He has experience working with special needs individuals and different learning styles. He went to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and has been teaching drums for over 12 years. He has been a teacher at The Jazz School, the SF Community Music Center, Edna Brewer Middle School, Elmhurst Middle School, California College Preparatory Academy, and many more. He currently teaches drumset privately fr
om his studio in San Pablo(East Richmond Heights). The lessons will give you the tools to be creative on your instrument, to practice regularly and to have fun with music. Surya gives you a solid foundation on the drums, with an emphasis on learning how to groove and how to be musical. Lessons are accessible, fun, well-paced and tailored to different learning styles. Lessons include warm-ups, call and response, dynamics, limb coordination, tempo guidance, learning by ear and learning to read music. Surya will help you develop your own voice on drums. Students also learn to play along with music they like to listen to and learn classic drum parts from classic recordings. Surya can also help you tune your drums and offers advice on what kind of drumset to buy if you don't have one. Reviews:
Surya is a great drum teacher and a great player. Well versed in many styles and techniques. Highly recommended! Surya is a great teacher! I'm in my mid-thirties, and learning drumming for the first time. Surya is very patient with me. He is able to meet me exactly where I'm at, and then help me take one step further. He always finds just the right rhythm and pace for me to feel challenged but not frustrated. After every session, I feel empowered and excited about learning more. I go home with a few simple things to practice that feel manageable. Surya also includes some deeper aspects of drumming. I'm a yoga teacher and somatic therapist. I appreciate the way Surya invites me to feel the rhythm in my body: feeling the bass in my legs and trunk, the mid-tones in my torso, the higher tones in my upper chest and head, for example. I'm learning to sing and drum at the same time, and he always has great activities to break it down and make it feel possible. Overall, I highly recommend Surya for drum lessons of all types! I really enjoy my lessons with Surya Prakasha. He is relaxed, organized, and a good communicator. He is well versed in many different kinds of drumming, including drum set and djembe, and has proven to be an excellent teacher of all things I've learned from him. I highly recommend him! This guy is an amazing drum teacher. I have been drumming with friends and taking lessons here and there for more than ten years and I learned more in one lesson with him than I had that whole time. He is patient and yet helps push you along. He is also an amazing drummer. I go to watch him play sometimes at Pizzailo with a jazz band. He is fun to hang out with and a great teacher. I highly recommend him. Surya is a thoughtful, terrific teacher and wonderful human being. He was well prepared for the lesson, and ready to meet me exactly where I was at. I left my lesson feeling inspired, excited, and ready for more! Surya is a super laid-back, flexible, and fun teacher, and an all around cool and pleasant person. I took lessons from him at Community Music Center in SF and decided to stick with him when I left CMC. He tailors the lessons to what the student wants and needs, and has a great sense of humor which makes every lesson fun! Definitely not the old lady piano teacher from your childhood that smelled like moth-balls and scolded you for not sitting up straight! Highly recommended for all music styles and definitely for beginners! Surya is an amazingly patient drum teacher!! Not only is he a djembe drum teacher but traditional drums as well - he can do it all! After having had a few traditional drum lessons, I wasn't sure I'd like the djembe. I was hooked after the first lesson, he makes it fun while still challenging you. If you want a really talented, patient teacher - look no further. I selected Surya as my drum set instructor because he was affordable, had a welcoming personality and gave me a very organized and fun lesson right from the start. I would recommend him to any one wanting to learn the drums. I've taken lessons from many different teachers (piano, woodwind, mallet instruments etc) but I have to say that I find Surya to be the best teacher that I've ever had. He is a very kind individual, very excited about music and teaching, driven but also relaxed and knows how to keep things light. I have fun at each lesson, I couldn't say that for all the years that I took music lessons in the past (15+ years) so to me, this means a lot! You won't regret it if you try instruction from Surya Patri, what are you waiting for? Our 11 year old daughter has been taking drum lessons from Surya since August. She thinks he is a great drum teacher and she is learning a lot. He is very supportive and encouraging. He really fosters a sense of accomplishment and passion which shines through to our daughter. She is eager to practice and looks forward to her hour long lesson each week. Surya is affordable and very flexible with the schedule. He does require 24 hours cancellation or change notice (which is fair), but when we need to change times week to week he is as accommodating as he can be. We like that he offers 1/2 hour and 1 hour lessons (our daughter goes for one hour each week). I can't recommend him enough -- he is a real treasure and is great with our daughter in terms of fostering creativity and passion for the drums. If you get the chance, sign up with Micha, you won't regret it. Surya is an amazing drum teacher! It is obvious that he loves drumming, music, and teaching and it shows in his positive presence and excitement about what I am learning. He is encouraging, incredibly patient and supportive. I can feel that Micha is tuned into me, what I want out of the lessons, and always working to meet me where I am with the music that I will most enjoy. He challenges me to play longer and faster than I would on my own but is also sensitive to when I want to slow down. He is also able to explain the theory behind the beats and rythyms that I am learning in a way that I can understand and put into practice. He teaches in a way that makes sense in my mind and physically in my hands and body when I play. I appreciate Micha's laughter and lightness and that he always makes the lessons fun. I look forward to every lesson. Oh, and he also has a non-profit that plays music for disabled people. I mention this because I appreciate supporting people that are giving back to the community! My 13 year old son has taken drums with Surya for a year. He describes Surya as "patient, fun and helpful." He has the perfect balance of professionalism and "coolness" that kids (and their parents!) appreciate. I highly recommend Surya. I've known Surya for some time and I've found him to be kind, patient, and passionate. He is a talented teacher that cares about his students; not only their progress in exploring themselves as musicians but also in simply who they are. Encouragement and empowerment are powerful tools to the teacher of any subject or skill; Surya understands this and lives it.
