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521 - Steve Rucker: Teaching at the University of Miami, Creating a Constructive Environment, Working with Dafnis Prieto

Author
Working Drummer
Published
Thu 05 Jun 2025
Episode Link
None

Steve has headed up drumset studies at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, and has countless alumni active in all corners of the music industry. In addition to teaching, Steve’s legacy as a player includes recording and touring with a huge range of artists including Gloria Estefan and Ben Vereen, and a stint of more than a decade as the drummer for the BeeGees.

In this episode, Steve talks about:

Creating a constructive, collaborative environment for drum students to learn from each other

Why he stayed in Miami as opposed to moving to New York or LA

Creating one of the first college programs that treated drumset seriously as its own thing

How learning to record isn’t just about tech, it’s about learning how to  listen

Shifting his focus from being a sideman for big acts and artists to developing his own voice and composing his own music

Taking what comes naturally to a student and helping them develop it as part of their voice

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