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Otto Percussion Studio Posts

Timpani Primer!

This is a great Timpani Primer to give to all your students as well as post on the wall next to your timpani. It has all the info a student needs, from sizes and ranges of the four standard timps, to tuning tips, strike zones, grip and muffling. This is an essential for students, private instructors, and band directors! Click here to download!

Otto Percussion Studio Timpani Handout (Page 1)
Otto Percussion Studio Timpani Handout (Page 2)

Interested in learning more about Timpani, Mallets, Concert Percussion, Drumset? Are you a band director looking to bounce some ideas off a percussionist? Has your limited knowledge kept you at the front of the room? Drop me a line at otto@ottopercussion.com and we’ll make a John Bonham, Alan Abel, or Keiko Abe out of you yet!

Don’t Practice More, Practice More Often!

This is the first in a series of videos designed to help you help your student get the most out of their music lessons!

Parent Tip Series – Practice More (Often)

At Otto Percussion Studio we specialize in Drum and Percussion lessons for all ages and abilities. Give us a call or text at 248 783 6520 or send an email to otto@ottopercussion.com to set up lessons. If you’re local to Lake Orion, Rochester, Troy or the surrounding areas of North Oakland County, MI you can come directly to the studio. If not, we can set up lessons over the great series of tubes known as the internet!

Video Transcript

It’s the new year and every musician’s resolution is ‘This Year I’m Going To Practice More.’ While we often think about this in terms of total time, what is really more important is that we practice more often.

Getting better at a musical instrument, especially percussion, has a lot to do with building muscle memory, and as a former teacher of mine was fond of saying “You can’t cram a motor skill.”

The more days per week you can get your student to practice the better. While the amount of time in those practice sessions will vary from student to student I often say I would rather have a student practice 10 minutes 5 times over the week than an hour just before their lesson. 

The easiest way to keep up with all the practice is just to give it a place in the schedule. Make it part of doing homework, right after school, or in between dinner and bedtime. Just like going to the gym for that New Years Resolution, it’s a tough sell at first, but eventually you start to crave it.

So the two things you should take from this are:

  • So the two things you should take from this are
  • (1) Don’t just have your student practice more, have them practice more often. 
  • (2) accomplish that by putting it on the schedule and making practice a habit. 

If you have any questions about how much your student should be practicing please send me a message or of course we can talk about it at lessons.

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Jeremy Otto is a percussionist with over 15 years and hundreds of students worth of teaching experience. He holds a degree in Music Education from Oakland University. Along with running Otto Percussion Studio he is an in demand clinician and performer.

For a longer bio, click here!

At Otto Percussion Studio we specialize in Drum and Percussion lessons for all ages and abilities. Give us a call or text at 248 783 6520 or send an email to otto@ottopercussion.com to set up lessons. If you’re local to Lake Orion, Rochester, Troy or the surrounding areas of North Oakland County, MI you can come directly to the studio. If not, we can set up lessons over the great series of tubes known as the internet!

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