Building a Curriculum

For reasons that soon will become evident (remember my little "secret"), I have been considering building a comprehensive drum curriculum for my students. The idea is to build a graduated system with four or six levels of difficulty. Upon completion of the program, the student should have enough knowledge that they can gain acceptance to the music program in almost any post-secondary institution.

Warning! This entry may be very boring to the common reader!

The problem I am facing, is that I have so many topics I want to cover in said program, that it would virtually impossible for any student to complete the program in six years. I have about 40 drum-related books, plus I have literally hundreds (maybe even thousands) of exercises from issues of Modern Drummer Magazine.

What I really should do, is consult the music faculties at nearby Colleges and Universities, and ask them what their requirements are to gain acceptance to their program. Another avenue which would be beneficial is to pick up a copy of the Royal Conservatory of Music Drum Syllabus, and do some research there. It is easier to write such a program when you know what it should cover in the end.

I would really like a four-tier system, as this would work nicely with the way I teach rudiments. Since I teach 40 rudiments, I break them up into four sets of 10, of increasing difficulty. I would like to teach ten in each tier. I doubt I could cover all the material I would like in four short years. Six years might be more manageable. This works well, as most high-school band programs are six years in length. I still don't believe that proficiency in the high-school band program would guarantee acceptance into the music program at a post-secondary institution.

I know that my program should cover the following elements:

1. Rudiments
2. Coordinated Independence
3. Reading
4. Symphonic Snare Technique
5. Tympani
6. Auxiliary Percussion (Tambourine, Bells, Shakers, etc.)
   
7. Latin Percussion (Bongos, Conga, and Timbale)
8. Mallets (Xylophone, Vibes, and Marimba)
9. Rock Drumming
10. Jazz Drumming
11. Latin / World Percussion

Many of these subjects can take years to attain an acceptable degree of proficiency. The study of Jazz drumming, for instance, is a lifetime endeavor. How am I going to compress all I need my students to know in six years? Furthermore, I do not have access to all the instruments I would like. I only have a drumset and a few auxiliary percussion instruments at my disposal. It is unbelievable how expensive symphonic instruments are. I don't have the space I need to keep tympani and a marimba in my studio. I barely have enough room for two drumsests!

It is likely that I am going to have to first build a very large program, and then do my best to separate the "wheat from the chaff". I can already see that this process is going to take years.

Years ago, studio legend Gary Chester created a brilliant drumming program. Many of the exercises he provided to his students are noted in his books "The New Breed", and "The New Breed 2". One of his brilliant motivational tools was if his students performed his practice material well enough, Gary would then assign the student a "Bonus" exercise. The Bonus, was an exercise of considerable difficulty. I find it ironic that a student would be pleased by being assigned an incredibly difficult exercise, but Gary was a unique teacher, and drummers would travel across the world to study with him.

I thought I would like to apply the bonus ideas to my curriculum. I don't think I could build a system superior to Gary's, but it might be the answer to creating a comprehensive drum program with a minimal amount of paperweight.

Let's start simple. In the program I wish to build, the majority of the student's first year of studies would focus on Ted Reed's Syncopation. This is a brilliant book. At first glance, the book doesn't look like much, but it is in the applications that this book really shines. There are a million different ways to play the exercises in the book. It is in the applications that I hope I can build some ideas for Bonus exercises for ambitious beginner students. The student of course, would have to demonstrate the ability to perform the assigned exercise to some degree of proficiency, but then, I could apply the bonuses. The bonuses could get more complicated as the student progresses in the book. The following list is just a few ideas on the different ways to apply the first 12 lessons in Ted Reed's Book.

1. Play the exercise as written
2. Play the bass drum part with the hi-hat and play the snare part with the bass drum
3. As (2, above), but play 2 & 4 on the snare.
   
4. Play the exercise as written, but play eighth notes on the hi-hat or ride.
   
5. Play the exercise as written, but play a bossa-nova or samba pattern with the bass drum
6. Play the exercise as written, with a jazz ride pattern, plus 2&4 on the hi-hat with the left foot
7. Play the exercise as written, plus any of the following hi-hat patterns: quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, broken triplets (i.e. shuffle), plus various broken sixteenth note patterns.
   
8. Play any of the above exercises, adding either quarter notes, eighth notes, upbeat eighths, or 2&4 with the left-foot on the hi-hat pedal.

As you can see, using the above applications, there is no shortage of bonus material. Some, of course are much harder than others.

All this being said, to just cover the above 8 applications could potentially take the student 8 years to learn just the book. I think I am in over my head. I may return to this subject at a time when I have a better understanding of what I am getting myself into.