) and large groups (Marching Drumline settings, etc.) has shown me that this technique completely opens the door for their understanding of rhythm and notation and gives them the tools to understand any rhythm that comes their way!

For group instruction in a school setting, or one-on-one lessons, please contact me about scheduling and pricing. I am committed to helping everyone that wants to be a better musician by getting them the right information and the right tools.