Jim Farey writes...

New mobile view and back to school products!

2011-08-27T11:27:00.003+01:00

Blogger tells me that there are now optimised templates for mobile devices, I've never been so excited! Check it out on your phone now!

Also, check out the blog at http://DS4B.blogspot.com, it's the perfect time to get a copy of Drumset for Beginners as a back to school aid or gift for friends and family! Link through from the blog, or if you'd prefer, check out www.JimFarey.com.

Keep drumming, keep in touch!

The Stanley Kay Swingin' Scholarship for Big Band Drummer

2011-01-04T00:06:00.005Z

I received this in my inbox today from Bryan at the Vic Frith company. Please pass it around as it is a great opportunity for a young drummer to start to make their mark in the world.

Many thanks.

Quote:

SK　is well known for his on-going stint as manager of the　Buddy Rich Band and also for drumming in Buddy's stead.　Throughout the　1940s, 50s　& 60s　SK　played for musical greats Patti Paige, Frankie Laine and Josephine Baker.　Stanley went on to conduct and create acts　for show　biz icons　Hines, Hines & Dad and actress Michele Lee.　 In the 1980s SK became　Entertainment Director for The New York Yankees and In 1992 he founded the world renown DIVA Jazz Orchestra. Stanley remained DIVA's creative force and CEO until his passing in June of 2010.

Sherrie Maricle and The DIVA Jazz Orchestra will honor the musical legacy, integrity, creativity and　excellence of Stanley Kay through his scholarship, offering an opportunity for a seriously swingin' big band drummer between the ages of 15 - 21 to attend any 2 week session of The New York Summer Music Festival (see

http://www.nysmf.org/ for details.)　FREE of charge.

Applicant　are required to　send the following to:

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra
Materials must be received by May 31st, 2011.　Please write SK Scholarship on the envelope flap.
; 1 River Place-Suite 817; New York, New York 10019
　
1.)　　A cover letter expressing WHY this opportunity would make a difference in　their musical　life.
2.) A CD or DVD　of their playing　the head and shout section (only)　of a Big Band Chart　in these styles:　 a.)　Medium or up-tempo swing
　　　　　　　　　 b.) Ballad
　　　　　　　　　 c.) Either Afro-Cuban (mambo,　songo, cha-cha)　 OR　Brazilian (Samba, Bossa-Nova, Baiao);
　　　　　　　　　 d.) Optional - applicant's choice to showcase what they do best.　
If applicant can't edit their recording then timing cues should be included　, clearly marking the beginning of　each required section
.
　
3.) A letter of recommendation from a music teacher.

SK said: "If you LOVE it (drumming) you will definitely succeed as a player.　If you LIKE it, you should do something else."

Bryan Scheidecker

Vic Firth Company

Nottingham Drummers' Forum a huge success, read on for comments and photos

2010-12-20T12:00:00.000Z

I'm proud to say that the first Nottingham Drummers' Forum went extremely well and that it is certainly something I will be hosting more of!

The vibe was good, the people were friendly, the discussion was informative and interesting and the speakers bought something to the table for all to ponder on and the food was nice!

Unfortunately, one of the speakers could not make it due to the weather, But, after my presentation on bass line interpretation and some progressive modulation ideas and some food, Steve Barwell's slightly extended talk on short rolls in orthodox jazz time keeping and some words of wisdom on the orchestral percussion front made us all quite happy. We rounded the night off with some jams with the present painist, saxophonist and bassist and generally had a blast.

Here's what people had to say about it, particular thanks to Wayne for his support before the event which galvanised me on my path of drum geekdom!

"Great night. Really enjoyed it!" - Chris Shepperson, bass accompanist at NDF #1.

"Thanks Jim for allowing me to take part and meet some great players... Yes I would love to come back and speak again." - Steve Barwell, speaker at NDF #1.

"It was very good Jimbo, thanks to you and Steve for providing some valuable homework." - Paul Marston, NDF #1 attendee.

"Had a wicked time mate, I'll be there for the next!" - Rich "The Gritz" Grindon, drummer for Insidious and Lordaeron, bassist and percussionist.

"For a feature I wrote on John Bonham (DRUM! magazine, Oct. issue) I spoke to a number of major players including Black Sabbath's Bill Ward, who reminisced about his early days in Birmingham, when as teenagers he, Bonham and others would get together and jam on the drums, talk about music and just hang out and learn from each other. All these years later, those times when the lads got together and shared what they know still mean so much to him... they helped him move his drumming forward faster and farther. Hopefully every drummer for miles around Nottingham will make a point of attending your event, Jim, because it's such a great opportunity to live and learn drums, make new friends and become a part of the local scene, either as a teacher or a learner. Indeed, we're all learners..." - Wayne Blanchard, freelance drummer and writer, Canada. Thank you for this inspirational piece on the wall of the firs ever NDF event, it means so much to me.

"Jim, the 1st meeting of NDF was a success! The line-up of speakers and variety of subject matter was really interesting and it was a great opportunity to meet other players and see who is up to what on the Nottingham scene. I'm really looking forward to being a regular face at these events, Cheers." - Chris Livingstone, international teacher and performer, pipe snare drummer, speaker at NDF #2.

"My name is Paul and I'm a drummer. I've been learning for approximately 2 years now and despite 2 excellent teachers I have admittedly found it difficult to pick up the sticks outside the lessons.

Frankly I've been apathetic about practising at home and no amount of good will or encouragement from my tutors changed that. Consequently I've played for about 80+ hours over the last 2 years and that isn't going to make anybody a superb drummer.

Jim Farey mentioned the Nottingham Drummers' Forum to me a few weeks ago and I thought it might be a good idea to attend. The promise of being in and amongst accomplished drummers and tutors as well as students of all abilities really did appeal to me. As well as the social aspect of course :-)

I attended the first forum last week and really enjoyed the experience. As well as some masterclass tuition from the guest drummers I got to play on 2 acoustic drumkits that were set up at the venue.

That is when I woke up and realised my problem... All the good will and encouragement in the world doesn't get me going on an electric kit... I need to hear a booming bass drum under my right foot and have the enhanced tactile feedback of real hi-hat (my favourite part of an acoustic kit). Additionally while playing the kits I was given feedback on my technique and was admittedly a little embarrassed about the quality of my performance. Now of course, I just want to get better... at least as good as I can get for the next forum anyway!

Subsequently I've been using my drum pad at home and spent a few hours shopping around to get myself an acoustic kit. I'm even going to crank up the electric kit to improve my coordination and time-keeping.

My summary of the first forum is that I received excellent tuition and guidance, met some really nice drummers (plus a bassist and saxophonist) and I took away some inspiration and desire to learn, which has invigorated my attitude towards drumming as an art form.

Long may the forum continue! Congratulations to Jim for organising the event." - Paul Marston, drummer from Nottingham.

Many thanks to everyone who took time to write something positive, especially Paul for being very open about his experiences. I hope more people can get something good out of this forum.

The next event is Tuesday 4th January 2011. Tickets are available from my facebook page here or by emailing me at the usual address or calling me. Please check out the photos on facebook or if you aren't on facebook, you can see them on my picasa web album. Don't forget that the generic info for the the event and the flyer is all on a previous blog post for your reading delight.

Thanks to everyone who attended and offered support, judging by ticket sales and enthusiasm levels, the second event should be something even better!

Check out, Steve Barwell, Chris Shepperson, Vic Stinchome and Dave Williams playing below!

Jim Farey presents Nottingham Drummer's Forum, monthly events start this Tuesday

2010-12-05T00:32:00.003Z

A monthly night of drum talk where drummers of all levels can listen and learn from one another and join in with real playing situations. 40 minute sessions will be speaker led and highly interactive, featuring various accompanists and media. Each evening will also have a dedicated open forum style discussion of topics attendees want to discuss. A selection of (filling) food options will be included in the admission price. Numbers are limited to 25 so advanced booking is essential.

First date is Tuesday 7th December 2010! Followed by the first Tuesday in each month, including January.

Click through the title link or go to http://www.facebook.com/JimFareyDrums for more info and tickets.

Looking forward to seeing people there. If anyone has any questions at all, please mail me jim@jimfarey.com. It's all open to discussion!

Great review by Joe Ospalla of Drumset for Beginners - check it out!

2010-11-06T04:45:00.004Z

Just to let everyone know that Joe Ospalla of www.JoeTheDrummer.com has written a very thorough, honest and positive review of Drumset for Beginners by Paul Hose and Jim Farey.

Joe's angle is a pro player and teacher who has taught and played internationally and is currently based in the South-East of England. Check his site out and find the review in his blog/news section.

Here are some of our favourite parts, but to read the full review, visit www.JoeTheDrummer.com:

"Drumset For Beginners by Paul Hose & Jim Farey sets out from the very beginning to put the creativity of the student (and necessarily the teacher) at the forefront of the learning process. It is a comprehensive curriculum for taking a person from their first groove to being a well-rounded drummer."

"...working through fundamental concepts of grooves and fills always emphasising the nascent drummer’s creativity in being able to take each lesson and apply one’s own interpretation."

"The lessons in both [Latin and Jazz] chapters offer a fantastic set of fundamentals to get get students familiar with both styles and which will provide a great stylistic and technical underpinning for developing drummers of all varieties."

"All in all, I really like this book and have started using its ideas with my students and am having very positive results. I feel like I have been given a very clear method to explore which differs from my approach in many ways but which has enough flexibility to enable me to try stuff out and see what fits and what doesn’t."

Don't forget to check out the various websites we have at www.DrumsetForBeginners.com and that if you don't have a copy already you can buy the book from www.JimFarey.com.

Huge thanks to Joe from both Paul and I, he really is an asset to our community!

Jim Farey's video diary UDE 2010 feature on Mike Dolbear's Ultimate Drum Experience website

2010-10-15T15:10:00.000+01:00

Thanks Mike! Check it out

Jim Farey's video diary UDE 2010 | Ultimate Drum Experience

Listmania lists of books and equipment for new and developing drummers by Jim

2010-10-12T04:48:00.001+01:00

Just a short note to say that I've taken the time to compile a list of "essentials" for the new and advancing drummer. The first list is all the things which a drummer may want other than the drum kit itself whilst the second list is an exhaustive list of the texts referred to in the book Drumset for Beginners by Paul Hose and Jim Farey just so that people can easily look up what these books are about.

Remember, this has ben put together through Amazon's Listmania site, but your high street music store needs your support and can offer you the personal advice that no website can. The lists are not perfect, nor exhaustive. They are just starting points for ideas and discussion.

Enjoy drumming and music.

Here's the link.

Looking for a drum teacher near Derby and Nottingham? Check out my old friend David Williams at Smalley Drum School

2010-08-15T11:47:00.002+01:00

Hi all, this is just a quick plug.

I ran into an old friend, a very important old friend in fact - the one who gave my first teacher's number to my Mom so I could start to learn the drums - and I was very happy to hear that he is well and has started up a drum school in Smalley, Derbyshire (map & more info). Creatively named Smalley Drum School.

David Williams has been a pro drummer for literally longer than I can remember with various acts, predominantly Vogue Madonna. I'll add that from a personal perspective, Dave is a top feller and I'm sure that anyone who meets him or takes lessons with him will agree that he's as easy to get along with as can be. It's well worth checking him out if you are in his area.

It was also good to hear that Dave is very interested in the new Drumset for Beginners book which Paul Hose and I recently had published through Alfred Publishing UK!

So what are you waiting for? Just because you live miles from anywhere doesn't mean that there isn't a great teacher with stacks of experience living on your doorstep.

Keep drumming!

Pakistan flood crisis donations

2010-08-10T19:15:00.003+01:00

Hello all, Ihave no idea how many people read this... today and for the last few days, I have been sparing thoughts for the millions affected by the huge floods in Pakistan. If you can spare a few pounds, and I'm sure you can if you want to, please visit http://www.dec.org.uk/ or google the crisis if you aren't from the UK.

Take care,

Jimbo

Drummer Magazine reviews Drumset for Beginners and gives it 4 stars ****

2010-08-09T18:44:00.000+01:00

This month, Drummer Magazine has reviewed Drumset for Beginners by Paul Hose and Jim Farey, giving it 4 out of 5 stars, a "must have it" according to its star rating system.

Drumset for Beginners is available wordlwide through Alfred Publishing (UK). Visit you local music shop, Waterstones, Amazon online or support the authors directly by purchasing from www.DrumsetForBeginners.com.

From the August issue of Drummer Magazine:

Drumset For Beginners
Paul Hose & Jim Farey, Alfred Publishing

"This book covers several basic elements of drumming, suggesting other books... for further study of each topic, and is aimed at the teacher more than the student...

"Further chapters cover jazz and an introduction to Latin drumming...

"It has value as a teaching aid, and the play-alongs (on the accompanying MP3CD) are useful..."

Thanks to Drummer Magazine and to "BK" for taking the time to review DS4B. To read the full review, check out the magazine.

Be sure to follow the links on the right of the blog under "About DS4B" to see ou various social networking pages and YouTube videos.

Mike Dolbear Ultimate Drum Week 2010 VLOG by Jim Farey

2010-07-27T19:26:00.003+01:00

Check out the link to youtube and watch the video for information on what I've been up to at Mike's UDE event with all the teachers including Stanton Moore, Geoff Dugmore, Vic Firth, Peter Cater, Jason Bowld, Geoff Dunn, Jeff Davenport and more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98ASBfK47rw

http://www.ultimatedrumexperience.com/

Also, don't forget to read the Drumset for Beginners blog at http://ds4b.blogspot.com/ and read the latest reviews and news. If you need a copy of the book, simply visit http://www.jimfarey.com/DS4B.htm or look in the right hand column of my blog here on this page.

Peas

Jim Farey spotlight on Hudson TIP site

2010-07-23T16:16:00.002+01:00

I am honoured to have the guys at Hudson Music and the Hudson TIP (Teacher Integration Program) publish a spotlight on me! Thanks guys,

Check it out by clicking here.

My email to all: Please help raise money for these charities in memory of my Dad

2010-07-08T18:42:00.002+01:00

Dear all,

Please excuse me emailing EVERYONE, I thought it was worth it. I don't expect a reply if you are busy, I do understand.

I'm raising money for Cancer Research UK and the Royal British Legion and I'd really appreciate your support. Next week is one year since my Dad died

It's easy to donate online with a credit or debit card - just go to my JustGiving page:

http://www.justgiving.com/GerryFareyCRUK or http://www.justgiving.com/GerryFareyRBL

JustGiving sends your donation straight to Cancer Research UK or the Royal British Legion and automatically reclaims Gift Aid (UK) on all eligible donations, so what you give is worth even more. I hope you'll join me in supporting Cancer Research UK and the Royal British Legion.

Please follow the links to read more about my Dad and to donate to either charity. Please forward this email if you think it's appropriate.

Thank you.

Jim

Jim Farey BSc - Drum Tutor

Rhythm magazine gives Drumset for Beginners 4 star review

2010-07-05T12:42:00.002+01:00

Here's a great little review that just went out in Rhythm magazine, which is based in the UK. Thank you Rhythm!

DS4B is available worldwide through Alfred Publishing (UK), visit your local dealer or click here to purchase a copy.

From the July issue of Rhythm:

Drumset for Beginners. Paul Hose & Jim Farey

**** (4/5)

A unique approach to learning drums.

You might be forgiven for assuming that this is another drum book for beginners, and whilst that is the case it's actually really aimed at the person teaching them.

Designed to give a thorough understanding of the essentials, the book guides both student and teacher through a wealth of information from basic beats and fills to jazz, Latin rhythms and chart reading. Throughout, the authors recommend classic drum books that can be used to explore each area further with things concluding with a selection of playalong tracks and charts to put everything into context.

This is a fairly niche area for drum books and one that's not really been explored or catered for, and in this respect it fulfils its objective well whilst perhaps attempting to cover more ground than is important to the average beginner. That said, any teacher that manages to guide their student through the material presented will have set them up with an excellent set of musical skills. (PR)

Don't forget we are also on facebook, twitter, myspace and youtube.

Barcode tagging for mobiles, keeping in touch.

2010-04-29T14:42:00.002+01:00

This is interesting: you can scan these images using your mobile device with programmes such as Microsoft Tag and i-nigma and get various information! The codes below are for my vCard for your phone and for my website. Good applications for business cards etc methinks.

MS tag

QR code from http://www.terryburton.co.uk/barcodewriter/generator/

Get scanning, and keep in touch

"ATTENTION DRUMMERS!!! Can you count this?..." Yes I can thanks :)

2010-02-08T05:09:00.002Z

So there's the question. If you would like help figuring this sort of thing out then please get in touch through my website emailing me jim@jimfarey.com.

Here's the answer ("Yes I can"):

Happy drumming folks!

More news at VicFirth.com and an update on things Jim

2009-08-27T22:45:00.003+01:00

Hello folks, just a quickie to update people on things which are happening of late, in no particular order mind...

The summary of my experience ath the Mike Dolbear UDE week is now up at vicfirth.com here along with the MS article here. I'm enjoying contributing to the community articles, thanks for the help Mike and Vic!
Getting a spanking new set of SABIAN cymbals soon, just need to make the final arrangements and choices. Thank you Bruce.
Buying a Xylosynth from Will Wernick from Wernick.net. A midi mallet keyboard controller with ubder bubinga keys and pedals and gold plated connections galore, apparently they're awesome and this is going to be my attempt at vibraphone/marimba/glockenspiel etc. More to come. (also, for people wanting compact triggers on their kits for other midi sounds check out Will's other products).
I received the most awesome bass drum head from Tim at www.customskins.co.uk, you should all get over to his site. I will put up a pic or two when I can get them off the wife!
I have recently finished another project with Paul Hose, hopefully I can let you know all about how to get hold of this new material soon.
Gigged in Nottingham town square, much fun there playing for the evening crowds.
Looking for method books for Vibraphone/Marimba in a Jazz or maybe classical style, please let me know if you have any tips on this.
Passed my Grade 8 after putting it off for about 8 years, so have now framed it with my degree at work for all to behold (dramtic really, I had lost the latter in a box at home for 5 years).
Have been watching Steve Smith's Jazz Legacy DVD, amazing!
Finally, played at an MLC-Academy presents night at Shaw's bar in Nottingham recently with some friends and there were renditions of Thelonious Monk's Blue Monk and Tony Williams' Snake Oil, so if urban Jazz and Funk are your thing then come along and have a goosey on the 3rd Tuesday of each month.

I think that's about it mostly, I will update some other things soon. If there's anything people would like to know then please leave a comment and maybe I can blog some thoughts on it!

Keep whacking!

Mike Dolbear Ultimate Drum Experience 2009 review by Jim Farey

2009-08-16T12:59:00.001+01:00

Well what can I say about a week of playing with, learning from and hanging out with some of the best drummers in the world and the nicest guys from the UK and international drum community?

It all started back at the Winter NAMM show this year when Mike Dolbear told me about an event he had organised for serious drummers to do some serious studying with top names including Vic Firth, Steve Smith, Ralph Salmins, Craig Blundell, Stanton Moore, Jeff Davenport and Jason Bowld. I pretty much said "sign me up" there and then and a few weeks later had confirmed everything. Mike was even cool enough to sort me out with a room mate to help with hotel costs and so that I could use my car to chauffeur as many people as possible to and from the residential event. I ended up at a cosy little Travelodge a few miles from the extravagant hotel where the course was taking place and it all worked out very well with travel times and meals and evening clinic/forum/jam schedules.

Day 1 consisted of me not actually being in any of the classes or group sessions as I had to attend a family funeral, this didn't stop me from getting to know hat happened that day though, apparently the attendees were put into 3 groups and did the usual Drummers Anonymous-esque "my name's Bob and I'm a drum addict" routine, and by the time I arrived on the Monday night everyone was best friends; exactly what one would expect from drummers though right?

Although the students and teachers had all met one another, my first 15 minutes consisted of arriving at the Village Hotel in Elstree, which was even easier to find than I had hoped, saying hi to Mike Dolbear himself, being introduced to my room mate for the week, George Barnett who has the title of Young Drummer of the Year 2009, having a bag of goodies courtesy of Vic Firth, Mapex, Paiste, Shure, Drummer mag and Hudson Music and finally after watching George get up to play a blues number with this blindingly good band I had never seen before Mike says "come on Jim. You come and play one". So across the room I go and the band tell me the name of the tune and that it's a Reggae song. I come back with "is it in 4/4? Let's play something happy, I've been to a funeral" and off we rocked. Double drumming with Bob Henrit of The Kinks, I was happy to just hold it down and have a good time. What a first night!

Day 2, serious time. We all arrived around 9 am and went to one of the nicely furnished tuition rooms and completed a warm up with Mike for half an hour before classes started proper. Over the week several of the students exchanged ideas on warm ups and inevitably all sorts of bizarre diddle combos came to light and everyone left the warm ups, well, warmed up but perplexed I think. Hudson had kindly donated a stack of the TIP books for everyone to make notes in, so off I went to Steve Smith's room to make my notes. The first session of my week was so inspiring, seeing Steve play such simple patterns whilst talking about Jazz giants Elvin Jones and Max Roach and making the whole thing musical and informative was great. Everyone in the room got a chance to play some patterns and no matter what level the players were at, Steve pushed them along like only a world class pro can; with inspiration as much as information. When it was my turn, the plunk-plunk double bass line came out and there I was playing along to a track from the Art of Brushes DVD which Steve co-presented. Could I be more nervous? Not really, but I wobbled my way through the play-along and managed to understand the messages that were being sent. I was a very happy bunny!

The sessions lasted around 90 minutes and the breaks were relatively short, but this was good for pace I found, no chance to stop thinking in this business. After a short break I was in a room with my group again, this time with UK session machine Ralph Salmins. As with Steve, I couldn't have asked for a nicer teacher for the session; down to earth and knowledgeable beyond belief, this was going to be good. Although up to this point I had never met Ralph and knew very little of him, it soon became apparent that if a session was happening in London, then Ralph was most likely being asked to do it, everything from big band arrangements to Harry Potter movies. I spent most of the time writing down one line notes such as "listen to Earth Wind and Fire more" and "Splanky – Count Bassie", check out my photos at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Jim.Farey/ to actually see my scrawled notes, the rate information was coming at me I just had to write it all down to digest later. The conclusion of our session with Ralph was playing a tune called "Louisiana 1927" in turn and as a rule being told to play the hi-hat quieter, apparently there is far too much hi-hat going on in studios (and you can't get rid of it once it's there)!

Lunch, amazing, in house coffee shop and bar and grill which serve amazing pizzas and steaks: happy bunny was a recurring theme on this most ultimate of drum experiences. The afternoon saw my group of 11 or so getting into the militarily disciplined musical practice of Craig Blundell. I had seen Craig in clinic around 2000 and at a charity gig at Drumfest in July 09 but we had never met properly. Craig has such a kind demeanor and really encouraged everyone to try and get a little more speed on the metronome over each session and the week and to continue at home. Craig's goal, it seemed, was to help the students identify weaknesses in their technical ability and then fill them in whilst showing some really simple, effective groove and fill ideas. The only drawback was that just when I thought I was making some real progress with an idea, Craig would play it about 3 million times faster than I could, but it was great to be reminded of how much further we can all be pushed. On that note, it was great to yet again see the drumming community pull together and support its members, there was no competition, not even with all the metronome marking on the 15 Roland TD4 which we were using in Craig's sessions and in between lesson for practice. A few funky electro play-alongs later and we were all moving out of Craig's class to get ready for our tuning master class with Jeff Davenport.

Jeff's master class was very thorough and informative, he demystified many things regarding tuning and tried to make it less of a "dark art" which people shirk away from. We were asked what we wanted out of our drums and then he told us how to get it. It makes me so happy to realise that even after learning so much, really, in the scheme of things, I know a fraction of what is out there; so to get a grip on another area of the art of drumming like this was, in my opinion, absolutely invaluable, especially from someone who has been roadying for most of my lifetime! I wrote some notes on this which you can see in my photos, although the take home message was yet another resounding "there are many ways to be correct", and I was thankful of Jeff for reminding me this.

Tuesday night saw us all attend a clinic type event where Ralph and Steve playing some brush solos and play-alongs, solos and battles and exchanged ideas on technique, approach, sound and all the good stuff for which we use brushes. Again, I was scribbling names of tunes as play-alongs arose and Steve and Ralph happily answered and discussed questions with everyone present. I also managed to ntoate a few brush patterns whilst they were being played, the whole week made me think on my feet, a great challenge. The drum battle was intense and Steve's Konnakol self trading then unison playing with voice and kit/double pedal was absolutely off the hook. It was at that point that Steve jumped, in my eyes, from "one of the greatest guys out there in the drumming world" to "absolutely ridiculous". The crowd was impressed, from student to teacher.

Wednesday was much the same, format wise for the day. Get up earlier than I wanted to, do a warm up then get into classes. Steve Smith was up first and explained a whole load of rules about how to construct Indian rhythmic phrases, there were a lot of drummers in my group that morning singing words which we weren't 100 % sure about, but trying none the less. I think it's safe to say that everyone's grasp of displacement , odd time and phrasing and syncopation had been challenged and helped all in one go. For those of you reading this who are like me and can't make your mind up as to whether Prog-Rock is more complex rhythmically than Jazz, well I found it helped on all fronts. The upshot of this lesson? Sing Konnakol syllables to James Brown's funk bands.

The late morning session was with Ralph again, this time talking to us about the importance of time and good feel. We talked about a few books and some exercises from these books, one of which was Gary Chester's The New Breed. Spending time listening and learning with Ralph was invaluable experience as an insight into what skills are required to make it in the pro gigging and studio businesses; the level off insight to both technical skills such as reading and rudiments as well as the musical awareness is huge, this was certainly the information I had signed up to receive. Again I ended up playing a kit, nervously, but this time singing "boom boom boom" instead of playing my bass drum, excellent.

After lunch and a chocolate frapuccino strong enough to stop a rhino the legend that is Vic Firth himself gave a talk to my group. The wealth of knowledge this man possesses is incredible, at his mature age to still have such an active involvement in the stick factory and the personnel! Also, Vic told us how he was still teaching disadvantaged children at an orphanage in Boston, what an example to us all (on that note, if you have any advice or time to help with projects such as the orphanage then please contact Vic and offer help). What did I learn from Vic? I learned that I need to listen to more Beethoven; that, yes, every drummer should learn a tuned instrument; and that the elusive Dom's Pad Stick which my hero Jim Chapin so loved was in fact a double dipped SD3 Thunder Rock which Vic made to play orchestral side drums and tenor drums very loud indeed.

Craig's lesson on Wednesday was more brain bashing, co-ordination confusing, mind melting workouts. This time we were playing Samba foot ostinatos with odd number groups over the top; oh the joy to be had! But yet again, when played well it made our playing more creative and showed us another musical level we could achieve, and when Craig played that stuff, well you could tell he was very disciplined and gifted.

Wednesday night was a round table discussion with some industry guests, including all of the teachers, Vic, Mike, Martin Potts from Korg UK who represent Mapex, Vic Firth and Paiste and Samantha who is the editor of Drummer Magazine who supported the Ultimate Drum Experience week to the full. Once the crowd of mostly guys had managed to stop asking non-industry related questions to Samantha then we were onto the good stuff: advice on seeking jobs in the music press, getting good gigs and self development, how to get more experience and when and whether to move to London to work, the discussion went on for a few hours and yet another piece of the drum puzzle had been solved for the students, the whole experience was proving to be quite invaluable across the board. Late night, some sleep as I tried to work on some projects in bed and passed out on my laptop. The promise of sleep before Thursday kept me sane!

I was excited about Thursday, the warm up with Mike and co was fun and more ideas were exchanged, and I cast my mind back only a few years to when paraparadiddlediddle seemed so infuriatingly difficult and smiled a little smile, I was on the Mike Dolbear week and I was getting better, hurray. The reason I was a little excited was because today I knew that Steve was going to make us do more Jazzy things, Ralph was going to show us how he would construct a chart for a session as I had asked him the day before, Craig was no doubt going to talk more about Prog and King Crimson which makes me happy and I was very excited to see what Jason Bowled had to say. Jason is a stupidly heavy hitter and loves his odd times but has a grasp of a lot of world percussion which let's him really cross of genres, but never losing that brutal edge, which to me is like being able to play fortissimo; I see the point in being able to play Jazz as a drummer who enjoys rock, so I must also not lose sight of my ability to extrapolate Rock studies further than the obvious.

Craig had another battery of handouts to keep us practicing for years, one of which was entitled "Power Doubles, The Samba and Independence". This was exciting, playing double sticking across 2 different voices (per double) with a foot ostinato and then going back to a 2:3 polyrhythmic idea from earlier in the week, my brain was fried, but happy. Perhaps one day gospel chops will not seem oh so far away.

Steve was back on the Max Roach thing and was talking about yet more foot ostinatos, this time in 3/4 time. "The Drums Also Waltz" and "Drums Unlimited", how could I have missed these for almost 11 years!? Well no more, once I saw the musicality of these pieces which Steve had clearly studied in great detail in his college days, I was ready to go searching through shops and Spotify to hear Mr Roach doing his thing. Several of the group had a go at the Be-bop style piece "Big Sid", to say that I failed miserably would be about right, and I was told I needed to listen to more Be-bop; so I am doing, but there's a lot to fit in now. Another successful session of taking notes from Steve's insights and his playing. As a result of all of Steve's great advice and insight I thought it had become necessary to purchase a copy of his Art of Playing Brushes and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants Jazz Legacy DVDs from the shop which Mike had set up in the foyer area along with all sorts of sticks and cymbals to try and buy; lo and behold they had some of the same performances on them that Steve had so inspired me with, not to mention the great Jazz play-along material for my own practice and my students' practice. I highly recommend Steve's DVDs to anyone who wants to learn more about anything drumming related, especially Jazz and drumset hsitory.

And finally for Thursday, Jason Bowld. I was pleased to see that amongst the noise and frantic double bass drumming that Jason wanted to talk to us about not losing the groove during fills by simply playing backbeats inside our grooves whether we are playing unisons around the kit or linear ideas. Jason then moved on to more interested subdivisions over several bars and showed us some blistering ideas for rock drumming which had the nice lilt of Craig and Steve's ideas and all 3 of them came at the continuation of time from very different angles.

Thursday night was a clinic performance with Jason and Craig playing some tunes. Jason played some dark electronic Drum n Bass style pieces with some insane polyrhythmic Bembe patterns against straight rock ideas whilst Craig played a 100 favourite tunes medley, the highlight of which was "Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden with the broken cymbal pattern played like some kind of over the top fusion ride move. Very nice performances by both, I was amazed! Mike and some of the other drummers there also quizzed Jason about squeezing his sticks (which he doesn't), and the message was clear kids: even when you're whacking away you still mustn't squeeze!

Friday: Even more excitement! Stanton Moore was coming to town, this is far better than even when Santa Claus shows up. Another great guy, Stanton was welcoming after our warm up and got straight down to business. "I want to give you a few simple ideas and stickings that you can take away and use for grooves and fills" to paraphrase the great New Orleans player. First up was an explanation and demonstration of Zigaboo Modeliste's "Cissy Strut" groove as well as some history one where Zigaboo got his inspiration from. Stanton gave his famous demonstration of playing "in the cracks" between straight and shuffle and showed how the best New Orleans grooves may be ruined by playing too straight or completely swung. A few more demonstrations and Stanton set his sights on a sticking pattern that his teacher Jonny Vidacovic showed to him and proceed to solo with just one 1 bar sticking pattern going around different dynamics and voices and even hitting his snare with a tambourine as well as the obvious sticks and brushes. This man is obviously insane, and as such I liked him a lot as a drummer. Stanton finished up with a reminder that greats such as John Bonham all had this almost swing to their playing and demonstrated some quite tricky Bonham licks which made me want to go home and practice to be honest; another great insight into more music I felt.

Steve's Friday and final session started with a nice informal chat where we talked about how Ringo Starr was actually a good drummer and we were played some examples of Ringo playing swing brushes in 3/4 time. The message here was loud and clear: Steve said that by the standards of when he was young and being educated, none of the skills he or Ralph had as far as reading and musicality were concerned were rare at all. These days it seems that many people can make a good living out of music without actually having the immense foundation that players such as Steve were given. What did Steve want us to do about it? Get good at running, brush up on our techniques and most of all know how to listen to styles and practice effectively with out time (and by the way, apparently it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something). Steve also showed the group some more ostinato patterns for the feet which he soloed over and then some approaches to introducing broken double bass drum patterns into our playing which answered a question I had been asking myself for years: RLR RLR or RLR LRL???

Ralph's final session rounded up the chart for the Earth Wind and fire tune "After the Love Has Gone" which was helpful as mentioned before to show how the studio players approach their work. Craig's final session, which was the last for the week for my group, was about something I believe he calls the "Mummy Dummy Drumming Method" or something similar. Basically you can get anyone from the street to make you a fill and then practice it until it's part of your soloing vocabulary. This method, although decidedly random, was refreshing and challenging and some of the patterns the class was coming up with sounded great. Craig finished up by showing us some of the patterns he had created this way and they were certainly unexpected and interesting musically which is refreshing when we hear the same ideas so many times over in my situations.

After the final class all the student's got together and Mike presented everyone with a certificate of attendance which had been signed by all the tutors. Photos were taken and cards exchanged; there were certainly many friendships made that week as well as lessons learned by all. I look forward to seeing all the guys again, both young and old and from the UK and abroad and I would recommend any future events to anyone who wants to understand drumming and the industry we work in better whether it be as a hobbyist or a working or aspiring pro!

Thanks for a great Mike and all the teachers and students!

Jim Farey

British Drummers “Stick It To MS” to raise money for charity – report by Jim Farey

2009-07-16T22:42:00.004+01:00

This Monday 13th July 2009 saw a whopping 582 drummers congregate at the Birmingham National Indoor Arena (UK) to raise awareness and money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. The event was organised by Craig Glover of Drum and Guitar Fest (www.stickittoms.com). The previous record for the full drumset ensemble was set by Americans with 533 drummers.

The event, entitled "Stick It To MS", was part of the MS Society's Get Loud About MS project to raise awareness during the MS Week (www.msweek.org.uk). MS is the most common debilitating neurological condition in the UK, affecting around 100,000 people in the UK and almost 2.5 million people worldwide ranging from young adults to the elderly.

Drummers in the UK have raised over £34,000 so far and the figure is expected to rise! On the day, many pros were involved; among them Jojo Mayer, Karl Brazil, Robin Guy, Jason Bittner and Don Powell. The event was compered by UK comedian John Thomson who took the amassed drummers through such warm-ups as "We Will Rock You" by Queen and helped get everyone present used to the idea of a conductor who had to be followed visually because of the sheer scale of the event.

Jim Farey : '80s jogger. Breaking records not sticks.

I was there wondering how it would sit with the other drummers, who had brought along their kits with a minimum of one tom-tom, that I had taken my brand new Mapex Saturn kit complete with 5 toms (that's 4 too many!). In the end the support of all of the drummers from around the UK led to an enjoyable day for all.

If you would like to donate to the MS Society then please visit www.justgiving.com/jimfarey. For more information on MS please visit www.MSsociety.org.uk. You can see the Sky News video here. The BBC news report is now available (unofficially) on YouTube here. For more reviews and photos click www.stickittoMS.com or http://blogspot.jimfarey.com.

I would like to personally thank the guys from MLC-Academy in Nottingham (www.MLC-Academy.com) and PMT Birmingham and Northampton and Rick Prince for their continued support and great work on the day.

The Stage!

I would like to express my deepest thanks to those of you who donated kindly to help sufferers of MS, especially those of you who withstood my cheek to blanket email people I have never even met in person! You are my friends, family, work colleagues, students and coinhabitants of Earth ;).

My brother Steve, Anita Gill, Jon Bond, Paul Marston, my girlfriend Julia Rose, hardcore gamer Josh Smith (AKA Tama), Victoria Allan who most appreciates this help, Claire Sawdon, Big Chris Pinkett, Madeline Hallewell whoever you are my dear, Liam "Stimmo" Stimpson, my Mom - The Scooter, Pete Woodford, Tim @ www.customskins.co.uk (check out his sic custom bass drum skillz!), drummer Ben Green, Rob Harding, kind Julie King and Abi Rhodes.

Jim Farey to take part in Guinness Wolrd Record drum event

2009-07-08T15:20:00.002+01:00

So me and the guys from MLC-Academy and PMT and Drumfest are going to be smashing some record events. Check out my fundrasing page at just giving to sponsor me and learn more or go to www.stickittoms.com.

Get sponsoring folks!

MLC-Academy listed on VicFirth.com

2009-06-21T23:36:00.003+01:00

Click here to have a goosey gander at the listing on vicfirth.com. Nice to have such companies helping to promote the work we're doing!

For more information on the summer school where you can play in a real band and at a real gig please check out MLC-Academy online.

Free Music Notation Software!

2009-06-11T17:26:00.008+01:00

So I have recently bought Capella from some very nice people in Germany who I met at the MusikMesse in Frankfurt this year. This is available from www.software-partners.co.uk and is around 1/5 of the price of the other industry standard programmes Finale and Sibelius and for what it's worth I think it does just as good a job.

The main reason I wanted to blog this is that I also founda freeware product calledMuseScorewhich appears to create rather slick electronic charts and is FREE. Yes Free. Released under the GNU this product is a community project, so if you are a student and/or don't have a spare £100 +, mayb this is a good way to get into software notation.

Check them all out and let me know how you get on.

Keep your eyes peeled for more blogs and if you have any questions, please mail me at jim@jimfarey.com.

Jimbo

Nottingham drum teacherJim Farey offers suggestions on practising the drums

2009-05-09T17:29:00.002+01:00

I hope your drumming and practise is going well! Please take a moment to fill out this form in order to tell me your favourite artists: http://www.mlc-academy.com/#/artists/4533307194. This will help me tailor your lessons towards your favourite genres.

When practising please adopt the following structure.

Performance 50%
It is of course very important to remember why it is we play the drums: to play the drums! However, the other areas of your study will enhance your performance skills. Remember; you can’t perform anything without the tools (technique,) the understanding (theory) and of course knowledge is power!
Technique 25%
Dictionary definition: The way in which the fundamentals, as of an artistic work, are handled. I would not ask you to practise anything for the sake of it. Please find time to practise rudiments, chart reading, bass drum technique and of course pay particular attention to how you hold your sticks.
Theory 15%
Reading, writing, speaking – music is a language. Let’s make sure we can read it and write it as it will help recall your lessons in an effective and consistent manner.
Knowledge 10%
Take time to surf the internet, read books and magazines, subscribe to free podcasts in order to learn about the art form, its celebrated individuals, up and coming talent, news, views, gossip and so on. It will inspire you and assist hugely in the learning process.

So how much time should I practise? In my opinion – little and often but do ensure that you take all of the above onboard and use it to your advantage. Finally, please feel free to alter this pie chart to suit your needs.

Nottingham drum teacher Jim Farey to be featured on free Mapex UK educational drum lesson video podcasts by Paul Hose

2009-05-04T13:46:00.012+01:00

The Mapex.co.uk Drum Lessons podcasts created by the owner of Nottingham's leading music school, MLC-Academy, have been received exceptionally well over the last few months since it's launch. So far over 7000 users in over 30 countries around the world have downloaded the free content which features around 3 new videos each month. Video podcasts cover themes such as different genres, developing independence, technique and approaches to fills.

The month of May will see 3 more videos added to the series which feature Jim Farey playing a simple Blues ballad groove in 12/8 time and a slow shuffle groove. There will be more to follow from Jim in the series at a later date.

Click on the link above or here to go straight to the iTunes store download page where you can get the free video lessons for yourself. If you do not already have iTunes you may download it from here.

February Photoshoot Frenzy!

2009-02-19T17:50:00.003Z

Today, because we love getting top notch pictures to show off our posing skills, Paul Hose, Jack Atherton and myself took some pictures of drum teachers drumming! the ever creative Julia Rose Brownlee was on hand for professional photography skills also, which was nice. And (not a good way to start a sentence I know) yes, that is my sparkly Mapex Orion with 24" bass drum...

What a wild idea, for a look at the pics follow the link in the title (which will appear once I have all of the photos on Picasa!).

On a slightly more relevent note to anyone reading this, the pics were taken at the Coop Arts Theatre in Hockley, Nottingham which will be the venue of MLC-Academy's concerts throughout 2009.

Tea-cups away!

Louie Bellson 1924-2009

2009-02-17T00:12:00.003Z

On Valentine's Day, 14 February 2009, Luigi Paulino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni passed away.

This is not something for me to be happy about but it is an opportunity for me to point anyone who's interest comes this way, any student of life or drumming, to learn about a great man in the world at large, not just of music.

Follow the link in the title and start to learn something about our heritage as people and drummers. Rest in peace Louie :).

Nottingham drum teacher Jim Farey reporting from the NAMM show in California, USA. Day 3!

2009-01-18T01:47:00.001Z

So here I am at the end of day 3, Saturday at the NAMM show. Its been good to catch up with Mapex and the Vic Firth company, I evn got to speak to Vic himself. Where to begin!

I'm here with Paul Hose of MLC-Academy and my student Amy. So far I've caught up with Mapex, Vic Firth co, Sabian co, Dom Famularo, Craig Glover ( UK drum and guitar fest: fest is best) John Tempesta, Jojo Mayer, Mike Dolbear (.com), the organisers of the Spanish Drumfest, Pete GAmber of NAMM U (who gives us teachers all our ideas about innovating in education) and probably more! I've met some guys for the first time and thanked them for their inspiration but to mention a few: David Garibaldi, Bernard Perdue, Thomas Lang, John Schulman, Carmine Appice, Dave weckl, Liberty Devito (cool guy), Steve Ferrone, John Dolmayan (SOAD, huge influence from my teen years), Arther Hull (who tught me about space nearly 10 years ago) and Mike Portnoy. All these guys are an inspiration so it's great to say thanks.

"Where are the goodies?" I hear you ask? Well as you can see from the pics here, I have hit up my contact Ben at VF to secure a box of Tommy Igoe's Groove Eseentials 2.0 posters and I have some Sabian lanyards and stickers for some of my good people at home!

Roland have realeased a TD4 and new software to help learn drums with any of the V-drum series kits. Mapex drums have launched 2 new kits; the Meridian Birch and the Meridian Maple kits which are pretty exciting with some nw designs and colours and hardware tweaks which I like the look of.

Keep your eyes peeled for YouTube videos of the show in a week or two and a new series of educational videos/podcasts by myself and Paul.

Keep it real drummers!

Nottingham drummer Jim Farey deps with Hellset Orchestra in London next week!

2008-12-04T11:18:00.003Z

I've just been told in the last 2 days that a friend's band, Hellset Orchestra, a theatrical eclectic lot from Nottingham and London, need a drummer to cover for Monday!

So rehearsals are going well and Monday will see my reappearance in London on stage. If you can make it then please come along.

The show is at The Macbeth and is a regular night called Goodbye, Faithful Kingdom. Also appearing are The Monroe Transfer and Anchorsong. More info here.

Ginger Nuts and New Mapex drum kits update!

2008-11-17T18:22:00.002Z

So Reverend Ribble and The Ginger Nuts made their first appearance at The Malt Cross in Nottingham at the weekly Saturday Night Knees Up event. Piano and Guitar tutors of MLC-Academy Rob Upton and Mike Wetherburn were there playing with me as usual and the band was well received, apparently Nottingham loves 50's Rock n Roll.

Keep your eyes an ears peeled for part of an interview we did for The Malt Cross as I will post something up as soon as it has been edited.

The highlight of the night for me was definitely unboxing my brand new Mapex Orion Crystal Krush and beating the living daylights out of it (of course this isn't how I play Rock n Roll!). Add to that the Unhammered Phosphor Bronze Black Panther snare with far more snare wires than even I remembered ordering and I was aving a while of a time. The crowd definitely danced.

On the agenda for tonight: Putting my other new kit together at el cielo's rehearsal studio. This one is an Ebony fade Saturn with gold hardware (I wanted one of these since 2005!) and 5 toms to boot witha cherry Black Panther snare.

All in all a pretty exciting week drumwise for me. Thanks to Mapex Drums for helping me out with gear and to the Nottingham Drum Centre for getting it all ordered and to Nottingham.

Look out for more photos and videos on Picasa and YouTube very soon as there will be some of the new kits up. If you want to see the sparkly monster, come and check Rev Ribble and The Ginger Nuts out at the Jingle Bopp Ball at Rescue Rooms on 12th December 2008, it's going to be fun times!

Some Poetry from a Student

2008-10-15T13:41:00.003+01:00

Hello folks, perusing the old emails I noticed that I have a poem written by a student of mine who has drum lessons with me at MLC-Academy in Nottingham. The piece was published the very week it was written in the Nottingham Evening Post.

I'll let you make your own interpretations, I quite like it...

Drummer

Rhythmical beauty, continuance of beat

Through hands and feet

They sit to the rear of obscurity

Confined to the shadows

Of some brighter lights

But what a sight

Cymbals ablaze

Sticks that amaze

A somewhat demonic aura of aggression

This profession of subtle power

Shrouded with suspicion

Wild men

Fallen women

They listen for a pulse

To hear a heartbeat

To sense, feel, yet conceal

The tender constructs of timing

Strange solitary madness envelopes

An airy silence; fingers twitch:

A lull before the storm

Cymbals no longer symbolic as

A frenzy ensues

Ferocious, outrageous

When viewed it looks random

Limbs that shift with accurate abandon

Danger meets darkness

As if Hades was entered.

Skin: played, sweating.

At the back of the stage

Their journey comes home

Backbeat through grooves slowly

Removed, restrained and choked

The light never reaches the drummer

Just a shimmer

They sit, still, waiting in hope

They know.

(c) Steve Holloway July 2008.

If you'd like to get in touch with Steve, please leave a comment and he will get in touch with you I am sure.

Happy drumming folks! :)

MLC -Academy advert on YouTube

2008-10-13T15:31:00.002+01:00

So I am looking through YouTube.com wondering whatever happened with the footage from the day that a camera crew descended upon us at work and it turns out that the footage is online!

Check Rob out, he loves playing fifty million instruments!

Reverend Ribble and The Ginger Nuts update

2008-10-13T02:14:00.004+01:00

So! For those who did not already know, I play in a band named Reverend Ribble and The Ginger Nuts. The band is a 50's fun time rock n roll band playing covers mainly from the 50s but occasionally doing other covers in the rock n roll style.

September saw our first wedding, which was the wedding of one of my own students' parents. The international crowd (yes, the groom is French) danced the night away and it was a great success!

More gigs and functions are being booked as we speak so if you get the chance, come along and check us out, info of public gigs will be posted to our www.TheGingerNuts.com site once it is fully developed!

Reverend Ribble himself is Rob Upton of MLC-Academy, and our guitarist is Michael Wetherburn who is also a new tutor at MLC-Academy where the three of us provide music lessons, so if you do want to do some rocking and rolling please contact us.

Our next confirmed date is November 7th at The Bopp at Rescue Rooms in Nottingham if anyone wants to come along and party.

I look forward to hearing from you all about live gigs soon!

From Reverend Ribble and The Ginger Nuts / Bopp

Nottingham drum teacher Jim Farey at PMT Drumfest Sheffield and Northampton with Paul Hose

2008-07-18T01:18:00.001+01:00

It's late and we're pretty drummed out! Tonight I've been chatting with Jack Groom, student of Malcolm Garret and hanging out with Chris Pennie of Coheed and Cambria and formerly of Dillinger Escape Plan.

Tonight I met John Tempesta, saw the great drummers Terry Bozzio and Thomas Lang along with others including the renowned Russ Miller who performed an indian voice piece in Tamil!

Tuesday's Drumfest was opened by friend and teacher of mine Bobby Arechiga who provides drum lessons in Sheffield, it was great to see him play again and I recommend anyone reading this checks out any online media featuring Bobby.

I also have a bag of sticks with yet more Vic Firth models to try out, so if you take lessons with me at Nottingham's MLC-Academy lookout for the fabled 8D!

Lookout for a new YouTube video covering the Drumfest events soon!

Another Nottingham drum teachers' day out : Birmingham Drumfest with Paul Hose Jack Atherton and me, Jim Farey

2008-07-13T17:39:00.001+01:00

Back at the NEC today with students from MLC Academy in Nottingham who have drum lessons with Jack. Today we have seen the likes of Terry Bozzio, Thomas Lang on the Roland Electronic TD20s and many more perform inspiring pieces from right across the spectrum of musical styles.

It's been great to kick it back, have a chat with Dom Famularo and watch some great drumming all day, not to mention see the excitement of so many young drummers trying out the equipment on the PMT stands.

Look out for more soon! iZm going to carry on watching Terry!

Drum teachers from Nottingham and New York: Jim Farey, Paul Hose and Dom Famularo at The National Rock and Pop Show

2008-07-11T15:22:00.001+01:00

Here we are again! Bringing music education to the children of England at The National Rock and Pop show. It's good to be here with Paul Hose from home in Nottingham and to have Dom Famularo here again all the way from New York!

There is a mass of musical instruments to try and by here and the highlight of the day was Paul and Dom getting young drummers on stage to play with tunes from www.musiclearningcurve.com!

It's been great to see some of the Mapex staff and strengthen relationships with them, everyone's excited about teaching the next generation of rock stars and i'm excited to be a part of it!

Keep your eyes peeled for more media coming soon on here, on YouTube and on www.JimFarey.com because next week I'll be at the PMT Drumfest meets in Birmingham Sheffield and Northampton!

New singer onboard!

2008-07-07T12:01:00.001+01:00

el cielo announced its new singer recently, check out the el cielo blog for more info . Take it rom me, with Jon Eley formerly of SanZen singing with the band, Nottingham prog-metallers can only get better from here.

Expect a new recording end of 2008/beginning 2009

From el cielo's new practice room

Music Learning Curve Academy summer update

2008-06-27T15:33:00.005+01:00

So here it is! The MLC-Academy summer news letter. Have a read and let us know if you have any comments.

M U S I C L E A R N I N G C U R V E

July 2008 MLC-Academy News

Our new website, mlc-academy.com is up and running! Please take time to browse the site as it will give you an idea of the scope of your academy. Joining the site will allow us to keep you informed of all the latest news and events happening at MLC and within the music industry.

EVENT NEWS – This year’s Drumfest event draws ever closer! Some of you have expressed an interest in attending the Birmingham event. We are trying to put together a coach trip for Sunday 13th July. The event and coach will cost £22.00 per person. More information about the event can be found at mlc-academy.com.

Please register your interest as soon as possible with your teacher!

EVENT NEWS – Dom Famularo master class! The legendary Dom Famularo will return to Nottingham’s MLC-Academy to host a two-hour master class on the afternoon of Wednesday 16th July 2008. The class will run from 5-7pm and will cost £20.00 per person.

Please register your interest as soon as possible with your teacher! This class is limited to 20 people.

MLC-ACADEMY summer school: School’s Out For Summer!

Stuck for something to do this summer? How about signing up for MLC- Academy's week long "Summer School", a course dedicated to provided 11-17 year olds with the fantastic experiences of being in a band, producing their own songs and playing live on stage at two of Nottingham's best venues: Rescue Rooms and Stealth!

ARE YOU SLIGHTLY OLDER THAN 17? Why not support the “School’s Out” youngsters by attending one of the shows at Rescue Rooms and/or Stealth? Tickets cost £4.00 and are available now. All of the MLC-Academy teachers will be in attendance so it’s a perfect opportunity to socialise with the entire cast of characters that make up your MLC! These events are open to families so please feel free to bring your youngsters!

SUMMER’S HERE! A quick reminder that MLC-Academy does NOT follow any academic year therefore where possible lessons should be taken in accordance with your regular schedule.

Nottingham Drum teacher Jim Farey starts new YouTube channel

2008-06-26T18:57:00.004+01:00

Check it out people! As of yesterday I have a new YouTube channel where you can watch videos of me playing, my students in lessons at MLC-Academy in Nottingham, see what I've been watching on YouTube and rate and reply to my videos and comments.

You can also see my Mapex drum set up (once I get a vid up there!) and will be able to see an introduction to my 2 new kits when they arrive in England later this year.

For more information on tuition and videos with all this hi-tech malarky, please feel free to email me at jim@jimfarey.com and I can set up a webchat with you no problem.

See you soon, keep drumming.

Bruno Meeus Drum Masterclass at MLC-Academy Nottingham goes down a treat

2008-06-26T18:20:00.007+01:00

The past Sunday saw Internationnaly recognised player Bruno Meeus of Belgium hit Nottingham's MLC-Academy for a 4 hour Master class on prog drumming and all things polyrhythmic.

Bruno showed off his insane chops and answered questions from a full range of students from both inside and out of MLC-Academy.

Nottingham drum teacher Jim Farey welcomed Bruno from the train after a long haul on the Eurostar from a gig the night before in Belgium, whilst later on Paul Hose and other ML-Academy staff caught up with Bruno regarding all things gigging!

Bruno plays Mapex drums, Sabian cymbals and Vic Firth sticks. Check out his website at www.brunomeeus.com and for more information on his book "Dia Meters" please contact MLC-Academy. Click the picture below for more snaps of the event as it happened.

Drum Teacher Bruno Meeus Masterclass at Nottingham MLC-Academy June 2008

Nottingham drum teachers Paul Hose and Jim Farey's final report straight from London International Music Show

2008-06-13T12:09:00.000+01:00

After a morning of catching up with the Mapex, Sabian, Alfred and Baskey staff with hundreds of school children checking out the LIMS stands, it's time for Paul to head to Spain and Jim to head back to Nottingham to teach at the MLC-Academy.

More photos and videos will be available soon so keep your eyes open and look out for info on Drumfest in July in Birmingham, Brentwood, Northampton and Sheffield where Jim and Paul will be talking drum kit education with Dom Famularo.

Ciao for now!

Nottingham drum teachers Paul Hose and Jim Farey rock drummer live

2008-06-12T20:20:00.001+01:00

As the day of the London International Music Show closes music learning curve academy drum teacher Paul Hose confirmed his involvement at this years Drumfest tour. Paul will co-host the event's education seminars with legend Dom Famularo!

Meanwhile Jim Farey further cemented relations with Mapex, Sabian and Alfred publishing.

More to follow!

Nottingham drum teachers Paul Hose and Jim Farey reporting from Drummer Live as it happens!

2008-06-12T14:38:00.000+01:00

After a 5 am start from Nottingham, we arrived at London International Music Show to see lots of friends and familiar faces coupled with exciting new and innovative products.

More news and updates as it happens.

Jim Farey + Blogger = go!

2008-06-10T12:08:00.001+01:00

Right!

So here is my first blog on Blogger. I plan to write all about my little missions regarding life and drums as I go so that you lovely people of the world can keep up with what I'm doing and hopefully see and listen to some interesting media involving my projects.

Subscribe now and keep your ears and eyes peeled!