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I first started teaching out of one of my apartments in 1976.
Then in
August of 1977 I started teaching at Jordan's music store in Woodland
Hills, California. I didn't much care for the environment, the owner of
the store was more interested in selling equipment to kids, rather then
me teaching the students. So I quit and started up R.F.P.S. in another
one of my apartments in Canoga Park, California.
All of my students from the music store decided to stick with me as
their teacher, even though the owner of the store wasn't very happy with
me for stealing all of his students. But that's the way things turned
out. It was great for me, as I started out with over 40 students wanting
to study with me.
Business was good, word got around the valley that there was a new young
drum teacher who was teaching the Murray Spivack method. The students kept rolling in, the problem was, I
had a few students that were only six months behind me in my studies
with Murray Spivack. So it required me to study my ass off to keep ahead
of them.
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With all of my students and a steady income, I
was able the quit the day job I had in a factory inspecting motors for
fans. So spent a large amount of money investing into my studio, a
complete drum teaching library. Some of the same books I used while
studying with Murray Spivack. I also made custom drum pads for me and my
students. I had mirrors mounted on the ceiling and floor to watch the
students hands from all directions.
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I also created monthly
evaluation sheets for my students to help them to gage their
progress while studying, it was just like going to school. I
also had a "Student of the Week" plaque for that one student who showed
the most effort and improvement during that week. I found this to be a very
good motivating tool for the students, as they all knew each other
and it helped them study even harder, as they all wanted to be
student of the week.
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By the time 1980 rolled around, I had finished
my studies with Murray Spivack and all my other teachers. So I decided
it was time for me to join a touring road band. This would give me a
chance to put all I had learned into practice. So I stopped teaching
for a while and embarked into the world as a professional drummer. I
taught every time I had some time off from touring, but never to the
level I did during the 1970s. |
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