YEAR 9 ACHIEVEMENT ASSEMBLY- VISIT FROM JEFF RICH

Former Status Quo drummer, Jeff Rich, visited Springwood High School and spent the morning delivering a masterclass into drumming to our year 9 students.

Jeff began by explaining how he got into the music business, from playing in bands in school to playing  and recording with many famous artists including Stretch, Judie Tzuke, The Climax Blues Band, Def Leppard and, of course, Status Quo. He explained to students that like any other business, it is hard work, determination, ambition  and a degree of luck that are the key ingredients to a successful career. 

Jeff then spoke about the development of the drum. Students learned how technological changes through the centuries have led from animal skins being stretched over hollow logs, to modern plastic skinned drums, designed to stay in tune. Jeff started with African drums then moved onto the old European military drums, right through to the modern snare drum and demonstrating the rudiments of each. Students were selected to play various drums all through the session. 

The second half of Jeff’s session dealt with the drum kit and percussion. Jeff explained each part of the kit and discussed different styles of playing. He then played a solo on the kit to show how versatile a drum kit can be. The results were breath taking as he demonstrated the skills of a professional musician. After the drum solo, Jeff invited up to 140 students at a time to play percussion and drums with him and everyone had the chance to get up and play an instrument. Jeff then invited drummers in the audience to come up and play his kit.

As well as being an enjoyable experience, the Masterclass also gave students a rare opportunity to witness that hard work, ambition and dedication can lead to great achievement. The Masterclass aims to encourage Springwood Students to aim high, always try your best and with  hard work and dedication your goals can become reality.

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