Why drums?

cantstoplt021

Senior Member
I find it interesting how drawn to drums I am versus other instruments. My first instrument was guitar and then along the way I decided to learn drums. Since then I've added bass and piano to my quiver. I'm not great at any of them, but I'm definitely competent on all four with drums and guitar being my best.

Drums have quickly become one of my favorite instruments to play, something about them just draws me in. I don't really get bored of practicing them, unlike my other instruments. It's interesting because if you think about it drums are pretty limited musically. They can only really play 1/3 of the components of music. You can't really play melody or harmony on a drum set. Not like a guitar or piano can. You can only play rhythm, which is the most important component, but still. They are a bit limited, but yet I'm very drawn to them.

So why do you guys play drums vs. another instrument?
 
Could it be that drums are just more fun than any other instrument?

Guitar and piano are fun in their own way, but can't really compare to the sonic power and the whole-body physical experience of drums. You can have a lot of fun with a drum kit before you've even learned to do anything useful on it. Unlike violin or saxophone it's instant gratification, sit a child behind your drums and watch that little face light up.
 
That's easy for me...I started on guitar for years and I would classify myself as "talentless hack". Drums are coming much more naturally to me and it's fun!
 
Maybe creatures are just wired a certain way - some preferring melody and others preferring rhythm.

I have two dogs. One runs and hides when I start playing, the other lays down in front of my bass drum.

I know I would rather watch a street drummer banging away on plastic pails than watch a concert pianist expertly play Mozart.
 
I actually played piano before drums. I always loved music, even before I can remember, there are stories about me as a baby sitting down in my grandfather's apartment and listening in silence to his big band records, or listening to classical music with my father.

For as long as I could remember, I always picked up on rhythms, and loved tapping on things. It used to annoy my mother to no end. They thought I was nervous, or had too much energy.

By the time I was in Middle School, I was going to join band, and they had us pick instruments. Instinctively, I went with snare drum, and xylophone. My reading skills were really good at that time, and xylophone was really easy to pick up (wish I kept up that skill!!), and I was a quick student on the snare. Shortly after taking up the snare, I found myself happier, having to tap on things less. Even my grades went up in school. Tapping out rhythms is how I think, and once I found out how to channel that energy, my life improved vastly.
 
I was okay at guitaring. Better at bassing, and bestest at drumming. All there is to it really, drums make my mind work harder than melodic stuff, I assume the coordination and distinctness of the notes appeals to me somehow.
 
So why do you guys play drums vs. another instrument?

I'm a guitarist that started playing drums for two reasons.

1: I was tired of having to find real drummers whenever I needed a simple part laid down on a project. There were parts that I was close enough to being able to play using only intuition that I figured a two-three year investment in drum lessons would get me to where I needed to be.

2: I needed to be able to sympathize with and communicate with actual drummers more effectively. When I'm in producer mode, I need to be able to accurately convey ideas to musicians (for example, "just play 4's"). I always had trouble expressing complex parts to drummers, even when I could write the notation. Now I'm able to play a facsimile of a complicated part, which helps in communication and has polished my transcription skills a bit.
 
Because drums.

But seriously...I was a hyper-active kid, and I was drawn to the kinetic nature of drumming. I tried guitar and bass, but the physicality wasn't there.
 
Because I wanted to carry the most gear, and the get paid the least. :)

I love the other instruments- but drums gets into my soul. That is how I can describe it. I just love the sound, the physicality and everything about them.

Drumming is just organized OCD impulses!
 
I have a pic of me beating some pots with wooden spoons at around 2 years old. The "feeling" has been with me since birth apparently, but I have no idea why.
 
Tried to play six string when I was a teen but my fingers didn't want to cooperate.

If I would have given it some thought, I probably could have played bass guitar with fewer and fatter strings.

I had the same finger function issue with keys.

For me, the drums were just easy. Then I tried to actually learn them, they became more difficult :)
 
I had no choice in the matter.
 
I've been thinking of taking up drums and drumming. "Rippin' and Grippin'.
 
Drums are in my heart & in my soul.
They give meaning to my life.
They're the inspiration.
I wanna have them near me.

(And yes, I did steal these words from a Chicago song.)
 
You had to have at least 2 years of piano lessons to be a percussionist in 6th grade band. I had 4 years, as did one of my best friends, so we ended up being the only 2 drummers in our band class.
 
There is a story here that should be told.

Uncle Larry's been juked by 480 V, three-phase so many times he can do a press roll on a pillow without moving his hands/fingers.

Clearly, he had no choice. ;-)
 
When I SAW my Uncle playing Jazz on his four piece kit IN PERSON in 1964 for the first time.........something clicked BIG TIME inside me.

Ever since then, I have been drawn to the instrument, and can't deny my desire to play them.
 
There is a story here that should be told.

Not a very good one :) It's just that nothing else grabbed me like the drums.

Uncle Larry's been juked by 480 V, three-phase so many times he can do a press roll on a pillow without moving his hands/fingers.

Clearly, he had no choice. ;-)

Yea, all 3 phases at once. One in each hand and the other in my mouth. Most people would blow up. Not me. I think it feels cool. There's no high quite like the feeling of being toasted from the inside out :) When my blood is boiling, it feels so cool on the insides of my veins.
 
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