About Colten Yates

I started playing percussion at a very young age. At 11 years old, I joined the school band. A year later, I began taking lessons with a local percussion instructor. Here I studied concert snare drum, and basic mallet etiquette. At 13, I was asked to participate with the marching band. During my high school years, I took lessons with a local professor of percussion. During these lessons, I studied drumset, vibraphone, marching and concert percussion, and music theory. I then attended the University of Southern Mississippi studying Music Education. Here I continued studying Music Theory, Concert and Marching Percussion, Mallet Percussion, and Drumset. I also started learning and Jazz and Jazz Fusion, as well as Latin Percussion. I am now certified to be a Music Teacher and have been trained in various aspects of percussion. I have since played in a variety of ensembles on various instruments in a multiplicity of musical genres.