How to know when your child is ready to start playing the drums!
Your child is showing signs that they are becoming enamoured with the drums, whether they have been to a concert or seen someone play at school, your child has caught the bug and won’t stop asking to have their drum kit. Before rushing out to buy a drum kit, you should take time to consider if your child is ready and able to play the drums, as drumming requires your child to coordinate their fine and gross motor skills, mental speed and listening skills all at once. No one expects a child to be Nandi Bushell straight away, as with learning any instrument, it takes time to develop the skills required to get all the intrinsic elements syncing together. At Pro Music Tuition, we have many drum tutors who can make an initial assessment to establish if your child has the potential to excel.
IS THERE A RIGHT AGE TO LEARN DRUMMING?
Unfortunately, it is not as straightforward as just saying one age is best to start as all children are so different. From your child’s physical size and strength, learning ability, and listening skills. If your child is capable of sitting for 30 minutes, listening to instructions, and being able to reach all the drums and the foot pedals, even as young as 5 years old, your child may just be ready.
With one-to-one drum tuition, the younger your child starts, the better drumming and learning to read music help with your child’s cognitive development, which will benefit your child when it comes to learning in general. As your child’s confidence in what they are learning grows, so will your child’s overall confidence and self-esteem. At Pro Music Tuition not only do we provide one-to-one children’s drum lessons, but when your child feels they are ready to get up on stage they will be able to showcase their talent at one of our live and loud concerts, where they can play solo or join up with friends to play as a band.
These are a few signs that your child is ready to start drumming;
1. Drumsticks either come in 15-inch or 17.5-inch lengths, so even the smallest size it pretty long for a small kid, as long as your child is comfortable holding them and the length doesn’t annoy them, they should be ok.
2. It is always a good start if your child is great at feeling the beat, you can recognise this by seeing them dance or using hand percussion instruments. Rhythmic ability is sometimes a natural gift and kids just have it straight off the bat, that does not mean that it cannot be developed with dedicated practice over time.
3. When your child starts drum lessons, they are taught how to read drum notation, which will require your child to be able to count to 4 as most songs have 4 beats in a bar, and your child will need to count this in time.
4. Your child really needs the willingness to learn, they need to be able to focus their attention in a 30-minute lesson and take away that knowledge and apply it practicing at home. At Pro Music our lessons are 30 minutes long, this is enough for any child or adult.
5. You and your child will need to be able to incorporate practising the drums on a daily basis. Unfortunately, not practising daily will lead to a lack of results, and your child will soon lose interest very quickly if they feel like they are not improving. 15-20 minutes of practice a day will make all the difference.
6. Learning to play the drums is a big commitment. Financially, buying a drum kit and paying for lessons is not something that should be taken lightly. Your child needs to be mature enough to understand that they can’t just give up after a few weeks.
LITTLE TIPS WHEN STARTING OUT
Here are some handy tips to make your child’s rock star journey as plain sailing as possible.
• Make sure the drum stool is fit for purpose ( don’t just get the old stool out of the shed ) and your child can reach all the drums, cymbals, and pedals.
• Make sure the drums are the right size, go down to a music shop and get your child to try a few out if you are really unsure.
• Don’t expect your child to run before they can, well, Drum. Your child will need to exercise a bit of patience and learn the basics first. With lessons, practice, and patience, your rock star will soon be making all the right noises.
• Speaking of noise, you can get silencers for your child’s drum kits, there are various type but the quickest and most effective route is by using damper pads, which are rubber pads that are just placed over the drum head or cymbal to limit the sound.
• Your child will need some ear defenders (so might you) to protect their hearing, especially as when they start playing, they tend not to be too great at controlling the power behind the drumsticks.
• Children can find it boring just practicing on their own all the time so get them (and their drums ) involved in group activities too.
IS IT EVER TOO LATE TO START DRUMS?
We can assure you that it is never too late to learn the drums. We’d like to see you try and resist the urge to learn once your child gets started. There is a reason why some of our drum rooms have more than two drum kits, because the parents love having drum lessons along with their kids. There is nothing more amazing to us than seeing a child and a parent bonding over their love of music. Be sure to ask your child’s teacher if you can join in and see if it feels right for you. We have a buying guide for drums so you can get some tips on what to look out for, both you and your child.
Private Drum Lessons in the West Midlands
Are you looking for expert private drum lessons in the West Midlands? We have the best drum teachers in the West Midlands.
Pro Music Tuition has some wonderful drum teachers in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and the Black Country who can help you achieve your aspirations at one of our six music centres in Rubery, Birmingham, two music schools in Sandwell and Dudley (Cradley Heath near Halesowen and Rowley Regis), in Sutton Coldfield and Solihull. We also have hundreds of pupils who learn to play the drums via our online drum lessons from all over the world each week.
