DrumTime Colorado was established to provide affordable, professional quality drum set and percussion instruction for the north Denver metro area. The company was founded by Rod Meckna, who himself has over 35 years of experience playing the drums.

Our approach is unique in many ways. First, we provide both studio and in home lessons. This makes it very convenient for our students and parents. Next, DrumTime tailor-makes lesson plans designed to meet the specific needs of individual students. This is an alternative approach to the rigid format of some other schools, and non-existent formats of others. The lesson plans are well thought out and fine tuned along the way.

Rod's interest in the drums began around the age of 10 after being introduced to the band Rush by a friend. Music had always been a big part of his life prior to that, but the vocal parts were usually of the most interest, and to a large extent, the drum parts were in the background, and often went unnoticed. Hearing the band Rush changed everything! Soon after, Rod hand-crafted a make-believe drum kit from trash cans, coffee cans, Pringles cans and whatever else that made an interesting percussive  noise. As time went along, he added various pieces from real drum kits, including a snare drum, hardware and cymbals. Before too long, his make-believe kit took on the elegant and noble form of a real honest-to-goodness drum kit.

After about 4 years of playing along to the radio and cassette tapes, he began to notice that his drumming was no longer improving at the rate that it once did in the early years. It seemed as though some pieces were missing from the puzzle. His love for music and drumming as well as his inquisitive nature lead him to search for this missing knowledge.

Those quests lead him to the rudiments and music notation. That discovery actually marked a minor step backwards in progress, because after 4 years of learning to play on his own he had to re-learn proper sticking techniques, patterns, coordination and the concept of reading music. He went from the feeling that he knew everything about drumming, to the harsh reality that he knew nothing. This was an eye-opening experience.

Rod persisted with music education and before long this new found knowledge really began to settle in and pay off. The possibilities now seemed endless. New colors and textures were added to the pallet--a deeper fascination with music developed--coordination and timing began to take shape, and a whole new understanding of music was born. Before long he was playing in bands, creating music and making a little money doing the very thing he loved. This would eventually lead to bigger venues, recording opportunities, and some part-time teaching.

Now, after 35 years of learning, practicing, playing and recording, Rod loves the drums more than ever. Along the way he found that he has a real love for teaching. His patience and deep understanding of what it takes to develop the skills needed to play, at all levels, coupled with the ability to clearly convey those ideas, make him a natural teacher. Truth be told, he loves teaching the drums as much as he loves playing the drums. With DrumTime Colorado, which has been going strong for the past 10 years, he has dedicated his time to teaching on a full-time basis. Any one of his students will tell you that he loves what he does, and his enthusiasm is contagious!