Tom Wright
Jazz Drummer
Music
Master of Music (MMus) - 2015-17
The teachers strike a great balance between encouraging self-discovery, gently nudging you in the right direction and giving you tangible information. I think with jazz it’s particularly difficult to strike that balance, and they do it here rather well.
As for audition tips… I would say, play in a way that you’re saying to the panel ‘this is who I am, take it or leave it’, because if you’re playing in a way that’s thinking ‘what are they thinking of me?’ – as we all naturally fall into to some degree – that’s not going to be your best performance; so that’s perhaps what I’d like to have known before I came. But fortunately it went well!
You ask me about memorable moments. The first one that I can’t help but have spring to mind was my first one-to-one lesson with my idol Dave Wickens, who’s a fantastic drummer; and to be in a classroom with him, with two drum kits, myself and himself was just fantastic, and ever since, every other week, we’ve had a profound lesson.