Zack Mautz

I am a drummer/percussionist based in Washington State. On top of instructing high school percussion ensembles, I teach private lessons to students with various backgrounds and skill levels. I follow the philosophy of "total percussion," meaning that I believe it should be every drummer's goal to be as versatile as they can be, as far as genres of music. Although the majority of my gigs are with jazz ensembles, I actively perform with many other groups including pop groups, rock bands, and even symphony orchestras and pit ensembles for theater programs. While maintaining a career in music, I attend Central Washington University where I study classical percussion performance and jazz studies.

I create lesson plans based off of what exactly my student wants to accomplish with their lessons. It is my goal to create individual lesson plans for each student to cater to their wants and needs in order to help them reach their musical success. Having studied percussion for more than a decade with so many incredible teachers, I have gathered loads of knowledge that I enjoy passing on to my students. However, on top of teaching the technical aspects of music, I encourage my students to take the time to acknowledge the emotion that is created with music. I feel that in order for a musician to truly accel, they need to have passion for the music, and they need to understand that musicians have goals of creating emotional responses not only within themselves but with their audience in every performance. Whether it be goofy and happy or depressing and heavy, the connection between emotion and music is important.