DS is 10 and will be starting secondary school next September. He has played piano for three years and we have always said that when he moves up to secondary he could take up another instrument. From time to time we ask what he would like to play and one answer that's come up fairly often is drums.

Apart from the obvious problems of noisy practice and portability issues , I'm wondering if this would be a good move. He is very vague about what kind of context he'd like to play in - whether rock band or symphony orchestra or anything in between. The school that we hope he will go to has a large and thriving music department so there would be lots of opportunities, but even so, there's usually room for only one percussionist in an ensemble, isn't there?

Also I don't know what kind of kit he would need and what kind of outlay would be involved. Have already got a redundant saxophone on my hands now that DD has lost interest so I don't want to spend a fortune on a whim.

I suppose I'm really asking to hear anyone's experiences, good or bad, or suggestions as to what path he might take or what kind of teacher we might look for.

I would have thought you should probably start by questioning why he wants to play. I have found that a lot of people who (try to) take up the drums do it because they see it as an easy route to being popular - hitting things isn't difficult, and bands are awesome. Before he makes a decision, I would have thought you might want to make sure he understands that playing the drums is easyish, but playing them well is as hard as any other instrument.

Regarding ensemble music, the orchestras I have played in have each had at least 2 percussionists, sometimes more. An orchestra percussion section consists of a large number of different instruments, any one of which requires a whole person to play, and any number of which could be being used at once.

It depends on the type of ensemble. In our school Jazz Band, there are two percussionists, but usually only one percussion part so they alternate. At my youth wind orchestra, we have seven percussionists, and sometimes not all of the percussion parts are covered.

The thing with percussion is that you take it for granted when it's there, but when none of the percussionists turn up for band, you really do see what an important part it is. The percussion is almost what keeps the whole band together.

A friend of mine has 2 sons, age 11 and 13, and they've both been learning drumkit for about 3-4 years. There's a local music school here that does a "Musical Roundabout" course for youngsters, over the course of a year they get to spend half a term each on different instruments, I might be remembering this wrongly, but I think it includes flute, violin, guitar, keyboards, recorder and percussion. Over the course of the year their generaly musical education progresses as they move from instrument to instrument, and at the end they've got some idea as to which instrument or instrument family they might like to learn. Apparently the year her sons did the course the percussion tutor was fantastic, and just about every child on the course wanted to learn drums. Come September she found that every other mother had been able to persuade their children on to violin, or flute, or guitar - but hers were still stuck on drums!

They have a (different) fantastic drum tutor and both have made a lot of progress. The eldest has been doing grades on drumkit (and they're not an easy option). Personally I feel that learning anything that puts pulse and rhythm first can only be good for musical education, I think it's something that all too often tends to be lacking.

In the area (as in musical, rather than location) that I play, decent amateur sax players are ten a penny. Jazz drummers and bass players are so sought after that they can often get reduced fees on summer schools.

Well I'm a frustrated drummer. I always fancied having a go at school, never did, and now at over 50 I still want to do it. Of course being a drummer doesn't mean you are the lowest life form in the band. How cool is this young lady?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcTvh3KwGOo

There are practice pads or electronic kits to keep down the noise problem.

I'm afraid I'm of the opinion that if he's genuinely extremely keen, then you should let him......my wee son is fascinated by the bagpipes (he's not yet 4) but he's got a long time to wait! If he's still bagpipe-obsessed by the age of 8, of course I'll let him learn (I'm a piano teacher, and mostly classical pianist, btw!) As a teacher, there's nothing better than a really keen pupil, who's desperate to learn, and nothing worse than a pupil who would rather be learning a different instrument and whose heart isn't in it...........

We picked up a cheap second hand kit for less than ?100 some years ago, and although it was pretty tatty and bits of it eventually fell off and so on, it was good enough for our eldest to have a go and decide he didn't really like it and for child no 2. to get to grade 6. We've since bought a new kit and a xylophone and many other smaller bits and pieces. Transport will eventually become an issue, but at the moment, daughter plays in a youth orchestra that has all it's own instruments, and at various other gigs with adult players who bring all their stuff along, so it is rarely necessary for us to load everything into the car.

Tuned percussion (xylphone, vibraphone etc) is easy if you already play the piano, and you can practice with 2 fingers on the piano until you can afford an instrument.

It has been a really positive thing for my daughter and so versatile, she plays in various classical orchestras, a brass band, jazz band, several percussion ensembles, does incidental music for school plays, the list goes on and on.

Your son can start off with a pair of drumsticks and a collection of pots and pans (no, really, it works!) while you test the waters. As for the noisy practice, well how much time a day does he actually spend practising the piano? Surely you can put up with a bit of drum noise for a short while? After the initial enthusiasm wears off he will probably do the same sort of time on kit as he does now on piano. We have never found it to be hugely intrusive, even with our third child now also playing kit.

Birthday and Christmas presents are sorted for the forseeable future - there is always something else to bang / shake / bolt on to the kit or another set of sticks..

My second son always wanted to play drums and sarted having lessons at 11. Within a year it was obvious he was really keen so we upgraded him from his second hand kit to a posh new Gretsch kit and he had done grade 8 at 14, played in brass bands and rock groups but decided his real love was jazz. He has since played in jazz ensembles and big bands. He has decided not to follow in his brothers footsteps and go to music college but has had (and Im sure will continue to have) so much pleasure and benefit from his playing.

As for practice, we are lucky not to have any near neighbours, but kept his drumkit in the attic and turned the TV up when he was practising endless rudiments for grades 7 and 8. Hosting band practices with a group of enthusiastic young musicians was never anything but the best fun... But drumming is no easier at advanced levels than any other instrument.

If he is really keen I'd say let him go for it. You can start off with a used fairly cheap kit and upgrade him later.

My son started learning in school: he'd done ballet for a few years by then, and had both a good sense of rhythm and an amazing ability to do different things at the same time with all four limbs, thanks to that. The result unfortunately was that he was if anything too quick with the drums and quickly dropped lessons as they were frustratingly slow for him...and by that time, yes, we'd got a drumkit. To save my sanity (his room being above ours), we got an electronic one. He drummed on for a band in school until he left for college, picking up what he could from friends and from the music he listened to, and has now more or less stopped. However, he's since started jazz piano lessons, and okay, one could always say, it's not good to drift (apparently) from one thing to another like that, but each activity has informed the following one. We'll keep his drumkit for the time being, and if he gets back to it, so much the better: his sense of rhythm is way ahead of anything I'll ever achieve, and it is a pleasure to listen to him playing when he does.

The downstairs neighbours, on the other hand.... ....their acoustic kit is just a flipping nuisance. Probably because the boy living there hammers the heck out of it without any finesse whatsoever .

I've never been forgiven for not letting daughter learn percussion. She was offered a chance at age 11 and it was on the only day we were free after-school and this rotten mother said 'no'. Apparently it's why she still has no pulse or sense of rhythm. (Myself I reckon that's down to her being an angsty violinist).

I used to be rivetted by the county percussion groups - absolutely brilliant. There were anything up to a dozen of them. Almost most rivetting was to watch them navigate the stage between instruments and produce the right sticks (or whatever) from the right pocket in time for their next entry - so you learn all sorts of useful skills for your money. (Off-topic, there were an awful lot of redheads among them c.f. population as a whole, is this significant?).

MM, hope your ears are OK with the noise, x

Thanks to everyone who has replied - you've given me plenty of food for thought.



Good points - as mentioned already, I have a DD who is about to retire from saxophone playing after two years, and I reckon she saw herself as the new Lisa Simpson.






Yes, I agree that it would be an excellent training.


I hadn't thought of that. Although going on some of DS's friends, I suspect that rock drummers are ten a penny too. A lot of dads out there living vicariously through their sons, methinks.



I watched this clip and it made me realise how clueless I am about drums. I have no idea whether she's playing well or badly (though I can see it's complicated and she must be good to have made it to the final of Young Musician of the Year), and if I heard it 10 times I don't think I'd be able to recognise it as the same piece. We will definitely need an electronic kit; I don't think drumming is ever going to be music to my ears.



Well that IS brave. I suppose the big question is just how keen DS really is. I will have to gauge this over the next few months.



Very useful advice, Sue, and you're right about practice time - it's not that much really! I'm very encourage to hear that it's possible to play in such a wide variety of settings.






Totally agree - pretty much all musical experience is useful, as far as I can see.



Oh, you wicked woman.

Hmm... DS doesn't have even a hint of red in his hair. Better put that in the 'cons' column.

Anyway, I'm going to assess just HOW much he wants to learn drums and maybe look at getting a cheap drum kit for his birthday (next June). Will probably show him some stuff on YouTube etc to get him thinking about the kind of music he wants to play.




Thanks again all for your help.

Simple answer to original question: Nurture, don't nip.

I think most people have put in reasonable suggestions regarding your post but as a drum kit player and teacher I have to say the following.

The musical instrument has many difficulties associated with it as you are probably aware. You already know that transport and noise are the two main issues here but there are ways round this as I will mention. The drum kit is not a solo instrument and therefore is not something one can play alone without it becoming just a practice session. Anyone can hit a drum and get a noise but to really play it well.....some top professionals practice 6 hours a day - every day.

The plus side is that any 'good' drummer will always be in demand and if your son goes through the grades, sight reading drummers are even more in demand. I have a student that is on his ABRSM grade 3 piano and took up the drums as he has (like most people) wanted to play since he first saw a drum kit. He might be gifted but is already studying grade 3 after a year of starting the kit and has said that playing drums has really improved his time keeping and understanding of rhythm in his piano. He is also having lots of fun at school playing in the band at end of term shows. Good for his self esteem and part of the growing up and learning process.

To get round the practice side of things look at the Roland and Yamaha electronic kits. I have one of these and can play with head phones on into the small hours and not wake my daughter in the room above. They are also good to practice with as they come with preset songs. They are portable but need a PA to play live. Check out ebay for rearly cheap starter kits and you can buy sound deadeners for them too.

If you want an acoustic kit look no further.
Traps drum kits.

As the last person stated nurture don?t nip.

Thanks, robodoc and Ed. I have been thinking about this some more and have already been looking at kits on eBay - we have now started thinking about this as a Christmas present rather than a birthday one (birthday not for another six months). I have drawn up a shortlist of possible models - Ed, I would be really grateful for any comments if you have experience of these. They are all pretty much starter kits, some more robust than others. They all seem reasonably compact, too.

Roland HD1
Yamaha DTExplorer
Medeli DD501
Alesis DM5 or possibly DM6 Express USB
Techtonic DD502 (J).

Do you think it would be reasonable to let him work with it on his own for a few months? There seems to be plenty of material available online to get him started. Then when we know which school he is going to I could have a chat with the head of music there about arranging lessons and getting him involved in an ensemble. I think it's really important to get the latter sorted out.

Getting quite excited about this now.

My Mum bought a drum kit well after she retired, had lessons for several years and eventually became the drummer with the local brass band. So you've got plenty of time. and it's pretty cool for my boys to have a Grandma who plays the drums.

As an aging '60's rock drummer I guess I have a biased view. But, then, we never read music and all we cared about was fun and girls.

It's taken me 45 years to take up clarinet [which I now love so much] so, fear not, all is not lost on anyone wanting to start with what feels like excitement. 'Real' music may follow - in time!

Just bear in mind that enjoying life is just as important as education and learning skills.

Now there's a plan for my retirement...

As with most musical instruments brand names are normally better quality and they also hold their price more. A good point if your son decides to change his mind.
The two brands to go for are Yamaha and Roland. Any DT express will be a good buy, the Roland HD1 is a good option for a starter but he could out grow it quickly, I would aim slightly higher if possible. The Alesis brand I know little about but they have a good reputation in the electronic department with other products, so they might be worth a look. What ever you go for, check that they have pre set songs in the module. Some older and some cheaper kits and don't.
I can recommend the Dave Weckl DVD 'Back to basics'. He covers all the little things a new starter needs to know. Although he only plays an acoustic kit in the DVD the material is relevant for the electronic kit as well. His dress sense is a bit dated but what drummers you know were hip fashion cats?
Like all instruments let them get to grips with it, but have a few lessons before the bad habits set in.

If you do get one, I bet a Christmas pudding that you, your family and all the visitors over Christmas will be asking to have a go on the kit.

Thanks, Ed. I'm watching various kits on eBay and hoping to get a bargain.

I would take you up on your bet, but I know you'll win (I will definitely be having a go) and I've only made one Christmas pud this year.

Do you need to start out with a kit? I vaguely remember friends who were learning having a snare drum only at home for a very long time.

Your right, you don't need to start with a full kit or even a snare drum for that matter. A practice pad and a pair of sticks would suffice. One will learn all about stick control and the rudiments that will become so crucial around Grade 5 and upwards. This way of learning will lead the drummer to become technically better but it is also unfortunately tedious. It all depends on how dedicated and driven the person is and where eventually he wants to end up with his skills.

Well, I've been spared the dilemma of full kit or not, because I bought a Yamaha DTXPlorer on eBay before I saw these latest contributions to the thread. Now just have to get the sticks and headphones. ???????

Is a 'drum throne' (aka adjustable stool) strictly necessary?

You can work round the positional settings with an electronic kit as they are so adjustable. However it will limit the playing ability as your son's skill progresses. As a drummer uses his legs as much as his arms the seating is important. You cant play drums well when sitting on a dining room chair.