Portland Area Drum Teachers

Jeff Bissett

Jeff is an accomplished drum and percussion instructor, specializing in teaching beginner to intermediate students. Offering a diverse background in concert band, marching band, orchestra, and drum set, Jeff enjoys sharing his love of music and expertise with his students, taking great pride in assisting their development and growth through the teacher/student relationship. Having also worked in customer service for many years, Jeff is skilled at developing great relationships with not only his students, but their family members as well. Additionally, as a parent, he has learned many great skills over the years that have transferred well into his teaching style. 

Jeff is also a seasoned performer with over 20 years of professional drumming and percussion experience. He is most known for playing with finesse and dynamics to match the feel of the music and his rock solid timekeeping. Jeff began his career in the 90s, recording two albums and touring the east coast. He has collaborated with many musicians over his career, more recently with bands that specialize in weddings and private/corporate functions, playing in cool venues throughout New England, including the Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun casino and at Foxwoods Resort Casino. He performed with the award-winning band UpTown Celebration for five years prior to recently relocating to the Portland, Oregon area. As a performer, Jeff is the ultimate professional and excels on acoustic drums in many genres while singing, including lead vocals. 

As an instructor, Jeff customizes each lesson to fit the individual student’s needs, skill level, and interests. His methods are comprehensive, starting with the basics: stick control, basic rhythms & theory, reading, timing, technique, and dynamics. He makes sure that the learning process is fun, playing along to the student's favorite music and incorporating drum solos and duets into the lessons. Jeff's love of music is very apparent to his students and will be contagious! 

Johannes Jans

Born to a family of musicians, Johannes Jans has always had music as a center point in his life. Gifted a Mickey Mouse drum set by his grandmother at the age of 2, his instrument of choice became clear very early on, and he began taking drum lessons at age 10.  Since then, Johannes has attended the Chicago Academy for the Arts, Berklee College of Music, as well as studied under many great teachers. He has never stopped his pursuit to improve his drumming skills and expand his knowledge, which he now enjoys sharing with his students.

Johannes adapts his teaching style to fit with each of his students and to help them reach their goals. He currently teaches students ranging from ages 10 to adult. So, whether you’re a total beginner or you want to study Jazz soloing concepts, Johannes will develop a lesson plan that works for you!

Johannes has been performing since he formed his first band when he was 12. From small Jazz combos, to big bands, punk rock, to heavy metal, his experience is vast. You can currently see him perform in Portland with instrumental progressive metal band Increate.

Jeff Abbott

Jeff Abbott grew up in Florida, started studying drums at age 9, played in all of his school's bands and has been performing professionally since 1987.

Because he plays jazz, blues, big band, R&B and musical theater, and reads music well, he has worked at most every venue around South Florida. He was the regular drummer for the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater, taught drums to Venus and Serena Williams, and now he tours periodically with Blues artist Anni Piper. Jeff has played for star and production shows on cruise ships around the world, and has worked with several Jazz luminaries.

Christopher Copland

Christopher Copland is a drummer and multi-instrumentalist who loves to share music and loves the drums. His teaching philosophy is predicated on the belief that there isn't a right or wrong way to love or learn music; instead, lessons are a collaboration between teacher and student where they get deep into musical concepts and fundamentals that are relevant to his students' interests and aspirations.

As a teacher, Chris distills his own private studies with master drummers Amir Ziv, Mark Guiliana, Nate Wood, Jim Black, Gregory Hutchinson and Ari Hoenig, into his lessons. He loves to perform Jazz, Brazilian, Rock, Funk and R&B music and teaches across an eclectic stylistic spectrum of musics. Completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Jazz and Contemporary Music in 2015 at The New School in New York, NY, he has remained active in New York and on the west coast, performing with artists including Alexis Cuadrado, Yosvany Terry, Marcus Strickland, Mike Robinson (Jeff Austin Band) and Amber Navran (Moonchild). In addition, he has played at venues across NYC and at festivals including NYC Winter Jazz Festival and the Bern International Jazz Festival. 

After 10,000+ hours of study over 15+ years of drumming, Chris is eager to share what he has learned and to continue his growth through teaching and performing. He moved to Portland in 2018 to live closer to his family and to dig into the West Coast music scene where his roots were first sewn. 

David Rosman

David is a multi-instrumentalist specializing in guitar, piano, drums, bass and violin instruction. He accepts students of all ages and skill levels. David has professionally recorded over ten albums and toured nationally with diverse groups ranging from jazz and rock to techno and heavy metal. He has also worked extensively as a live sound and mastering engineer. 

As passionately as he has explored all aspects of sound and music, he is equally committed to developing a highly impactful teaching style. With an emphasis on personal growth and self-discovery, David attempts to empower each student to carve out their own musical journey and push themselves to grow physically, emotionally and cognitively. 

Rick Martinez

Drummer, Percussionist and Composer Rick Martinez enjoys a diverse career fusing together and performing countless different genres and styles. Having studied classical percussion in his youth at Baltimore's prestigious Peabody Conservatory he has performed as principal timpanist with the Peabody Youth Sinfonietta, percussion and timpanist at Tanglewood music festival and at the Berklee World Percussion Festival among others. He has performed genres ranging from classical to jazz and heavy metal throughout the United States, Europe and Caribbean. 

Rick holds a bachelors degree in jazz performance from New York University and has had the privilege of studying with jazz greats as well as pillars in classical percussion including Tony Moreno, Wayne Krantz, Mike Richmond, Dave Pietro, Tim Genis, Jonathan Haas, John Hadfield, Martin Wind and Dafnis Prieto.

As a drum instructor, Rick strives to not only bring out the best in his students' technical ability but also their emotional connection to their instrument and music as a whole. He provides a tailored and goal-oriented lesson approach that encourages and motivates his students to succeed no matter their age or skill level.