Kevin Katich Drum Lessons

After I get a sense of the student's level, I customize my instruction to their needs and wants. More often than not, the issues standing in their way have to do with technique, breath and proper body mechanics. No matter the genres of music, I find myself teaching many of the same concepts universally: proper technique/body mechanics, breathing consistently, getting out of your own way and allowing the sicks and pedals do the work for you, proper rebounds, etc. Technique aside, I cater my musical instruction to the student's desires and will introduce them to related genres/subgenres of music.

I have been teaching freelance consistently for the past eleven years. I have also been teaching at School of Rock for the past seven years. I have taught students of all levels, ages ranging from seven to sixty-five. In my teens, I studied with Mark Craney (Jethro Tull, Jean Luc Ponty, Gino Vanelli, Dweezil and Frank Zappa, Tower of Power), John Molo (Bruce Hornsby, John Fogerty, Moonalice), Gregg Bissonette (David Lee Roth, Maynard Furgason) and Tony Pia (Edgar Winter, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Doobie Brothers). In addition to teaching, I have my own recording studio where I work as a recording, mixing and mastering engineer and I write and arrange music for my own project, Dark Moon Tragedy. I have played, recorded and toured with many bands and artists over the years including Edge of Paradise, Living Dead Stars, Void Vator, Adrenalin Red, Lettrice Lawrence, John Fogerty, Gene Simmons, Reba MacIntyre, Stephen Stills, Gnarls Barkley, Solomon Burke, etc.

I charge $75 per hour of instruction. I recommend a full hour so the lesson doesn’t feel rushed and we have time to go more in depth. However, I do also offer 45 minute lessons for $55 and 30 minute lessons for $40.

When I was in high school, one of the music instructors asked me to teach an ethnic percussion class to her sixth grade class. I also interned at a nonprofit organization called Rock the Classroom that brought music education to inner city 5th graders. In both cases, I had a blast sharing my knowledge with enthusiastic students and wanted to continue.

I have worked with students of all levels ranging from total beginners to fellow professional working drummers/percussionists. Some students I've worked with have had a strong technical foundation but a limited musical vocabulary. Other students have had the inverse: strong musical vocabulary and understanding but difficulty in their technical execution. I have taught every kind of student you can imagine in my years of teaching, so no student really surprises me at this point.

The best teachers are the teachers who cater to each individual student's interests and needs, as opposed to a teacher who creates a rigid curriculum that in theory is supposed to apply to every student. When it comes to music, or anything artistic for that matter, the end goal is to be able to create something genuine and original that people can relate to. I am the type of teacher that provides an environment where students are encouraged to find themselves and create their own style and approach to drumming once they've developed their technique and vocabulary.

Potential students should be asking themselves specifically what musical styles they want to learn and what they want to get out of my lessons beyond general improvement.  They should be thinking about both long term and short term goals.