Dave Weckl Launches Online Drum School

Fusion legend Dave Weckl recently launched an online school that includes HD video lessons, play-along packages, and exclusive live footage and lessons from current tours. Courses include hand and foot technique and drum tuning. Content is continually added and can be accessed on any computer or iOS device.

Membership includes access to Weckl’s private Facebook group, where Dave, his staff, and artist relations professionals from Yamaha, Sabian, Vic Firth, and Remo participate. Subscribers can upload videos and exchange feedback with Weckl and fellow drummers.

Play-along packages include charts, drum-less tracks with or without a click, videos of Weckl’s session from multiple angles, and a lesson unique to the package. Guest teachers include Tom Kennedy, Mike Stern, Oz Noy, and Dom Famularo.

Pricing is $30 per month; annual subscribers can save $5 a month. Monthly subscriptions can be canceled at any time. For more information, go to daveweckl.teachable.com.

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Omar Hakim Named Chair of Percussion Department at Berklee College of Music

Omar Hakim (Miles Davis, Michael Jackson, David Bowie) has been named the new chair of the percussion department at the Berklee College of Music. Renowned for his versatility, Hakim has hundreds of albums and dozens of top-level tours to his credit. The drummer succeeds John Ramsay, who had been chair since 2008.

“I’m thrilled and excited about the possibilities of my new role at Berklee,” Hakim says. “I see this as an incredible opportunity to be a part of one of the best foundational programs in the world for young drummers, and I look forward to identifying new and innovative ways to inspire and prepare Berklee students for successful careers in music.”

“Omar Hakim has always been cutting edge,” Grammy-winning jazz drummer and Berklee professor Terri Lyne Carrington says. “I’m excited to see how the percussion department will be enhanced under his visionary leadership.”

“As one of the standard-bearers of drumming and modern music for more than three decades, Omar Hakim will have an immediate and profound impact on our students and faculty,” says Ron Savage, interim dean of Berklee’s professional performance division.

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D’Addario Foundation Awards Grants to 116 National Music Education Organizations

The D’Addario Foundation, a 503(c) nonprofit that partners with transformative music education organizations, recently awarded more than $237,000 in monetary and product support to 116 programs across the United States.

According to a statement by the company, the grants provide assistance to organizations that are in the early stages of development and bring credibility to the community-based programs, giving them critical leverage to acquire other forms of support. The D’Addario Foundation chooses organizations that its members feel best exemplify the virtues of producing quality, sustainable music education programs.

“We know firsthand that long-lasting, immersive, communal music education is a radical way to combat social-emotional issues and help children in difficult circumstances to rise up and overcome,” D’Addario Foundation director Suzanne D’Addario Brouder says. For more information, head to daddariofoundation.org.

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