David F. TakeLessons Instructor Music, Drums, Percussion, Drumset, Vibraphone Baltimore Ave., Philadelphia, PA

David was born in 1982 in New York City and has been immersed in music his entire life. Indeed, as a young child, he saw pretty much the whole world as one big drum, leading to comments like "No tapping at the dinner table!" Luckily, Dave found an outlet for his percussiveness at school, where he learned his drum rudiments at the tender age of 10 and was playing on his first drum set just a couple of years later. Dave was a member of the percussion ensemble, jazz combo, and jazz big band at his High School, as well as a number of unforgettably amazing cover bands.

When Dave first went off to Kenyon College, a small liberal-arts college in rural Ohio, he thought for sure that he would study literature and classics, but he just couldn't resist the call of music. While simultaneously pursuing a degree in Ancient Greek, Dave decided to major in Music and joined as many school ensembles as he could (percussion ensemble, jazz combo, and symphonic wind ensemble). He performed in a number of student bands, including a hip-hop collective, a jazz-funk instrumental ensemble, a Grateful Dead cover band, and a number of singer-songwriter projects. In class, Dave studied music history, music theory, composition, piano, and counterpoint.

Feeling that his musical training was not quite complete, Dave enrolled in the New England Conservatory in Boston to study jazz performance. NEC provided incredible training and connected Dave with musicians who remain colleagues and band mates to this day. While at NEC, Dave continued his studies in music theory and music history and studied privately with drum legends Billy Hart (Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery, Stan Getz), Bob Moses (Pat Metheny, Gary Burton, Tisziji Muñoz) and jazz pianist Frank Carlberg (Bob Brookmeyer). He also studied and performed with Dave Holland, Roscoe Mitchell, John Hollenbeck, Jerry Bergonzi, Cecil McBee, Allan Chase, and many others. Dave received his Master's degree in Jazz Performance from New England Conservatory in 2007.

Dave has recently re-located to Philadelphia after living in Boston for nearly three years. He has performed regularly in the Boston-area and collaborates with musicians from New York and Boston for performances throughout the Northeast. He has played at such clubs as The Middle East (Boston), The Stone (New York), The Lily Pad (Boston), AS220 (Providence), Milkboy Coffee (Ardmore, PA), TT The Bear's Place (Boston), Luna Lounge (New York), and Caffé Lena (Saratoga Springs, NY), among others. Dave has begun teaching part-time at the Paul Green School of Rock here in Philadelphia and is looking forward to spreading roots in his new hometown.

My aim as a teacher is to bring out your own personal voice on the drum set. This means that although part of your lessons will include demonstrating practice assignments and learning specific drum patterns, the bulk of our time together will be dedicated to discovering and refining who you are as a musician, and, by extension, who you are as a person. I occasionally give written assignments to my students, especially towards the beginning of their studies, but I put much more emphasis on being able to hear what you play (and play what you hear) and mastering a strong and relaxed groove that will make everyone want to play with you.

I am a patient, supportive, energetic, and perceptive teacher. Everyone learns in their own way, and I will work to find the method of instruction and explanation that works for you. In our first lesson, we will set reasonable, attainable goals for a specific time frame. These goals can range from being able to play through an entire song with a simple rock beat in a month to learning the intricacies of funk rhythm sections and being able to play an air-tight funk groove in three months. I teach all levels and all ages. Finally, I think that every good teacher learns as much from his or her students and they do from their teacher, and I will reciprocate every effort that you put into learning the drums.

I specialize in jazz, rock, and Latin drum set performance. I am also skilled at and have extensively education in music theory and history.

Music, Drums, Percussion, Drumset, Vibraphone