ONE-ON-ONE COACHING WITH STEPHEN CLARK

What if you could naturally & automatically sound like the drummer on your favorite record every time you sit down at the kit without even trying?

This is all 100% possible, and achieving these things doesn't require any special prerequisite talent. It also doesn't have to take you an entire lifetime.

Here's the problem, though:

Maybe you’ve been playing for a while and you've practiced for hours and hours, but...

you’re still not sounding good
you lack confidence
you're not feeling comfortable
you’re still having to “think too much” while you play

What's crazy is most drummers spend over a decade getting to the point where their playing is professional, recordable, and confidently musical, where they actually sound like the drummer in their favorite song.

I help you do this much faster.

What if you could finally sound as good as the drummer on your favorite song?

Maybe you’ve been working toward this for months or even years, but no matter how much you practice you find yourself plateauing.

More hand technique practice doesn’t get you there.

More coordination practice doesn’t get you there.

Even more song-learning practice doesn’t get you there.

So what’s missing?

Unfortunately most drummers reach an average level of proficiency, then they plateau.

Once they’ve plateaued and gotten stuck, they assume that the players who did actually master the instrument must be “more talented” or “must have practiced more” or “must have had a more musical background.”

But what if none of those things are true?

What if the the real difference has little to do with talent or background?

The truth that I’ve discovered in my decade+ of playing, teaching, and learning myself is this:

The drummers who become the best players, truly mastering the instrument, are the ones who practice really well.

It’s not even so much what they practice as it is how they practice it.

This should be very encouraging and freeing, because here's what this means:

Anyone can master the drums.

All you’re missing is knowing how to actually practice.

This is what I teach you.

I’m collapsing my 16 years of trial and error learning, teaching, and performing, and I’m even condensing all that I learned in 4 years of music school earning a performance degree into your private, customized drumming education.

If you’ve been playing for a while, but you’re still stuck in…

Disjointed playing
Sloppiness
Choppiness
Feeling like you're thinking too much
Worrying about technique
Always freaking out in a song with “What comes next??!”
Amateur feel & sound
Robotic & stiff playing
Not comfortable
Not confident
Tense & can't relax
Always playing bad fills that aren’t smooth
Still stuck after practicing coordination for years (and so everything feels difficult)
Working on hand technique on the pad, but you get stiff again on the full kit!

…then your problem isn’t that you need to practice more. It’s that you need to practice better.

Here’s what I help you do:

Effortlessly sound like the drummer on your favorite record - every time you sit down at the kit
Gain so much comfort & confidence on the drums that you’re not having to think anymore while you play
Develop smooth & precise flow from groove to fill and back - and through different song sections
Everything finally feel EASY and automatic for you, because the drums feel like an extension of you
Naturally sound polished & professional without even trying
Create an inviting groove that makes other musicians want to jam & have you in their band
Execute smooth, musical fills that fit the song every time
Feel like you’re “inside the song” as it just “flows out of you” when playing with a band
Find that everyone around you is wanting you in their band because of how you actually make them sound better!

I experienced this myself while I was in music school. I had practiced a lot of complex coordination & independence exercises as a beginner to intermediate drummer, and I had built pretty decent speed & chops around the kit.

But the problem was my playing didn’t sound good. It was sloppy and disjointed and didn’t feel good.

It didn’t sound at all like the drummer on my favorite record.

But here’s the crazy thing…

I didn’t practice more things in order to get out of this rut and solve the disjointed sloppiness.

I really didn’t add anything new to my practice routines at all.

Instead, I changed how I was practicing those things.

That made ALL the difference, and within a few months my playing changed.

The sloppiness changed to precision.
The disjointed groove to fill transitions changed to smooth, musical flow.
The self-consciousness changed to confidence.
The choppy amateur-feeling drumming changed to professional, recordable playing.

How did I do this?

I changed how I was practicing.

This is what I teach every one of my private students, and you’re no exception!

Now you could go to music school like I did to learn all this stuff, and you could spend a bunch of money and a bunch of time...

Did you know the average private music school costs $70k a year? Sometimes up to $100k a year?? That means you’re well over a quarter million $ in after 4 years!

Not to mention it takes 4 years. Any of us who are past our twenties probably don’t have the luxury of rewinding the clock to go to music school if we wanted to!

Your money is valuable, but your time is even more valuable - especially as you’re getting older.

What if there was a faster way to master the drums, and what if you could get all the experience from music school - and a decade-and-a-half of playing & teaching - condensed into a private, customized one-on-one experience?

This is what we do inside NGD coaching, and this is how it works.

Each student goes through my 3-step, Faster Growth Process, which is a not-regimented, tailored-to-YOU process. Here’s what we do together:

The 3-Step Faster Growth Process

We go through this process with every new student to make sure their growth is streamlined and their practicing is productive & aligned with their goals & dreams...

Step #1: Get quick-wins (Make progress in as little as 60 minutes!)

I watch you play, and we fix technical or setup issues holding you back. This is often the most motivating thing for a formerly self-taught student who's struggled on their own for years!

Step #2: Gain confidence by knowing what to practice

You film your entire practice routine, I watch it, and I assess how we can make it more effective. We then build a new practice routine that aligns with your goals & dreams, so that you're growing quickly.

Step #3: Grow faster by learning how to learn & practice

Ultimately practicing is more about quality than quantity. When you know the right way to practice anything, you reach full, deep mastery that gets you finally sounding like the drummer on your favorite record!

It’s that simple.

Learn exactly what you need to practice based on your goals & dreams.
Learn exactly how to practice those things.
Become the player you’ve always wanted to become, truly sounding like the drummer on your favorite record.

EFFORTLESS DRUMMING | Finally Sound As Good As The Drummer On Your Favorite Song One-On-One Coaching Program

Here's what you're getting...

Every other week Zoom meeting
Priority access to Stephen
Unlimited feedback on your playing
A customized practice plan tailored to your goals & dreams
A plan for how to practice & learn new material quickly, so you’re reaching mastery as fast as possible
Certainty that you will actually reach your goals and dreams (You're not going at this alone!)

Hey I went to music school so you don’t have to! :)

Not to mention I spent years of trial & error learning, practicing, and performing - So that you don’t have to.

You can collapse time and get results faster than I did.

Let me be your coach and guide, and we’ll work together to hack your drumming growth the fastest way possible, by working one-on-one to create your custom practice plan for maximum progress in the coming months.

Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on a year of music school - Or hundreds of thousands total - Join me for 6 months of private coaching for just $5,000.

That’s a fraction of what you’d pay for a single year of music school, and I’m condensing everything I’ve learned in music school and throughout my playing & teaching career so that you can learn in 6 months what took me years.

That way you’re saving tons of time, and you’re spending way less money than I did.

How much is your time worth to you?

How much is certainty worth to you?

What if you absolutely knew that you would finally reach your drumming dreams - and do it in far less time than going at it on your own or even attending a private music school?

Why coaching with me is not cheap...

These aren't your traditional "drum lessons."

Maybe you've gone the "local lessons" route, where you've gone to a weekly 30-45 minute lesson for $50 or $75.

You play through your exercises from a method book for your teacher, who then tells you whether or not to go on to the next exercise.

There's nothing wrong with this approach, and maybe this is right for you. This was how I started out as a beginner!

But I have to be honest with you.

Most one-on-one students come to me because they were stuck with their local teacher.

Maybe their teacher kept them on a regimented method that wasn't moving them toward their personal drumming goals & dreams.
Maybe their teacher paid zero attention to technique, and as a result the student's hand speed & bass drum technique suffered for years.
Maybe their teacher never actually taught them HOW to practice, so their progress has been unnecessarily slow over the years.

Now please don't mishear me. There are fantastic local teachers out there! I was a student of one of them for years, and I am forever grateful.

But unfortunately local teachers are very hit or miss in terms of quality of teaching and the results (or lack thereof) that they're getting their students. Finding the right teacher can really be a challenge these days.

What I end up doing with nearly all my students...

First, we work together to get you unstuck & rapidly moving toward your goals & dreams - by carefully identifying weaknesses, rebuilding your daily practice routine, and breaking down how to truly learn and master material - So that you're actually sounding like the drummer on your favorite record.

This is why this is called "coaching" rather than "lessons."

What we do here at The Non Glamorous Drummer goes much deeper than your run-of-the-mill 30 minute drum music-store-drum-lessons.

We're diving deep into the real meat of what helps you make the fastest possible progress on the drums.

This means that yes, we're meeting regularly over Zoom - But we're also working together on the in-between time.

Because I keep a narrow roster of students (no more than 4 or 5), I'm able to give you my full attention.

You can send videos for feedback anytime, ask questions anytime, and have complete certainty and confidence that you're growing week to week.

How do I know this is for me?

My coaching packages are not cheap, so they're only for serious, committed drummers who are ready to set big goals and dreams... and actually reach them!

What I find is that if you pay $50 for a lesson... or $75, or even $100, then you'll most likely get a $50, $75, or $100 result in the end - which unfortunately isn't much.

But if you commit to the long haul, investing both significant time and money into an outcome... You get a result matching that commitment!

This is a serious coaching program for drummers seriously committed to getting massive results.

Who this is for:

✅ Drummers who are prepared to practice regularly & make their drumming growth a priority
✅ Students willing to make a financial & time investment in bettering yourself & your playing
✅ A hard worker who's ready to dive in and make your lifelong drumming dreams a reality, and you’re willing to work for it even when things get tough

Who this is NOT for:

❌ Drummers who are so busy that they’re not able to practice regularly
❌ Anyone to whom drumming isn’t a high enough priority to warrant a real time or financial investment
❌ Anyone to whom this isn’t something they truly take seriously - You’re on the fence about whether you really want to take the plunge and master the instrument

I've been doing online one-on-one coaching for years now, and time and time again my most successful students are the ones who commit for the long haul.

Not just one Zoom session.

Not just one month.

But the long haul.

If you're a committed action-taker, ready to get some serious results, apply below. This might be a good fit for you!

Join me for 6 months of one-on-one coaching for $5,000.

If you feel like this is for you…How would you like to?…

Effortlessly sound like the drummer on your favorite record - every time you sit down at the kit
Play with so much comfort & confidence on the drums that you’re not having to think anymore while you play
Achieve effortless flow from groove to fill and back - and through different song sections
Everything finally feel EASY and automatic for you, because the drums feel like an extension of you
Have the ability to naturally sound polished & professional without even trying
Create an inviting groove that makes other musicians want to jam
Be able to execute smooth, musical fills that fit the song every time
Feel like you’re “inside the song” as it just “flows out of you” when playing with a band
Experience everyone around you wanting you in their band because of how you actually make them sound better!

You can go…

From disjointed and sloppy… to smooth, automatic flow
From always worrying about what’s coming next in the song… to being naturally musical
From choppy & amateur-sounding groove… to professional-sounding & recordable drumming
From tense, robotic, & stiff… to autopilot & effortless
From self-conscious & crippled by self-doubt… to confident, creative & empowered

And you can do it all in less time than it took me.

Learn from my trial & error.

Learn from my 4 years of music school.

Save time & save money, and actually reach your drumming dreams once and for all.

Imagine if you had a custom, daily practice routine that was automatically delivering consistent results in your playing?

Imagine if you finally knew HOW to practice so that you're actually reaching full, deep mastery over the instrument.

What if you were finally sounding like the drummer on your favorite record?

What if you reached your lifelong dream of playing in a band - and having a blast doing it?

YOU CAN DO THIS.

Apply right here if you think you might be a good fit for this coaching program.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]

I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

To your success,

Stephen

Click here to apply for one-on-one coaching

You can get to where you are naturally & automatically sounding like the drummer on your favorite record every time you sit down at the kit without even trying.

Your playing CAN become so smooth, polished, musical, and effortless, that you don't have to think while playing - and yet the drums feel like a natural extension of your body...
You CAN become so comfortable and confident that everything you play is automatically precise & professional - and feels EASY.
You CAN become the drummer everyone wants in their band because you make them sound better!

This is all 100% possible, and you can absolutely do it. I can help.

If you think one-on-one coaching might be a good fit for you, apply now.

Don't delay, since these 3 spots are first-come-first-serve.

Click here to apply!

Here's what drummers are saying about working one-on-one with Stephen...

"I actually believed I was at the end of my abilities... [But now] I am improving vastly from where I started."

- Jim H.

Jim H.

New Jersey

"My biggest hurdle was getting frustrated 😠…practicing over and over what I thought was right (Easy to do when you don't know!). So my progression was slow and tedious. After all, I have been playing drums since I was 9 years old. I know how to read music and have played in lots of bands, but I never was polished.

"My frustration caused me to feel like a failure and that mastering the drums was out of my reach. It's not working... I actually believed I was at the end of my abilities.

"But Stephen analyzed my grip...how my foot was working on the pedal...how was I holding my sticks. By carefully analyzing and directing he got me on a great path. I am improving vastly from where I started.

"Drum teachers in my past never looked at anything like that. Once they saw I could read drum music they jumped right into that. So my little self taught mistakes went unnoticed.

"It is such a wonderful state of play to be in! Once the issues were addressed, all of my other skills started to kick in. I am extremely happy and satisfied with our work together.

"Now I am totally renovating my practice time. The future looks great as my old friend the drums 🥁 🪘 continue to challenge and thrill me!"

"Highly recommended for all drummers who want to build those fundamental "non-glamorous" skills that enable you to play all the flashy fun stuff with speed, dynamics, and ease!"

- Tom Z.

Tom Z.

Los Angeles, CA

"Stephen is a great drum teacher. Through his patient, easy going instruction on the mechanics of drumming, I've been able to fix a lot of self taught bad habits and improve my technique. He also challenged me with coordination exercises that really improved and broadened my drumming tool kit, which will help me play an even wider variety of styles than the rock/punk/ska I grew up playing along to. Stephen is non-judgmental, focusing on where my playing abilities were and how to help me achieve my goals. He also helped with a variety of elements around ergonomics and overall setup, tailored to me and not following some "this is the only way to do it" arbitrary set of rules. I never thought Zoom drum lessons would work, but they did and Stephen has been a huge help. Highly recommended for all drummers who want to build those fundamental "non-glamorous" skills that enable you to play all the flashy fun stuff with speed, dynamics, and ease!"

"If you want to discover what's holding you back and see significant growth in your playing, I highly recommend Stephen's personal instruction."

- Jim W.

Jim W.

San Fransisco, CA

"As a self-taught drummer, I suspected I had lots of bad habits that were limiting my growth, and I watched countless YouTube videos to try to correct them. After limited success, I finally reached out to Stephen.

"He began by helping me change my grip, foot position and kit ergonomics. Those were big adjustments, but I felt immediate improvement, and within weeks, I finally felt like I was getting out of my own way, and I now see vastly more potential in my playing. I had no idea how much my bad habits were holding me back, and Stephen helped me correct them within the first couple of lessons. I've realized the smallest changes can make the biggest difference, but it's hard to determine what those are from videos alone.

"Stephen is patient, professional, and an exceptional listener. His 'non-glamorous', no-frills style is exactly what I was looking for. If you want to discover what's holding you back and see significant growth in your playing, I highly recommend Stephen's personal instruction."

"Once [relaxed grip] started to click my anxiety around my pain started to disappear and I was able to see a path towards a freedom in my playing that I’ve never felt before."

- Mike G.

Mike G.

Toronto, Ontario

"I came to Stephen Clark a broken drummer. I had struggled as a self-taught player for literally decades. I had a lot of anxiety surrounding my playing, so much so that I had given up playing the drums for a number of years. I saw some of Stephen’s YouTube videos and for the first time in a long time thought, “maybe this is something that I can get better at?” I reached out and started doing private lessons over Zoom.

"My hands needed to be 'unlocked' essentially. I had a lifetime of gripping the sticks too tight and it was causing stiffness and pain. Each stroke would send a jolt down my arm. Stephen took the time to watch multiple videos of me playing singles in slow motion, and he was able to pinpoint where my fingers needed to loosen up. At first it was a struggle - Again so much muscle memory. But slowly over the weeks and months I was able to loosen both the fulcrum point and my fingers to the point where I was feeling what Stephen calls the “free bounce.” Once that started to click my anxiety around my pain started to disappear and I was able to see a path towards a freedom in my playing that I’ve never felt before.

"Stephen has been patient with me while I stuck on the same couple of exercises for weeks on end until I could get the feeling in my hands that I was looking for. I’ve had other instructors over the years that I would try for small periods of time and they were insistent on following their method with very little room to move outside it. Again Stephen‘s patient and encouragement has made me feel more confident than I ever had on this instrument. I would recommend him to anybody struggling with any part of your playing. I cannot stress what a huge help this has been to me."