Making Mind-Builders: Patrick Chan

The Teacher Who Sees Music in Everything

Patrick Chan grew up in Arkansas, where kids had drum kits in their houses and could practice whenever they wanted. When he moved to New York and started teaching drums at Mind-Builders in 2022, he quickly realized his students faced a completely different reality. In apartment buildings where practicing drums daily isn't an option, his students struggled to build the muscle memory that drumming demands. Patrick had to reimagine how to teach rhythm itself. 

At first I thought it was just basic drum coordination," Patrick explains. But he realized his students faced a more fundamental challenge. Younger kids today are growing up doing a lot less physical play, which makes it harder for them to build the body awareness that drumming requires.

 

I can't expect you to have basic coordination if you're not used to running and throwing a ball....

"I can't expect you to have basic coordination if you're not used to running and throwing a ball sometimes," he says. "Kinetically there's enough similarity that when they get on the drums, it makes sense to them." 

So Patrick adapted. Now, he has students spend their last 15 minutes pretending they're playing drums, sitting on a stool, right hand on an imaginary high hat, left on the snare, right foot keeping time. "A lot of drumming is muscle memory," he explains. "Your body needs to know how to do it." Even without a physical drum kit at home, his students build the skills they need.

As Assistant Band Director for the Mind-Builders Stage Band, Patrick witnesses something that still amazes him. "We have a 12-year-old and 20-year-old who meet each other twice a week for 2 hours and are both genuinely happy to see each other. They're friends," he marvels. "Every time I see that I think, this shouldn't happen. This isn't real. It's the art part that makes that kind of community." 

 

When you see that lightbulb moment, that's when you have the kids.

What drives Patrick is the moment everything clicks for a student. "The best thing about teaching is when you give them something, even something hard, and you can tell it clicked. They may be skeptical at first. When you see that lightbulb moment, that's when you have the kids. That's when they've bought into what you're doing." 

There's no secret formula, Patrick insists. "That's the mark of a great teacher. How can I say the same thing different ways?" His approach is deeply personal, treating each student as the unique individual they are. "Through whatever I do, whether music or interactions with people, I want people to treat people like people."

Patrick's humility runs deep. "You can leave my name in the paper or you could leave it out," he says quietly. What matters to him is the transformation he witnesses. "I'm really grateful I can be part of introducing passion into someone's life. By learning music, which is difficult, by working hard and being diligent you can figure it out. You can take that into anything in life."

 

You can't put a price tag on that.

"If you give a kid a piece of music and they overcome that," Patrick reflects, "you can't put a price tag on that."

Your support makes teachers like Patrick possible. Every donation helps us maintain the exceptional faculty who transform young lives through patient innovation, creative problem-solving, and the deep belief that every student can find their rhythm. Donate today and help us continue building futures through the arts.