If you want to enroll your children for drumming lessons, the first real question that you will need to answer is whether the child wants to play the drums or not. But if you see your child tapping along to music one day and decide to look into the possibility then it is very important for you to know exactly how much to push them.
Why you must gauge your kid’s interest level
It doesn’t matter how curious you are as a parent, you need to first figure out whether your kid is genuinely interested in playing the drums or if he/she is just interested in pounding on something. Gauging this depends on two things, how old they are and if they want to play the drums or their interest level.
Determining the correct age at which a child should start playing the drums is something that is going to vary from one parent to another. How many other activities is your child involved in? You don’t want them to be doing too much otherwise it can be counterproductive. The minimum age to begin should be somewhere between 5 and 6 years. There is no maximum age. You can even start learning when you are 30.
Now we come to the hard part. How do you determine if your kid is genuinely interested in learning to play the drums?
How you can gauge your kid’s interest level
- See if your kid is clapping his/her hands or stomping his/her feet with the music. Look at their faces while they are pounding away. Does it look like they are trying to follow what’s playing? Try and see if they try imitating some of the sounds. If they do, that’s a sure-fire sign that you need to get them into drumming.
- Watch how they behave at family or social events where there is live music. Are they playing close attention to the drummer more than the other performers? This is a good sign. Try and see if you can take your kid near the drums or perhaps even let him meet the drummer. Gauge his/her reaction.
- Instead of buying your kid the usual toys, take them to a music store and get them a practice pad and some drumsticks. The trip to the store is the more important part here and you shouldn’t leave it out. Look at how much interest all the instruments strike up in the child. Do his/her eyes light up when they see a set of drums?
- Another salient way of measuring their interest is during a parade. If your child wants to look at the drummers instead of looking at all the other things in the parade then perhaps it is time to start searching for a solid and reliable drumming school.
But, what if you’ve been out of the music scene for a while and want to brush up on your skills? You already know that you are interested in playing the drums more than anything else. Maybe you are sick and tired of the corporate world or your government organization and want to break free and join a band.
There is one way in which you can do all of these things and more, sign up for drumming lessons. You will find this method to be the easiest way to find people who share similar interests as you. You won’t just meet other drummers at a music school, but artists who play a number of other instruments as well.
As far as to choosing the perfect bandmates though, there are some things which you should consider. How well you guys get along? How is everyone’s attitude towards each other? Do all of you have the same goals?
There are so many other questions apart from this for you to ask yourself. Remember, establishing a band is not something you can do overnight. You will have to put in a lot of effort and invest lot of money and time. Still, without the right bandmates, none of this is going to be possible. And the best place for you to find excellent bandmates is at a music school.
So irrespective of whether you want your kid to be the next Tommy Lee or you want to give drumming another shot as a professional career, you should sign up for drum classes.
Featured Image: Image Credit
Recording drums ??? #Blink182 #DRUMSDRUMSDRUMS @travisbarker pic.twitter.com/28OpIqnDy8
— blink182 (@blink182) February 4, 2016
Yes I like drums pic.twitter.com/6vHAmYQOCJ
— Ashton Irwin (@Ashton5SOS) February 1, 2016
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