As many of you know, in addition to my work as a drummer and an author, I’ve been teaching privately for many years. To me, teaching has always been an intensely personal and passionate experience. More than an opportunity to show my students a few cool patterns or licks, I consider teaching to be a journey that we embark on together, a transformational process that profoundly benefits both parties.

Over the years, I’ve never really “marketed” myself as a teacher, but somehow, I’ve always managed to maintain a solid roster of hard working, enthusiastic students who stay with me for long periods.

And as it turns out, this system works ... really well.

Over the years, I’ve consistently gotten feedback from my students like, “This makes so much sense, it’s so practical.” “Why doesn’t everybody teach this way?” And most importantly, “This is the first time I feel like I’m FINALLY on the right path to reaching my goals as a drummer.”

In trying to understand the reasons for this longevity, I suppose you could say it’s because I'm a good teacher (okay, I am). But a big part of my success is also due to the unique teaching system I’ve developed. This system is based on a very different premise than what you typically find in the world of drum instruction. As opposed to being focused on patterns, my teaching system is based on MOTIONS.

I originally developed my motion-based system just for use with my private students - I’ve never shared much of this material publicly. But recently, more and more of my students and peers have been encouraging me to share my system in a broader context.  

They keep making two big points: a) the motion-based system produces incredible results, and b) it fills a void that is not being addressed in the world of drum education.

One area where this is especially true is the topic of GROOVE.

Showing a student the limb independence for a particular pattern or style is one thing, but teaching the nuances of groove has always presented a much bigger challenge. When I speak of nuances, I mean concepts like “pulse,” “feel” and “pocket.” Not only are these concepts hard to teach, but there’s often a lot of disagreement on the right way to define them.

The truth is, regardless of the patterns being played by the arms and legs, it’s these nuances that actually make the difference between a great groove and a “meh” groove. And since many drummers lack a real game plan for achieving or even understanding these “intangibles,” many of them retreat to pessimistic and defeatist excuses like these:

In the 30 years I’ve been in this business, I’ve heard these tired statements over and over, and it frustrates me to no end. Especially when I hear them coming from other instructors!

So I want to pose some questions: If playing a killer groove is supposed to be job number one for us drummers, why is there so much confusion when teaching this topic? Why are the nuances of groove so hard to teach?

 And most importantly, why hasn’t anyone come up with a program that offers drummers a clear, focused pathway to developing a deep, beautiful, relaxed groove? In 30 years of looking, I’ve never found one.

So I created my own.

That’s the exciting news I was speaking about earlier! I’ve finally had the time to organize all the elements of my motion based teaching system into a simple, concise package. And I can’t wait to share it with you in a new online course called "Finding Your Golden Groove." 



The key takeaway is this: not only is it possible for anyone to learn how to play a killer groove, it’s not really that difficult. But you have to put your time and energy into working on the RIGHT stuff. The answer lies not so much in WHAT we are playing, but HOW we are playing it. Learning patterns is the “what” - understanding motions is the “how.”

The course has already sold out, but I really want to show you what the motion based system is all about as soon as possible.

So I've released a free, six-part video series all about GROOVE and how it relates to motion (click the above link for access).

In this series, we’ll take a deep dive into the historical evolution of groove, and start to define those “mystery” terms like “pulse,” “feel” and “pocket.” We’ll also analyze the musical function of a groove, and we’ll break down the key factors that make a groove successful (hint: it has less to do with what a drummer is playing, and everything to do with his/her ability to impact an audience).

The video series will also outline six major differences between a motion-based system and the more typical "pattern-based" system that most drummers (and drum teachers) have been using forever. It explains in detail why a learning system based in MOTIONS makes waaay more sense than one based in patterns, especially when it comes to developing a killer groove.

Most importantly, this video series will show you the most effective route to developing your own “GOLDEN GROOVE.”

And you’ll see a case study with one of my students showing how he used the motion based system to take his career to the next level. In short, the video series sets the tone for what you’ll experience when you take the "Finding Your Golden Groove" course.

As I said earlier, there is no charge for you to access the six-part video series. Check it out here. 

I’m super excited to finally be sharing this material with the drumming community at large.

 Daniel

P.S. Seriously, this free video series is better than most paid courses ;-). I strongly encourage you not to miss out on it! 

P.P.S. If you need instant gratification and want to know more about all this motion stuff RIGHT NOW, check out this video where I deconstruct the playing of groove master ASH SOAN, and show why his amazing pocket is rooted in the way he MOVES.