Groove based, Improv based, Facilitated Music Making, I'm a teacher obsessed with learning how YOU learn best! Here's the quick version of how I went from A to B! I started on clarinet and self-taught a bit of piano. Then I played Orchestral Percussion through high school and was a professional actor for 5 years right out of school. I read everything in Keyboard Mag for many years. I studied piano, theory and voice at University briefly. I also studied Recording Engineering, Synthesis, Acoustics and Electronic Music at Trebas in Toronto some years back. Through the Winnipeg Folk Festival I fell hard for all types of acoustic music and especially drumming music from all over the world. I did a term of Orff training (percussion based curriculum for youth) at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto. I studied Ghanaiian drumming sporadically for about 5 years and then was fortunate to spend a couple weeks studying djembe full-time with Mamady Keita on 2 occasions - about 10 years apart! Another week was spent with Famoudou Konate and another with Bruno Genaro. All top Grand Master players and teachers. I have studied and taught traditional djembe arrangements for about 17 years now. I was self-taught on frame drum (videos, books, recordings) and had about ten years of playing experience when I spent a week studying full-time with Grammy winner and Master teacher Glen Velez. I have also done Arthur Hull's drum circle facilitator's training in Hawaii. I was honoured as the First Up facilitator - chosen by Arthur himself - at the Hawaii Inter-Island Drum Circle with hundreds of drummers attending. I have hosted drum retreats with Kwasi Dunyo (Univ. of Toronto), Rick Lazar (Humber College), Trichy Sankaran (York University), Bakka Samuel (Ugandan Master Drummer), Suleiman Warwar (Palestinian pro drummer and teacher). My hand drumming and percussion studies have developed over the last 20 years. Over the last 4 years I have become involved with Music For People and have participated in 3 -one week "Art of Improvisation" retreats where all music is 100% improvised for the entire week - in numerous styles from solo improvs right up to full (facilitated) orchestral improvisations. I was fortunate to study vocal Improv with Rhiannon, Joey Blake (Berklee) and David Worm (WeBe 3). I have written creatively; songs (at the piano) and lyrics- all my life. I have also spent some years quite involved with Theatrical and Comedic Improv. There exist without question many teachers with more expertise on each of the instruments that I teach. I've met some of them! My specialty (other than rhythm) has to do with being something of a fanatic in understanding how people learn. I am gifted in the area of "reverse engineering" or sequencing what I have learned so that you can learn the skills and the music fast! I have a knack for understanding exactly what you need next - to master the task at hand. I am a huge believer in facilitating music-making and helping students to feel truly musical and successful right away. This means grooving on the concepts more than discussing them! The real teacher is within you and learning happens naturally in a very satisfying way when the teacher does not over teach - but instead gets out of the way, making music with you that stretches your boundaries and satisfies as music first! You need wind in your sails! That wind comes from hearing yourself sounding really good! Beginning teachers and students are sometimes more comfortable talking about music than actually jumping in and making music together. I will help you to jump in and truly enjoy the deep learning that comes from being relaxed and playful while making grooves that just want to get up and dance! For intermediate and advanced musicians I teach a fabulously fun and effective system for getting inside and grooving - creatively and playfully in any time signature. You can learn the basics of this system in an hour using voice and a hand drum (or another instrument) but the real benefits come when you use it enough that it becomes internalized -it then becomes a tool that you can use any time to better understand what you are hearing or learning. It's phenomenal for composing, programming and improvising as well. This is an incredibly life-changing system that I have taught to intermediate players right up to full-time professionals. If you are a teacher unsure of how to ground your own lessons in rhythmic, creative and playful grooving and improvising I may be able to help you regardless of your instrument. I truly believe this is the fastest way to learn to play and is absolutely indispensable for keeping beginners motivated during the first few years. If you've been teaching the fun out of your lessons, getting stuck in exercises instead of music making, losing too many students or are searching for new modes that are different from how you were taught - I can likely help you to connect with another mode; that of mentoring, modelling and coaching with creativity and musicality. Get immersed! :) If you are a hand drum student or want a teacher who can take you through understanding and feeling numerous authentic rhythms and one who has solid technique and many years of teaching experience I may be just the person you need! Let's connect and find out! I believe that every instrument is a type of drum and the concepts I will have you jamming out can be applied and re-applied for a life-times worth of joyful music making on virtually any instrument! Past projects Flamenco Caravan - founding member and percussionist for 5 years; original Flamenco tunes. Live shows and recording. Waking the Sound - Original live and recording project in a Peter Gabriel type vein with singer/songwriter Kris DeLorenzi. Live shows and recording. Dahab - numerous gigs with a professional Arabic dancer and several with her students and mine together. Groove Monster - My all drum performance group in Thunder Bay Ontario Canada going on 16 years now. Matt Sellick - Several gigs with this talented Flamenco guitarist. Echoes Traditional Drum Festival - Clinician and performer for the entire lifespan of this festival. 6 years or so. (Highlights included a bunch of gigs with Danny Mott's Mocombo featuring Grammy winners Roberto Riveron and Papiosco (Cuba). Class Acts on Tour -I was honoured to be invited to lead a vocal Rhythm-Play workshop with musicians from all over the world who had gathered to study with Glen Velez, Howard Levy, Eugene Friesen and other great teachers. Sound Sculpture - I designed and built a permanent outdoor sound sculpture for playground use. 12 precision tuned tubes in a minor pentatonic scale and built in to a little "grove" of 4 "Music trees". You CAN get to the next level and truly enjoy the process! Let's do this together! :) Sean.
Nahko Bear and Medicine for the People. Ari Lahdekorpi. Bruce Cockburn. XTC. Kesang Marstrand. Glen Velez. Lori Cotler. Kinobe (and Soul Beat Africa). Howard Levy. David Darling. Sylvan Esso. WeBe3 (Rhiannon, Joey Blake, David Worm). Bob Stoloff. Roger Treece. Mamady Keita. Paper Lions. Michael Smith. David Wilcox (Canadian). Colin James. Ferron. Little Tybee.