Information About Ricky - Ilford teacher

Personal Description:

I am a professional drummer, classically-trained tabla player and teacher based in Wanstead, in East London. teaching in person and online. I look forward to helping you find your way around the drum kit or tablas and develop into the best musician you can be!

I have been attracted to the formidable look and sound of drums for as long as I can remember. I had been learning the Piano and Violin at school (up to Grade 8 and 7 respectively) but took it upon myself to play drums around the age of 12, after hearing some of the other schoolchildren having their drum lessons and thinking “I can do that”. I’d sneak into the drum room and teach myself beats and drum fills from my favourite songs – mostly heavy rock in the vein of Iron Maiden, ACDC, Motorhead and Led Zeppelin, along with some electro and hip hop beats popular at the time. Being able to read drum music expanded my repertoire and pretty soon I was performing in and out of school in all sorts of gigs including my first group called Sixpence Worth of Heaven, a Manchester-indie-influenced band fronted by a now-very-well-known TV sports/Breakfast/gameshow presenter. I was in numerous bands at university, usually several at the same time, playing rock, metal, jazz, blues, reggae and soul. As time went on I felt that I wanted to improve my playing technique to be able to play with more finesse, and learn “properly” about drums in greater depth so I started taking formal drum lessons from a well-known teacher in Chiswick for around 10 years whilst continuing to record and perform with a variety of musicians. I’ve been in around 50 groups altogether playing a range of genres, have recorded CDs and digital releases on iTunes/Spotify etc… writing and performing original music with my bands (including Venus, The Doog, Subterranea, The Revelation Band and Anaam) as well as playing as a session drummer. I have also gigged around the UK and abroad, and get a special satisfaction from being able to pass on the skills and knowledge that I have learnt in lessons, as well as through years of listening and watching other musicians closely whilst playing in bands. I’m very excited about helping to you take your drumming to where you want to be…and beyond!

Tutoring Experience:

I have been teaching drum kit and tabla to selected students since 2003 and teaching full time since 2018
2019 - present
Instructor for Group Classes on Tabla for Children aged 4 to 16 at Swaminarayan Independent Day School, Wembley, London, in conjunction with Akshar Arts Academy, as well as online group lessons for the school during the COVID-19 outbreak
2003 - present
Individual drum kit lessons for adults and children including face to face and online sessions
2003 - present
Individual and group tabla lessons for adults and children including face to face and online sessions
2017 - present
Instructor for Group Classes for Adults and Children on drum kit in Rotherhithe, London as part of a Southwark Council-funded initiative
1995 - 2003
Group Classes in Tabla for beginners and intermediate students, adults and children at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Institute of Indian Culture, West Kensington, and other locations in London filling in for absences due to touring etc. for regular instructor (and my former teacher) Pandit Shiv Shankar Ray

Tutoring Approach:

As a drummer, tabla player and percussionist, flexibility is mandatory. It’s essential for teaching and learning too. Some students like to focus on exams and grading, others want to be able to play in bands, and a few just want to play the fastest double bass drum rolls in the world! I tailor my approach to what each student's goals are while ensuring we cover the essential basic principles such as technique, accurate timekeeping and dynamic expression.

I usually cover reading skills for drum sheet music as that opens us up to the almost limitless number of beats, rhythms and fills generated over hundreds of years of percussion, but also teach students who prefer to learn by listening and counting. For those interested in music exams I follow the Trinity, Trinity Rock and Rockschool syllabuses (Grades 1-8) but this is not essential as there is plenty of other drumming to be studied, and created!

I base my tabla teaching on the classical repertoire and cover popular styles too.