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Roy C. Knapp

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Roy C. Knapp
Born(1891-10-26)October 26, 1891
Waterloo, Iowa
DiedJune 16, 1979(1979-06-16) (aged 87)
Chicago, Illinois
Occupation(s)Musician, music educator
Years active1905-1960
SpouseBetty

Roy Cecil Knapp (October 26, 1891 - June 16, 1979) known as "The Dean of American Drum Teachers" was an American drummer, music educator and sought-after studio musician skilled as a tympanist, percussionist and xylophone soloist. He was a longtime network orchestra member on shows broadcast during radio's golden age in Chicago, Illinois.[1] And he was a founding member of the National Association of Rudimental Drummers (N.A.R.D.).[2]

Early life and career

Born October 26, 1891 in Waterloo, Iowa, Knapp learned to play various instruments through his father Jerry who owned a theater. After working in New York for a year, he moved to Duluth, Minnesota where he studied under Casey Kasolowsky of the Duluth Symphony, now the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra. He also studied under William Faetkenheuer of the Minneapolis Symphony. Knapp moved to Chicago in 1921 and became known as a drummer, percussionists and xylophone soloist. Working for the WLS radio station starting in 1928, he played on shows such as the National Barn Dance and the Don McNeil's Breakfast Club. Knapp also taught percussion in various private studios and at the old Dixie Music House (est. 1902, later named Frank's Drum Shop).[3][4]

The Roy C. Knapp School of Percussion

In 1938 Knapp opened his own studio in Kimball Hall and, with the help of his wife, Betty,[5] started the first School of Total Percussion in the United States.[citation needed] This School was a private one, specializing in professional performance, but with no accreditation in the educational world.

In 1946, Knapp founded his second School of Percussion, but with the addition of piano, voice, composition, string and wind instruments receiving full accreditation to grant the bachelor’s degree and the performer’s certificate in voice, orchestral instruments and piano,[3] including approval for veterans under the G.I. Bill the same year. He chose John P. Noonan, widely known percussionist, formerly Educational Director of the Ludwig & Ludwig Drum Company, as teacher and Vice President/Associate Director. Within a short time, Knapp had assembled a faculty of top people including twelve artist-percussionists hand-picked for their teaching skills.[6] Over two hundred students of percussion alone enrolled for the intensive study of all phases of percussion during the eight years of the school's existence. It was the first full-time percussion school, the first to require percussion ensemble participation, and the first to emphasize drum set study which at that time was not offered in any music school.[citation needed]

Knapp retired from performing in 1960[4] and closed his school in 1966. From then until his death he taught at Frank’s Drum Shop, owned by Maurie Lishon since 1959.[7]

Honors and death

Knapp was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1972.[7] On September 1, 1974, many of Knapp's friends, associates and students gathered at the Oakbrook IL Sheraton Hotel to honor him at the Roy C. Knapp Testimonial Day, "...for the full and talented life of Roy Knapp, his patient drawing-out of students' skills and his care to foster art above applause and honest creativity above quick dollars". On May 22, 1966, The Dal Segno Musicians Club of Chicago honored Roy with the Dal Segno Man of the Years award in recognition of his outstanding contributions as the teacher of more top-flight percussionists than any other person in the business.[8]

The original drum set from Knapp's WLS-Chicago days is on permanent display at the Percussive Arts Society International Headquarters Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Knapp died in Chicago on June 16, 1979.[5]

Notable students

Knapp became widely recognized as a teacher. His roster of former students includes:

Publications

  • The Fundamentals of Modern Drumming (undated). Stanger, Philip. Collection, Box 6, Folder 11, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago, IL.
  • Fundamental Rudiments of Mallet Technique and Tympani Tuning Excerpt from Lesson Studies (1939) Ludwig & Ludwig (4-page brochure)
  • The Ludwig Drummer (published by Ludwig Drums)
  • "Roy Knapp...The Grandaddy of Percussion with Young Ideas" (1968). Vol. 8, No. 1, p. 18 - 20

References

  1. ^ Beck, John H. (2013-11-26). Encyclopedia of Percussion. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-74768-0.
  2. ^ Brennan, Matt (2020-01-10). Kick It: A Social History of the Drum Kit. Oxford University Press. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-19-068389-4.
  3. ^ a b Barnhart, Stephen L. (2000-03-30). Percussionists: A Biographical Dictionary. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 208–209. ISBN 978-0-313-29627-7.
  4. ^ a b DeMichael, Don. "Percussion's dean steps to a lively beat". Chicago Tribune. p. 219, 222.
  5. ^ a b "Roy Knapp, 87, dies; was musician, teacher". Chicago Tribune. 1979-06-18. p. 15. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  6. ^ Knapp School Catalog 1948 1949. Roy C. Knapp School of Percussion. 1948. p. 4.
  7. ^ a b Fairchild, Frederick D. (20 February 2024). "Hall of Fame". Percussive Arts Society.
  8. ^ "Roy Knapp...The Grandaddy of Percussion with Young Ideas". Ludwig Drummer. 8 (Spring 1968): 18–19.
  9. ^ Goins, Wayne Everett (2014-08-30). Blues All Day Long: The Jimmy Rogers Story. University of Illinois Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-252-09649-5.
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