$ 33.00 per 30-minute session

Hello my name in Shannon Kocon and I am a private drum and percussion instructor at the Schmitt Music Minnetonka location. I have been working with all levels of students here since November of 2000 and in that time have had many success stories, some of which I'd like to share. My teaching philosophy can be summed up in one phrase, 'Drummers are lazy'. Whenever I tell a student this they look at me a little bit funny, what I mean by this is that there is an efficient way to play snare or drumset and that is by using proper technique. By developing technique you can play faster and with less effort than ever before, I have even adapted this to the drumset whereby I will teach you how to get a Bass Drum hit on both the down and up stroke!

With proper technique anyone can play with speed and finesse without having to play tense and restricted. Through this process of technique development along with a strong sense of musicality, I have seen several of my students achieve the top honors at their schools. Here is a small sample of some of the top players I have worked with, from Hopkins High School... Sam Engler, Jeremy Ginsburg, Ryan Mord and Ali Vos (Drum Captain Junior & Senior years!). From Orono High School... Clay Whitney, Lane Gehle and Kathleen Webster (Principal Percussionist Wind Ens.). I have had a long list of top players from Wayzata High School including.... Jeff Chiles, Eric Pacquette (Drum Captain), Chris Hench (Principal Percussionist Wind Ens.) and Robert Wallant.

2010 was a special year for two of my students, first Mike Chase of St. Louis Park was awarded a music performance scholarship from St. Cloud State University. Second was Paul Young from Delano, he played drumset on The Children's Theatre production of Tommy and was awarded a performance scholarship from Gustavus Adolphus College.

I would like to thank you for your interest and look forward to helping you reach your goals in music.