Each month, Hudson Music features a different teacher from our Teacher Integration Program (TIP). This month, we focus on Claude Hoffmann from Brussels and Luxembourg
Where are you located, and where do you teach?
Luxemburg and Brussels (Europe)
How many students do you teach, and what is their range of ability levels?
More or less 40 students, beginner to pro, but mainly advanced to semi-pro. The youngest is 8 years old.
What are your favorite teaching materials?
Hapke’s Drums Easy (for beginners), my own “Ternary Drumset Playing”, Stick Control, Joe Morello’s Master Studies, Tommy Igoe’s Groove Essentials.
How are you incorporating new media (DVDs, Mp3s, Internet, etc) into your teaching?
Mainly Hudson DVD’s (Greb, Meyer, Smith …) to visualize and analyze technique. Mp3s have now almost completely replaced CD and Minidisc for Play-Along use. PDF sheets fromDVDs are often very useful. Internet is not often used, sometimes to download a score of a hit song. YouTube quality is too bad be used.
Do you have any funny anecdotes or stories from your teaching?
One that comes to my mind right away: Some years ago we had a small kid suffering from autism as a student. He took piano lessons and had the absolute ear. One day he came to my drum room. We stopped, astonished. He touched all the elements of all the drums very gently, then said: “ I’m looking for the silence of the drums”.
What are your general thoughts on drumming, teaching, music….?
- Lessons are surprisingly popular in times of crises.
- Teachers should be as well live and studio drummers. Important to be updated in those domains, unfortunately this is not always the case.
- As well, we teachers (not only drum teachers) have a job to tell people about the reality of music business – about cheating in studio and on stage, promotion of music, etc.
Check Claude out via his website at www.claudehoffmann.com or his myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/claudehoffmann