As a matter of full disclosure, BANG! will get a small percentage commission from any purchases you make using the above Amazon links.  We don’t expect these commissions to add very much to our bottom line; for us, the point of the links is to give you a very reliable and very easy way to get the gear required to take the course.  We want these little details to be “plug and play” for you, so you can spend your time learning the drums rather than trying to figure out what practice pad to buy or where to buy it.  Make sense? OK, onward! If you haven’t signed up yet, scroll back up to the three classes being offered, pick one and hit that “sign up now” button.  See you in class!

Please pardon this serious talk for a moment.  We just want to make sure you’re OK with the TERMS OF SALE before you purchase your spot in one of the classes.  And without further delay, the terms follow…

Except as covered in the 30-day Guarantee there are no refunds for spots bought in the Absolute Beginners Group Class.  The Guarantee works as such: If you take the class and after completion you feel that the information imparted to you was not helpful in learning to play the drums, you can get a full refund within 30 days of the date of the last class. A sales receipt is required.  Other than as specified in said guarantee, all sales are final.  In addition, other terms follow. You may not purchase a spot and give it to another person; the class spots are non-transferrable. In addition, you may not defer your spot to another class at a later date; class spots are only valid for the purchased class dates. There are no make-ups for missed classes; you may not sit in on other classes if you miss one of your assigned dates.  Sorry to sound all serious and business-like, but we need to have these policies in place in order for things to run smoothly around here.  Thanks for reading.  And now, let’s play drums!

Here’s a bit more about me. I want to tell you why I teach and why I opened BANG! The Drum School.

First, the reason for wanting to teach drumming is simple. I want you to experience the happiness that I feel when I play the drums. There is nothing in this world (except my family) that gives me as much joy as playing the drums. The pursuit of the skills and knowledge and the actual playing of the instrument have made me happy in a way that words can not express. And I’ve had drums in my life for many years, so the positive feelings from these experiences have been profound for me.

It occurred to me that I could share the skills that have brought me these positive feelings with others. Drumming has brought me so much pleasure; I wanted to see if I could help others experience that same happiness. It’s really that simple. I want as many people as possible to experience the joy of drumming. It’s real and I hope that you will get to feel that euphoria yourself as you begin to play and get better as a drummer.

And second, here’s why I opened BANG! The Drum School.

Having considered the idea of spreading the positivity of drumming to others, I knew I wanted to start teaching. So, I started looking around at what was “out there.” Who was teaching? What were they doing? How were they doing it?

The first thing I noticed was that many of those teaching seemed to want to teach all sorts of really advanced drumming. Videos of crazy drumming stuff were (and still are) everywhere. But what about beginners? Where was the love for people who had never played drums before? There was some content for beginners, but not that much. It certainly didn’t appear that the beginner was a priority for most teachers and schools. Hmmm….(strokes beard thoughtfully).

I thought I could do something about that. There needed to be a place where beginners were a priority; where they felt special and taken care of.

Then, as I was thinking about all of this, one of my good drummer friends invited me to visit him where he was teaching. He was an associate professor of drum set studies at a pretty prestigious music school (I’m not going to tell you the name). I went to visit him and he introduced me to some of the other teachers there. I could not believe the attitude of some of these teachers. Many of them were condescending, unfriendly and unwelcoming. They were full of ego and conceit. The environment at the school was negative and competitive. I was shocked.

But it was then that I knew what to do. My school would be the opposite of where my friend worked. BANG would a place where everyone was welcome, where all the teachers would be friendly, helpful, encouraging, enthusiastic and ego-less. My teachers would be amazing drummers and teachers, but if they were not humble and if they did not have that sparkle in their eye when they thought about drumming, they would not be welcome. BANG! The Drum School would be where beginners in particular would feel very comfortable and relaxed.

So, that’s a lot of my story, as it pertains to BANG, anyway.  I hope we get the chance to study drumming together.