Drum Lessons With Logan!

Drum Lessons with Logan – Red Pelican Music, Los Angeles, CA

Logan has a deep love for teaching drums. Whether you are a 5-year-old beginner or an adult with a ton of experience, you’ll be energized by his enthusiasm and talent. Please enjoy our interview with Logan, and sign-up to get started with drum lessons! (If you are not in the Los Angeles area, don’t fret, Logan also gives lessons worldwide via Zoom or FaceTime. Same great quality, without an airplane ticket 😉

Without further ado, here’s the interview:

When did you start playing? I first started in 6th grade band when all students were given the choice between concert band, orchestra or a “study skills” class as a mandatory elective – wasn’t at all on my radar to start learning an instrument, but another percussionist in the band took drum set lessons and would play on the kit in the band room for certain pieces or before/after class, and I first learned how to play a few different drum set patterns by watching what he did and then later trying to match what he did just by tapping with my hands and feet (sometimes in other classes instead of paying attention!). I then distinctly remember a day I had to drop something off at the band room after school, and the kit was just sitting there, and so with no one else there and I finally attempted to play what I had worked out, and I was immediately hooked! Started formal lessons soon after.

What was music like for you as a kid? Took lessons for a while, and during high school I partook in almost everything – concert band, jazz band, pep band (I come from a small town so we didn’t have a formal marching band), musicals, summer camps, etc as well as jamming with guitarist buddies – was fortunate enough to get to play in a couple cover bands with friends towards the end of high school

Tell me about your educational background. Graduated from University of Southern California’s Popular Music Program in 2013

Tell me about some of your favorite musicians. Tons of favorite drummers – Steve Jordan, Josh Freese and Matt Chamberlain influenced me a lot.

Tell me about some of your favorite instructional books or materials. “New Breed” by Gary Chester is amazing once you have a basic handle on how drum set patterns work. “Future Sounds” by David Garibaldi is actually something I was worked through for the first time during the pandemic and think it’s genius, although it’s a little on the advanced side. “Stick Control” and “150 All-American Solos” are classics for the hands that also help tons for drum set players.

What are the essential things for a beginner to have? Honestly any kit works great, if you know how to play with care, and also spend time learning how to tune a kit – getting a good quality throne though can be a game changer, and is usually the first upgrade most people recommend. Sound isolating/cancelling headphones are a must.

Tell me about your teaching approach/philosophy. I try to get students to be able to do what they enjoy most – learning as quickly and efficiently as possible, whether that’s being able to play along to their favorite songs, fine tuning their vocabulary and technique, diving deeper into complexities of drum set, or developing skill sets that are needed for playing on a professional level. I emphasize teaching the techniques/concepts that I had figure out myself throughout years of touring and recording and playing, in addition to the things that were most valuable from private lessons.

Favorite styles of music to teach? Any and all! As my students know, the playlists that I pull from, for song projects and examples of concepts we cover, is all over the place, which is super important – developing taste as a musician is really critical, and the only way you do that, is by listening to tons of stuff

What are some of your favorite things about teaching? While there are tons of frustrating moments that happen when you learn an instrument, I feel that there is a very apparent joy when people progress musically and start being able to engage with music in ways they couldn’t before, and it’s always awesome to be a part of that 🙂

Interested in drum lessons with Logan? He offers studio and in-home drum lessons in West Los Angeles, as well as online lessons. Give us a ring (310) 893-0776, or sign-up!