Video Learning Tips & Info


Take Your Time

djembe drumming in Goa

All the lessons are set up with a demo of the piece played at full speed or moderate speed. This will let you hear what it sounds like once you have learned it. I will cover the material at fast, moderate, slow, and very slow speed. I will do breakdowns and buildups. We all learn differently, so therefore I am offering many ways for you to get this material. 

Please give yourself time to learn, and be kind to yourself. You will probably not learn it overnight or from watching the lesson only one time. The more time you put into these lessons, and the more you practice effectively, the more you will get out of them. 

Captions

For part of the lesson I use captions in the lower third of the screen where I will name the type of sound I am making. For example, if I play a slap, the caption will say “S” or “slap”. The same goes for open tones, bass tones, or flams. This will make it easier for you to follow along.

The captions do not reflect timing, counting or notation. I do not use western musical notation, and if you learn best that way, then these lessons are probably not for you. You may develop your own notation system, or you might find my lesson on notation interesting. 

Disclaimer

Everything I teach is my own version. I do not pretend to be a master, nor do I claim this is the only way or the right way. It’s just the way I do it. I am a lifelong student and because I love to study I have learned easy ways to share material and to explain and simplify what I have learned. When I am taught something, often I make a video recording of the lesson so I can take it home, slow it down, and spend hours learning the material. Some of the solo chains I teach, many of them in fact, I have been working on for several years!

As I have performed all the parts, and done all the recording, filming, and editing myself you may occasionally find a spelling or grammar error in these lessons. Forgive me! I apologize in advance. I have gone over every video several times but I may well have missed an error.

Michael Pluznick Website