“Rich Degnars has been our family’s drum teacher for almost 3 years. He was recommended to us by a neighbor when my 6-year-old daughter expressed an interest and ability in learning the drums, specifically because he has a great teaching style with children. As drumming was always a musical interest of mine, I also started taking lessons with Rich when an additional time slot became available in his schedule.

Rich adapts his teaching style to the skill level, abilities, and interests of each student. My daughter started with basically no musical background, while I had significant music experience outside of the drums. Rich quickly identified our respective baseline abilities and homed in on challenging areas to help us each focus and improve. Particularly with children, Rich is very good at pushing hard enough to help the student understand a concept and make progress, without becoming discouraged and upset, or getting defensive. He offers lots of positive reinforcement and knows when it is time to move on to something else.

Although our lessons were initially in-person, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the music industry to reconsider their practices, as it did with the rest of the world. Rich facilitated a very smooth transition to online, internet-based, lessons. This change in learning environment did not have any impact on Rich’s ability to teach or our ability to learn from him. It is actually amazing to me that Rich can see and hear every misstep and incorrect sticking. Even over FaceTime or Zoom, he doesn’t miss a thing!

I have never walked away from a lesson with Rich feeling discouraged or disappointed. Quite the opposite. Working with Rich has empowered me to feel confident playing the drums with others and has instilled a similar level of confidence in my daughter, who looks forward to her lesson every week!”

Mr. Rich is a passionate drum teacher. Our son started with him 3 years ago and it’s been a delight to watch his growth on the drums. Mr. Rich is patient with our son but it’s his persistence to ensure that our son practices often, that has gotten him to where he is today. We asked our son if he likes Mr. Rich as his drum teacher & his words were, “He is a good person. He teaches me well and he is really good at drums.” So simply put, Mr. Rich is awesome and he will be a blessing to your children as well.
Cheerfully,

“Our son began lessons with Rich when he was 8 years old. Our son’s progress has been amazing. Rich has been able to cultivate his passion for music; as a result, his confidence that he has gained with playing drums has impacted his scholastic growth in school. Music is not Johnny’s passion, but his stress reliever & his “go to place” when he needs to relax his mind. Rich is not only an amazing drum instructor, he has become Johnny’s friend.”

“Rich has been our son’s drum teacher for the last four years. He is not only a talented artist himself, but he is a great instructor. He consistently makes learning fun and provides our son with the feedback he needs to improve his skills. What’s been equally impressive is that Rich ‘didn’t skip a beat’ transitioning from in-person lessons to virtual lessons because of the pandemic! We couldn’t be happier to have Rich as our drum instructor.”

“Rich Degnars is an excellent teacher who is dedicated to helping his students become the best musicians they can be. He is patient and kind, and helps his students innovate and think outside the box, rather than only teaching them how to read and perform music.”

“Rich is everything one could ask for in a drum teacher – he is skilled, professional and encouraging. Thanks to Rich’s engaging and increasingly challenging teaching style, my son stays focused, improves weekly, and truly enjoys learning during Rich’s lessons.”