What got you started playing drums?

what got me started was a guitar that my parents brought to me for christmas when I was about 7 and I found that it made a much more pleasant sound when I turned it over and beat on it...so that is what I did...about 2 years later I wanted drums but that my parents would not let me have in the house. I tinkered with kits over the years that my friends owned but never really got to learn on them or do what I wanted...all through my life however the bug has been in there and NOW I am going from a wanna be to a BE...I LOST MY WANNA and I am going to be getting my kit in the next week or so...I have always loved the timing of drums, the sound of drums, listening to drums brings joy to my heart and that is what got me into drumming. There is absolutely nothing that does not have timing to it...and drums brings it all together for me...there is just nothing better
 
Watching Peter Chris and loving Rock music. Since then, its been a long tough journey that I will treasure.

Some times I wish I was pianist. All I would have to haul around is my fingers lol.

But, everyone wants to be a drummer, right?

On many occasions on rehearsal days I would catch the guitar, bass, keyboard players behind my set dinkin' around on the kit when I walked in. It was always entertaining to me that these guys still wanted to learn how to play drums even though they were very accomplished musicians already.
 
I thought I had posted once but can't find it.......So here goes again maybe.

Music- Early 80's rock primarily

Drummer- Frankie Banali Of Quiet Riot was my first influence.

Person- I watched my brother play when we were over in England in 1983, I was 13 and from then on I was hooked, He even gave me his pair of Ludwig drum sticks that I played to death.

Style- Rock, funk, country/rock and a little Jazz (Though I'm not very good at it yet)

Inspirations-My Brother for starters, Frankie Banali, Cozy Powell, Buddy Rich, Neil Peart, etc etc. you get the idea, anyone who ever played something that caught my attention or anyone who enjoyed my playing is an influence.
 
Drums always sounded cool to me within music , thus I always wanted a drum set as a kid . My parents wouldn't allow me to have one , due to the loud volumes they produce . So I asked for a guitar and received one . I played guitar for a few years and as soon as I moved out of the house , I purchased my first drum set ! Peter Criss , Alex Van Halen !
 
Music- I started taking drum lessons when I started High School. Before that, in Middle school I was in an African drumming group, which was kind of cool. I just started drum lessons cause I wanted to, didn't realise I would enjoy as much as I do now. I used to listen to Green Day and punk stuff, my taste has completely changed now, and I feel I'm a lot more musical then before
Drummer- I didn't know much about drummers then, but now I basically try and drum to all the music and drummers I like, so Brad Wilk, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins and Chad Smith.
Person- Suppose I could say my old music teacher who was really good at showing us african rhythms and the djembes and stuff.
Style- General rock I guess, all the bands I like I'll drum to.
Inspirations- I'm inspired by everything I hear, whether I particularly like it or not.
 
drumhead61 said:
what got me started was a guitar that my parents brought to me for christmas when I was about 7 and I found that it made a much more pleasant sound when I turned it over and beat on it...so that is what I did...about 2 years later I wanted drums but that my parents would not let me have in the house. I tinkered with kits over the years that my friends owned but never really got to learn on them or do what I wanted...all through my life however the bug has been in there and NOW I am going from a wanna be to a BE...I LOST MY WANNA and I am going to be getting my kit in the next week or so...I have always loved the timing of drums, the sound of drums, listening to drums brings joy to my heart and that is what got me into drumming. There is absolutely nothing that does not have timing to it...and drums brings it all together for me...there is just nothing better
Click to expand...

Your screen name should be LACKOFWANNA...sounds like a Band Camp name huh?
 
I was in 5th grade and saw this amazing drummer who was in 8th grade. The junior high band went around to the elementary schools to recruit for their 6th grade band. I thought this guy was amazing. He had a 4 piece black diamond pearl Slingerland kit that sound so cool. My older brother played sax in the same band and he sort of introduced me to basic beats, rhythms, ect. Before that it was guitar which I sucked at, and then french horn, which I also sucked at. But seeing this 8th grader on the drums was what did it. I got home and announced I wanted to play drums like John R. So the next year in 6th grade, I started in beginner band playing drums. I was hooked and wanted to be a pro drummer!! When I finally got to HS drum line, he was the senior squad leader and was very nurturing and was more than willing to pass on what he knew.

What got me out of playing drums and playing music all together? Some bratty drummers who were egotistical and arrogant to the nth degree! One in particular had an ego problem that was as big as Texas. I had the misfortune of going all the way through school band with these punks. Browbeating, bullying, hazing, etc. Not nurturing and complementary at all, in any way. I wondered why I was even hanging around band with these jerks????

What got me back into drumming? My daughter gave me a pair of drum sticks from the Hard Rock Cafe in London. I started messing around and found out how much I missed it! She suggested I get the drums out of storeage and give them a whirl. I am hooked again!
 
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I've always tapped my hands and feet everywhere I went, and I've never had the desire to play guitar... it seems like the "cool" thing to do these days especially, like its some elaborate pick-up tool for women.

And besides, I like loud noises!
 
hmm..... im not actually sure. i guess i cant remeber since i was a year and a half old.....
 
hmmm...tough question hah, yeah for me also i've always been tappin around everywhere i went, and im a rythm person myself so the first time i sat at a drumset i kinda felt and knew what i needed ta do u kno ahah...my neighbor had one first so i played on his for a a few months, then finally i got my own and got more into it. Now im in a hard rock band and we're going strong, got a few good gigs. I started out listening to classic rock, thats my fav type of music, so its pretty ironic that im in a hard rock band hah, but we've grown accustomed to each others styles so it meshes nicely. My inspirations have to be neil peart, buddy rich, dave weckl but recently i started listen to joey jordison a lot and i have to say he's one of my favorites. If i magically wish myself mastery of drums id have dave weckl's technicallity, joey jordisons speed and creativity, neil peart's creativity also and john bonhams and keith moons passion. there, thats me ina few years ahaha...
 
I now have the pleasure of playing with a group of musicians very dedicated, strong, creative, and fun to be around!
 
Like someone said before me, I doubt this post will be noticed.
well anyway down to the point. at a a very young age of 3 my father (when not playing his guitar) would always be tapping a beat on the table or on a chair (sometimes even my head lol), seeing if i could imitate the beat that he would do.

By the age of eight i was so into playing beats on things (what ever was near me), that i soon had more rhythm than my that father had. At the age of 9 my parents were going mad from all the tapping that would do, so they decided to buy me a pair of bongo's.
Well that was it, i was hooked. From then on i was self taught, learning little things here and there when ever I could from bands and people that I would see on TV.

Than one day at church i was watching the drummer playing to one of the songs that they were singing, and from there on in I had a secret want to be able to learn the drums. I am now 16, i have just recently been given a second hand Kit, but have been playing at church for about a year now, still without any drum lessons. But i am so Glad that I have my own kit now!, finally i can get some real practice :D
 
I started playing drums when I found out I couldn't be a Major league umpire. Seems I had two parents. Then I thought about being a "fourth" official in football but thought that the job was too strenuous. So here I am. There's a joke in there somewhere.
 
As a kid I always wanted to play the drums but my old man wouln't let me get a kit. I used to go down the road to my mates place and play on his Boosey and Hawks kit. So when I was 17 I swapped a camera for a drum kit. It was a Black Maxwin kit that had a pearl snare and a cymbal mount on the bass drum. ( wish I still had it but I sold it to buy my next kit, which I still have a Black Pearl wood/fibreglass). And of course years of listening to Ringo and the Beatles helped push me in the right direction.
 
Even when I was little, I was always fascinated with drums. But I didn't start playing until I was 15. I played trombone in my school marching band at the time, and there was a drum kit set up in the band room. So I would play on the drum kit before school, and pretty soon, I quit playing trombone and quit the marching band, got my own kit, got some people from my school who played instruments, and started a band of my own.

About 3 years and a few bands later, I'm still going strong. I'm going to play drums until I physically can't do it anymore.
 
Ed Sullivan Show with The Beatles,seeing Ringo up on stage with those Ludwig's and all the girls screaming.....I was hooked
 
The Moment You Decided to become a Drummer was ... ?

I'm sure we all have a defining moment that sealed the deal in our want/need to become a drummer .... what's yours?

Here's mine .... I was about 6 years old and was already interested in drums. My dad had played when he was young and I loved looking at the pictures of his old kit. But really, it was when I heard "I Feel Free" by Cream as the soundtrack to a car ad on TV and it took my breath away - I'd never heard anything like it before! I asked what it was and he pulled out a beat up copy of The Best Of Cream & suggested I listen to what he descibed as "the best drummer in the world, apart from Buddy Rich"! ha ha! So I listened to 'Badge' and there it was ... the simple drum fill that leads into the guitar solo that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end! I knew there & then the deal was sealed!

The next week Dad took me to the local music shop and bought me a pair of sticks from the seconds bin that were bent out of shape like banana's & my very very first practice pad ... the rest as they say, is history!
 
Re: The Moment You Decided to become a Drummer was ... ?

I have always loved drums and always been fascinated by it. I remember watching Buddy Rich and Billy Cobham soloing on TV and that really inspired me.

I got my first drum when I was 13 and what I wanted the most is having a band and make a career out of it. But in vain! Now with a familly and a regular job, drum became a sideline.

I personally have not explaination why drum over guitar or piano. I have always liked drum and for me it was a natural decision.
 
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