Verified
Olie Taylor
DBSOnline lessonsFriendly, relaxed pro musician teaching drums & percussion
Drum teacher: Jazz, Latin, Funk, Rock, Orchestral
*Teaching Skype lessons at a reduced rate!* *Lots of availability Thursdays & Fridays during the day as of March 2020 *Teaching peripatetic drums and percussion in two schools in Knightsbridge and Hackney I have a 2:1 Bmus in Performance & Production from LCCM. The skills I have learned from my degree are as follows: -I am a competent reader, able to sight read music for musical theatre, jazz and latin arrangements -I have an in depth knowledge of a wide range of styles: Jazz, Latin, Funk, Orchestral, Rock, German oompah music! -I gig regularly, in all of the styles above, I am often called at short notice to dep gigs when the main drummer can't make it. -My ears have improved greatly by going to jazz jams, attending lots of gigs, seeing how the pros do it! -My university was more like an academy, meaning it was 95% practical, in my final year I was in every day 9am-9pm, rehearsing or doing individual practice, the improvement in my playing would not have been equalled had I done a more academic degree. -My ability to work in a team and just communicate with other people has greatly improved. In my final year I was asked by a lot of my peers to play for their recitals, I was overwhelmed with work but managed to pull through, and as a result I have created a good reputation for myself and a long list of musical contacts, something very valuable. -I have grade 5 music theory, putting it to practical use by writing music for string quartet, jazz combos and salsa bands. I have also created backing tracks for my own original music. -Using electronic sounds within a normal acoustic set-up is something i do regularly now. I often have a metronome in my ears on live gigs, and have to play specific electronic sounds in time through a Roland SPDSX, this gives me the ability to replicate specific sounds from studio versions of tracks. I come from a family where music is extremely important. At school, my first band was a rock covers band where my brother played bass. We played regularly in pubs in Dorset, (you may have heard of the Teddy Rocks festival, we played in the very first festival and have played with my band Last Resort ever since). My first teacher was keen for me to learn how to read music, meaning I could play in school orchestras for musicals. I have 2 Grade 8 distinctions, one from Rockshool and one from Trinity Guildhall, I did the rockschool one first and then thought it best to add the Trinity one! The rock band i was in still plays, we have an EP online and continue to write original music. Having just finished uni, I am keen to start my musical career ASAP, I want to stay in London, because it has the best music scene in Europe!! My teaching has reading and listening at it's heart. The best thing I have done since coming to London is open my ears to all the styles I didn't like, listen over and over, until they started to grow on me! Music is a cultural and historical lesson as well, it's interesting to see where the popular styles of today came from! Reading will just make you more employable as all the session, musical theatre and holiday camp drummers will tell you! I use software such as Noteflight which allows me to playback scores, making sight reading an easier and more enjoyable process, and meaning I can share scores with students via email. Each student is also given a video recording of what we studied in the lesson, which is a very valuable resource, something they can take away from each lesson, and makes remembering what we learned much easier! I look forward to answering any queries you may have and hope to teach you very soon!
Ask a question to our educators
