Masterclasses

The Masterclass lasts for an hour and a half and Andy can cater for up to 200 students.
He has a technician who comes in to set up the equipment. This normally takes two hours.

There are 2 sections of the Masterclass:

Section 1

Andy begins by explaining how he got into the music business, from playing in bands in school to playing and recording with many famous artists including Adam Ant, Rod Stewart, Atomic Kitten, Liberty X and many more. He explains to students that like any other business, it is hard work, determination and a degree of luck that are the key ingredients to a successful career.

Andy then talks about the development of the drum. Students will learn how technological changes through the centuries have led from animal skins being stretched over hollow logs, to modern plastic skinned drums, designed to stay in tune.

Andy starts with African drums and then onto the old European military drums, right through to the modern snare drum where he demonstrates a few rudiments.

Students are selected to play various drums all through the session.

Section 2

This section deals with the drum kit and percussion. Each part of the kit is explained and Andy goes through different styles of playing.

Andy then plays a solo on the kit to show how versatile a drum kit can be. The results at times are breathtaking as he demonstrates the skills of a professional musician.

After the drum solo Andy invites students to get up and play percussion and drums with him. Usually, everyone gets up and plays an instrument and there are lots of different percussion supplied to have a go with.

When everyone has sat down Andy likes to invite drummers in the audience to come up and play his kit. It is quite a large kit and he likes to give the drummers this opportunity.

To round off the Masterclass, Andy invites the students to ask him questions about the workshop or music in general.

All in all the Masterclass is an experience that students will find very enjoyable. It will also give them a rare opportunity to be involved with someone from an industry which is a little out of the ordinary.

The Masterclass aims to encourage pupils to take up any instrument, not necessarily drums, and as Andy himself says "The whole idea of my Masterclass is to inspire students to learn an instrument and if I achieve that, then my job is done".