Lior Aharonovich started playing classical piano at the age of 6 in his native Israel. By nineteen, he realized his first love was drumming, so he bought a small drum set and started to take private lessons. He formed a few bands, including Melchet 49, and was soon playing clubs and opening for bigger local acts. About this time, his private drum teacher told him about the LA Music Academy...

"My teacher and mentor, Doron Giat, had been a student of Ralph Humphrey and Joe Porcaro when they were teaching at another school. He was always telling me about the stuff they played in their ensembles, and I really wanted to learn with those guys. By the time I was ready to come, they had opened the LA Music Academy. I did a lot of searching on the Internet, and found out that the LA Music Academy was smaller and had a nicer environment than other schools. I wanted to come right away, but Doron advised me that I needed to know more about dynamics and have my basics really ready before coming."

"I moved to LA 9 months ago with my girlfriend and I did a 5 week prep course before school started on reading techniques, the facilities and how the school works. That helped me feel more confident before I started the one year program."

"Classes start around 9. Every day starts with sight-reading. My teacher is Mike Packer, and I think he's a great player. We do reading and snare drum exercises, which are very important because I want to play jazz and big band. I still have a lot of work, but in 6 months at school, I've really improved. Wednesday is jazz day at school. In lecture class, the teacher has a student play the exercises he gave us the week before. He makes sure everybody understands what the exercise is about, and then he shows different ways to play new ideas over it. An exercise is never done just one way. They really make you think about how to use it in your playing, and make it different.

Then, we move on to the next class, and listen to recorded examples of new exercises. In the afternoon we have jazz ensemble. The school brings in an upright bass player, and a guitar player. They are professional musicians, not students, so we get to play with people a lot more experienced. It really pushes us to play better.

After ensemble class it's practicing, jamming and rehearsal. You can use the practice lab and make sure you're ready for the next class. The rooms are full of people jamming in trios or quartets, and running through songs. Whole bands are being created. I spend ten or twelve hours a day at the school playing. I usually come back late at night when there are more practice labs and get in another 2 hours if I can."

"My dream is to be a working musician. I haven't thought about getting my own band together to tour, although I'm sure I want to do that at some point. My game plan, after graduation, is to go to every open audition I hear about and meet people. That's the way you get called for gigs."

"I really checked a lot of schools and as far as atmosphere and teachers, the LA Music Academy is the best. Maybe some places have fancier facilities, but the thing you should have in mind is who you are learning from. I am learning from guys who are working and know how the industry works and changes these days. They know exactly what they are doing. The most important thing is teachers, and for this, the LA Music Academy is the best."