I. Practice Coaching Lessons 

Practice the right way to make every practice session count!

Learning how to practice well is essential to the development and success of every music student. Repeating bad habits, lack of focused attention, and the inability to extract specific issues and deal with them efficiently are challenges that students face while practicing. A practice coach can help eliminate these destructive habits and improve the student’s ability to practice with maximum efficiency.

A good practice coach can be an invaluable part of a serious music student’s progress. We hope you’ll take advantage of this unique opportunity to dramatically improve the productivity of your practice time! 

Percussion Instruments Practice Coaching:

• Provides feed back so that mistakes and bad habits will not be repeated during daily practice
• Guides the student to practice the hard parts methodically
• Improves practice efficiency
• Makes the practice session interesting and inspiring

II. Ono-on-one Private Lessons 

Take your drum and percussion playing to the next level with one-on-one private lessons!

Do you have a percussion student looking for extra musical enrichment and challenge beyond regular band and orchestra classes? Do you have a classical percussionist looking to make the transition into playing drum set? Or do you have a beginning student and you're looking for someone to help guide them as they get started in the fun and exciting world of drums and percussion?

One-on-one private lessons are one of the best ways to help students grow and reach their musical goals. In one-on-one lessons we are able to provide curriculum that is individually customized to meet each student's needs. In each lesson we'll work through exercises and pieces that are appropriately challenging for where your student is at on their instrument, helping them to stretch and grow as a musician every week.

Snare drum, mallet percussion, drum set, bass drum, timpani, cymbals and more! If it falls into the realm of drums and percussion, we can work on getting better at it together in one-on-one lessons!

Schedule a free trial lesson today to see how one-on-one private lessons can help take your student's playing to the next level.

 

Multi-instrumentalist, recording artist, touring musician, and composer, Kyle is a music educator with a passion for helping young musicians find their voice.

Kyle is a lifetime “band-geek” who has spent the last decade building a wealth of experience as a professional musician and educator. Highlights include:

• Spending five years as the primary drum instructor and music director for a performance-based music school
• Recording numerous studio albums as a session drummer and percussionist, both as featured guest and original songwriter
• Performing as a member of the percussion ensemble “Street Drum Corps”
• Studying drums with Nashville drummer and producer Luke DeJaynes
• Studying performance and music theory with Grammy Award winner Jorge Casas
• Touring the U.S. as a member of the original metal band “Death on Fire”

Some of Kyle's earliest musical experiences are beginning to learn the piano from his mother in kindergarten and first grade. He eventually switched over to drums and percussion when he was old enough to join the school concert band, playing in pretty much every ensemble the school had to offer. Kyle lived and breathed music all through grade and high school, going on to study music with a focus in performance at Greenville University in Greenville, IL. This is where he met DeJaynes and Casas, who were professors there at the time.

Halfway through the degree, he shifted direction and ended up in the religion and philosophy department. He thought he was on a path for going into non-profit work, following a passion to help out young artists who were just getting their start. But music kept calling Kyle back.

After graduating in 2013, Kyle started gaining the “real-world” experience of being a professional musician. He took any odd recording and performance gigs that came his way while working dead-end day jobs, trying to figure out what his next step was. Eventually, in 2015, he landed a position as the drum instructor for a brand new music school that was just starting up in Fort Wayne. Kyle excelled at this position, staying with the school from 2015-2020 and eventually being promoted to the role of Music Director.

The school combined Kyle's musical pursuits with his passion for helping out young artists. It helped him grow both as a teacher and as a musician, allowing him to build valuable experience in coaching and mentoring. At the school, Kyle was able to: regularly teach one-on-one drum lessons for students of all ages and skill levels; guide group rehearsals preparing student ensembles for semester performances; design and lead week-long intensive camps on various themes; and mentor and the school's audition-based pre-professional ensemble.

This work provided a stepping stone to bigger and better musical projects for Kyle. In 2016, he auditioned for and landed a spot with Street Drum Corps for a run of their Halloween shows. In 2016 he also helped form the indie pop band “Girl Colors.” He co-wrote and recorded two albums with them over the next year. Their song, “Impossible Days” was featured in the award-winning short film Giving Up the Moon. In 2017, Kyle was approached by the metal band “Death on Fire” to join as a touring drummer. He accepted the position, starting with a Midwest tour in March of 2017 and continuing to tour across the country with them ever since. Eventually, the relationship with the band became more collaborative and Kyle moved from mere “hired-gun” drummer to a co-writer and composer. He contributed heavily on their 2020 album Ghost Songs and helped co-write their most recent album (which they just finished recording at the end of 2020). In 2019, Kyle began writing and releasing solo music as a singer/songwriter under the name “K. Edward Smith.” He wrote, recorded, and released a new song every three weeks for a year (June 2019-July 2020), playing most of the eclectic instrumentation himself. In February 2021, he released his first full-length solo album, Something Beautiful, and is currently in pre-production for the next one.

Kyle lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with his wife and three cats. He runs a small recording studio (“Secondhand Studios”) where he composes, records, and teaches. Kyle likes good coffee, old movies, vinyl records, and used bookstores. He is an SJC Custom Drums endorsed artist.

 

 

 

Risk-Free Satisfaction Guarantee

If the trial lesson doesn’t meet your expectations, we’ll gladly help you connect with another top-rated, highly qualified tutor—or issue a FULL refund.

Refund for Lesson Packages

You may cancel a lesson package with at least 24 hours' written notice before the next lesson. Completed lessons will be billed at the standard hourly rate, and the remaining balance will be refunded minus a 5% processing fee. The fee is waived if you keep the balance as credit on your TimeAfterSchool account for other lessons.

Cancellation and Rescheduling Policy

• Standard Policy: Provide at least 24 hours' notice before the scheduled start time to cancel or reschedule a lesson free of charge. Cancellations or reschedules with less than 24 hours’ notice will incur the full lesson fee.
• Grace Period for Packages: For each packages of 10 or more lessons, you are allowed one late cancellation or rescheduling (with less than 24 hours' notice) without penalty to accommodate unexpected situations. Any additional late cancellations or changes beyond this one-time exception will be charged in full.

Adult Supervision

All tutoring sessions for students under 18 years old must be supervised by a responsible adult.