I'm not drum teacher boy by any stretch of the imagination, but I have spent some time teaching in various drum shops across the US (Thoroughbred, Paul's, etc). I have always used a playing foundational approach. I started with the usual analysis of the students technique and addressed that first. Then it was a walk through full kit groove ... simple meter work and then building complexity. I had the student make annotations for each weeks groove on paper. We used several methods I've picked up over the years from the various studios I've wandered through. The student will decide on the method he/she is most comfortable with. I bring them to deep odd time and then into the realm of improvisation. I have never taught the rudiments per se. I give them to them and let them work on them outside of our lessons ... with a single monthly check to ensure the ball doesn't get dropped.

Once a month, I introduce a madly creative drum track and we do a shared analysis of it. NEVER would we try to duplicate any track, as that would take it out of the realm of art and into the arena of poser doofus.

That's how I've always taught. These days I accept about three students a year. It works for me. Your mileage may vary.

It usually depends on this person's age as to where to start. With my younger students I'll start with how to hold the sticks and how to sit at the set. Then I'll start with a simple beat at a slow pace. Once they have the hang of that I'll work on things like how they are striking the head, foot placement, tempo, etc. as they progress I pull from anywhere the student wants to go. I may pull from a book or videos or even a song I heard that day.

I've given introductory lessons to several of my friends' kids. Before I discuss any notes or show any beats, I give them the following exercises: Alternating single strokes between limb pairs (not just the hands, but the feet too, such as between the right hand and right foot); and unison strokes with similar limb pairs.

This comes in handy when dissecting beats. I will have explained the reasoning behind these exercises: When, for example, it's time to play a left-handed 16th note on the snare between right-handed 8th notes on the hat or ride, it's just three alternating notes between the hands.

When it's time to discuss simple beats, I break out some Beatles, Stones, and Cheap Trick. In addition to using 8th notes on the hat, I show how each beat can be played with quarter-note and offbeat eighths, not only on the hat, but the ride, and alternate surfaces such as a cowbell or floor tom. So each beat has 12 potential feels. After that, I show them that most rock is simply a matter of mixing and matching these building blocks.

With motivated students, this method has yielded strong results in two or three lessons. Once they're on their way, I recommend "Realistic Rock" and "Stick Control" and suggest that they find a real teacher. On a few occasions, those teachers have told me (or the kid's parents) that they are shocked by how advanced the student was.

Use the book "Syncopation" great for teaching timing especially if teaching the student to use a metronome or a click track (used alot in todays recording and live perfomances). Then start teaching rudiments. Paradiddles, paradiddlediddles, etc. Teach timing and stick control all at the same time.