Author: Joel Seah

There is a song that I always use for play-alongs in class. It’s one of my all-time favourites, “ have you ever seen the rain?” by Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR). When students have new drum concepts to test out I’ll jump on my piano, and play this wonderful tune along with them.  CCR was first…

It’s been a while since I posted.  I can’t believe more than a year has passed since starting P37. Life has slowed down for the better, and I’m enjoying everyday. My schedule has more or less stabilised, students are coming regularly and a comfortable routine has settled. My young students (those that are between 5-9…

It’s been an awesome 6 months since the start of P37. As I reflect on the past year, I am thankful that my life has improved significantly. I’m in a better position, mentally, physically, spiritually and financially. I have more time on my hands to spend time with my family, I exercise very regularly now…

I just finished about an hours’ worth of piano practice, rehearsing 2 mandarin songs. Boy are these songs tough! The average tempo of the tunes are between 140-160bpm. I’m preparing these songs so that I can jam with my students on their next lesson. Students come in often, requesting for songs that they would like…

It’s been about 5 months since starting P37. I took a considerable amount of time and late nights developing my personal drumkit syllabus, thinking that it would form the bulk of my classes; turns out I was completely wrong. Having a healthy number of regular drum students now, I find myself spending 80% of my…

Teaching kids is tough. There are 2 main aspects to balance when teaching kids: interest level and discipline. Teachers need to make the class engaging enough that young students find the classes fun, but at the same time not to compromise on the learning. Vice versa, we cannot expect the child to drill drum exercises…

In endeavoring a private drum lesson business, I’m constantly worrying about how to get new students. It’s a very real and logical fear, and it’s this healthy fear that motivates me to give my best to my students. Never shortchange those that you serve. The fact of the matter is, no matter how well you…

A couple of weeks ago, my projector broke down, 20 minutes before class. The projector is an important piece of hardware for me to conduct classes, it flashes syllabus notes for students to refer to. Having no backup plan, I panicked. I was no stranger to equipment breakdown though, but it’s been a while since…

I had my first encounter with drum exams at 19. I was working in my piano teacher’s school at that time (as a drum teacher), and was thinking of upgrading myself. Back then, having about 6 years of drumming under my belt, I just about had the technical knowledge to teach, but unfortunately did not…

I’ve been charting out tons of music over the past month, mostly song requests from students. It’s good practice; the process sharpens my listening skills and the transcribed songs are never a wasted effort, as it adds more content into the curriculum. On average, it takes about an hour for me to chart a song,…