Download Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | RSS When I first made the decision to go all in on the drums I decided to kick off my journey by attending one of Mike Johnston's drum camps. Ever been? Do yourself a favor and go. I had a blast and learned so much. Anyway, at one point Mike and I sat down and created a plan for me to follow so that I could make a living playing drums. He also suggested I take lessons with his good friend Matt Halpern of the band Periphery. If you don't know Matt, (I'm guessing you do) but if you don't, now would be a good time to do a little googleing. Matt and I skyped and he told me about this guy who trains drummers. He's the Mr. Miyagi of the drumming world and his name is Grant Menefee. Menefee is a Berklee Graduate, professional drummer and a world class drum educator. He's taught the likes of Jon Theodore (Mars Volta, Queens of the Stoneage), Matt Halpern (Periphery), Nate Morton (The Voice), Mike Reid (Demi Levato, Janet Jackson, Charlie Pluth), and there's many many more. When you're an educator you have to put yourself second. While I'm with students, I'm dealing with their goals, not mine. In order to achieve those goals talent helps, but work ethic is the most important, without a doubt."
In this episode Grant Menefee talks about:
10 Comments
Zac Pless
2/25/2019 09:05:19 am
This podcast format is great, I was also one of Grants students, this was super informative and totally kept my attention. Keep it up!
JT
2/25/2019 09:18:00 am
Zac - I'll keep that in mind for future podcast episodes. Definitely trying to keep it different around here. Thanks for the comment :)
Michael J Bacon
2/25/2019 10:39:41 am
I agree: Baltimore has a serious drumming community. Grant was my first teacher. I learned so much in such a short time. Only 3 months after beginning lessons, I was in a band and we learned 40 songs in 8 days. He taught me the value of music in my life. I call him the Fred Gruber of modern drumming.
JT
2/25/2019 11:13:25 am
Michael - I'm so glad you could connect with this episode and Grant. I'll pass him along the comment. He'll be super appreciative. :)
JT
2/25/2019 11:05:49 am
Cool! I'm really glad you enjoyed the episode. What did you think of the format? This sort of NPR style of show?
Lorenzo Halo
2/25/2019 08:12:11 pm
I have been studying with Grant for two years. Grant is more than a great drum instructor, he is a friend. I had an abusive drum teacher and realized I could not learn that way. Been working on reading and independence. I lack the discipline of some of the younger players. I did not have my first lesson until I was 28 years old (40 years ago). Many bad habits to break. Worked with quite a few drum teachers in the past and Grant is the warmest and most down to earth. He doesn't berate his students if they have a bad day. And he lives ten minutes from my house. Grant is a great teacher and person.
JT
2/25/2019 08:33:33 pm
Hey Lorenzo - glad you've enjoyed Grant's teaching and I hope you enjoyed the episode. Believe it or not, I didn't have my first private lesson till I was about 32 when I began studying with Grant. It's never too late :)
Gregg Martin
3/7/2019 07:08:48 pm
Great podcast Grant. Justin this this was well done.
Justin
3/10/2019 08:06:55 am
Hey Gregg - appreciate the feedback. More quality content to come :)
JT
3/31/2019 05:27:50 pm
Hey Gregg - any other drummer's you'd like to hear on the show? Leave a Reply. |