AUBURN #- Drummer John Dare takes the phrase “practice makes perfect” to a whole new level.

The Auburn resident, who has been playing drums since age 4, believes that constant rehearsing not only improves a musician's skills, but broadens his or her ability to understand music as a whole.

Through both his training at Boston's Berklee College of Music and his long career of teaching and performing, Dare is an adamant disciple of working every day to improve a player's abilities.

To share his musical work ethic with others, on Saturday Dare held a free drum clinic at Auburn Public Theater. The workshop, which was attended by drummers both young and old, included a “mini-concert” presented by Dare, pianist Larry Campanelli and bassist Mike Burns, along with Dare's presentation of basic drumming techniques and an improvisation session.

“This clinic is sponsored by Vic Firth, who is a retired timpanist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra,” Dare said prior to the workshop, just after finishing a sound-check with Campanelli and Burns.

Firth's organization, in addition to being one of the world's leading manufacturers of