David Stanoch School Of Drumming

Welcome to the David Stanoch School of Drumming! My approach to teaching music on the drumset is based on a process of illumination. I want my students to understand not only how playing the instrument works but why things do or don’t work and what choices best serve the music you are playing. I want them to end every lesson ahead in their abilities from where they were at the beginning.

Music is my passion and also my vocation. I’ve been fortunate to study myself with some legendary drumset artists and have years of performance experience. It all informs my approach as an educator. I believe that the ultimate goal as players is to ”tell our own story,” isn’t it? What is your story today and what do you want it to be tomorrow?

So many of my former students have gone on to exciting careers in music. You can find some performing with artists like Lizzo, Ice T, Mint Condition, Trace Adkins, Scooter Jennings, Five Finger Death Punch, After the Burial, Acoustic Alchemy, Cloud Cult, Wookiefoot, Mickey Hart and even the Barnum & Bailey Circus! Several others have authored their own drum method books, write for Modern Drummer, DRUM!, and Drumhead magazines, and teach at Musicians Institute and School of Rock. One owns his own school in Iceland and another one even invented the Quiztone app!

I am based in Minneapolis, MN where I teach globally online as well as locally in the city. I am here for YOU! What are your goals? Let me inspire you to move closer to them than ever before. We’ll have fun working hard together doing something we both love. What could be better?

Lessons Available Onsite or Online! Feel free to contact me.

davidstanochschoolofdrumming.com

I have drummed professionally since age 12, and have worked with artists in jazz, rock, R&B, Broadway, motion pictures and television, including Hiram Bullock, George Clinton, Sheryl Crow, Richard Davis, Stanley Jordan, Keb' Mo, New Kids On The Block, Bonnie Raitt, Doc Severinsen, Ben Sidran, Timbuk 3, Butch Vig, The Supremes' Mary Wilson.

I currently record, tour and am musical director for Emmy-winner, Shaun Johnson's Big Band Experience. I taught on the faculty of McNally Smith College of Music for 27 years until the school closed in 2017, have also taught as a guest instructor at the Berklee College of Music, and present clinics and masterclasses at PASIC, NAMM and KoSA events around North America.

My method book, Mastering the Tables of Time, was voted “#1 Edu Book," in the Modern Drummer 2009 Readers Poll. I've co-authored The 2 in 1 Drummer (2013) and Drumset Rhythms (2020)––all available from Alfred Music Publishing. Mastering the Tables of Time is also available digitally from Hudson Music.

I also write for Modern Drummer, magazine and contributed to Jim Berkenstadt’s book, The Beatle Who Vanished (now being made into a major motion picture), and am currently Drum Set Editor for Percussive Notes, the journal of the Percussive Arts Society.

Myself, I've studied with many of drumming’s greatest masters, including Elliot Fine, Marvin Dahlgren, Max Roach, Alan Dawson, Ignacio Berroa, Jeff Hamilton and Chad Wackerman, and I am currently a member of the Percussive Arts Society Drum Set Committee, as well as the Modern Drummer, Remo and Vic Firth Educational Teams.

In 2018, I was presented the Legacy in Education Award by the Yamaha Musical Instrument Corp of America, and, in 2020, was one of four renowned instructors chosen by NAMM’s Percussion Marketing Council to teach in their 25th Anniversary Lessons With A Master campaign. I proudly endorse the fine percussion products made by Yamaha, Paiste, Remo, Vic Firth, Latin Percussion and Prologix Percussion.