What am I doing?

I am creating a compilation of 10 original etudes for a beginning to intermediate snare drummer. The goal of this book is to assist band directors and private instructors teach their intro level students. The reason I want to pursue this is that when I was in the early stages of my career I relied solely on YouTube videos, Drum Forums, and a lot of method books. When I got my first full-time teaching job at a high school in south Tucson, I noticed 2 things that were not working right and affected their education. Their band director, who is truly a great musician and teacher, probably one of the best in the world, did not know how to play percussion. When I first came up with this idea it was with that program in mind. The one thing I wanted to do was help programs like that who have incredible directors, and all they need is the right tool.

Progress

My progress so far has been great. I have been able to get a large chunk of work done on this. I have begun to reach out to local high school band directors and tell them about what I am doing. So far the band directors have been very supportive and have encouraged their students to participate in my adventure.

Biggest Problem?

When I think about what helped me learn the best, I get that thought of “Oh yeah that thing” but it is hard to put it on paper. That has been my biggest struggle thus far. When I

read back the stuff I write, it makes complete sense to me, but I have no idea if everyone else would get it. My biggest concern is that when I send out the first part of the book to my testers, are the ideas going to make sense to them? There is only one way to find out, but I am worried to see what I get back.

 What’s Next?

Hopefully, by next week I have a solid product to send out to the percussionist who has signed up. I want to reread all the written content and play through all the composed content so I can get the most out of my helpers. I am going to compile all the documents into one file using Adobe Acrobat like it is a rough draft being sent to a publisher. The student testers will be getting the following:

1. Etudes 1-4

   

2. Interpretations 1-4
3. “About This Book” section
4. “About the Author” section
5. “How to Use This Book” section
6. “How to Get Started” section

It seems like a lot of stuff to get, but this is going to be the only content they get for about a month till I finish the etudes. This should seem like a lot for a week, but all the students should separate each etude into one week each. That is the goal right now. As they begin to dig through everything, I expect A LOT of responses with things I should fix and improve on.

Now as that happens, I am going to continue writing etudes. As the number gets higher the etudes get harder and I intend on it being difficult to not overdo it in difficulty. Getting to the harder etudes bring the challenge of how to interpret harder rhythmic passages. Even though I am the only composer, I always try to look at these etudes as an outsider.

 How Can You Help?

I am still accepting applicants to join me in this project. The steps are extremely easy. Just go to my projects page and scroll to the bottom. Follow the steps and you are all set! Have any questions? Fill out my contact form and I will get back to you as soon as possible.