Before I began taking lessons with Mr. Fuhrman, I had trouble playing mallet instruments in band. I had difficulty sightreading the music and I wasn’t very confident. It often took me a while to figure out the notes and play them up to speed! Then I was introduced to the Additive Rhythm Technique book for mallets, and started learning simple rhythms with flat notes. Soon I was alternating between the bass clef and treble clef as more notes were added. I worked on each session, which is usually eight measure rhythms, three per page, and gradually got better at finding the notes without looking down. I practiced scales as my warm-up and focused on looking ahead to my next note on the music and other such techniques. As the sessions grew more challenging, it took me longer to play them successfully. I had to concentrate a lot and not get distracted. Right now, I’m on Etudes 19, 20 and 21, almost halfway through the book. I’m learning treble clef sharps in sixteenth notes and rests. I can definitely sightread music better and accurately play notes at tempo. This helps me a lot in band. There are moments when I move to play the note before I even think about it. My improvement is just so obvious. It’s amazing to see how far I’ve gotten from the beginning of the book, and I can clearly tell how much that is at every lesson. I can use my peripheral vision now to read both sharp and flat notes while playing the music. I know all the major scales and am soon to start the minor ones. Not only is my ability to play better, but my confidence in that has grown immensely. Mr. Fuhrman is the best private lesson teacher I’ve ever had. Before I started having lessons with him, I didn’t know much about the technique while playing. In band I let other percussionists take the cool snare drum parts and I mostly avoided the marimba - it took me a very long time to learn the notes and play them at tempo. After having many lessons with Mr. Fuhrman, my ability to play and my general understanding of percussion instruments has grown as well as my confidence. Each lesson is exciting, interesting, and never the same twice. I use what I learn, in band, and now the music is a lot easier to play. But it isn’t until I’m at my lesson, playing one of the sessions on the marimba in my Additive Rhythm Technique book, that I really can see how much I’ve gotten better. I play the music, and sometimes my hands instinctively move to play the note before I even think about it. That’s the greatest feeling in the world - to clearly know how much I’ve grown. My lesson are still a challenge, but I’m learning so much about music, and I’m happy.
Since I started lessons I got way better and I've only been doing it for like 3 months. In band I feel more comfortable playing and now I actually can play what the teacher gives me. Its helpful cause I actually get helped and not just told what I'm doing wrong.
Before I started taking lessons with Kevin, I was never a great percussion player. I was always confused and frustrated in my band class when I couldn't get something right and it was always a huge burden to get a new piece of music, going into lessons, and sight reading and I had huge anxiety about it. After taking lessons for a couple months I was much more confident in my playing, and people in and out of my section would, and still do, come and ask me for questions about music. I am now in the top band of my school and I am the top percussion player in my band. I enjoy and understand my instrument and music a lot more after taking lessons with Kevin.