Teaching drums to a 4 year old

well, I'm sorry!!!!! I didn't know that everyone here is so particular and 4 yr olds can't even spell so how do I type like them!!!! anyway don't be dissing my typing skills because I am a new member to the discussion forum!!!! thx alot!!!

beastdrummagirl said:

well, I'm sorry!!!!! I didn't know that everyone here is so particular and 4 yr olds can't even spell so how do I type like them!!!! anyway don't be dissing my typing skills because I am a new member to the discussion forum!!!! thx alot!!!

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I know, and that's why i'm giving you BOTD on this one for being a new member. There is a sticky that explains all of this on the top of this forum anyway.

eddiehimself said:

I know, and that's why i'm giving you BOTD on this one for being a new member. There is a sticky that explains all of this on the top of this forum anyway.

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ahh well thank you very much
ps: just to bug u..... i requested u as my friend and check out my site and cool pics

Wow, thanx for all the replies.It helped me alot.I had the 4 year old student last week.his coming back for second lesson tomorrow.I like asked how old he was, he said 4, i asked him if he can count to 4 and he could.
So i let him clap along to a rythm i played on the tambourine and he counting one, two,three, four along.then i let him hit the snaredrum with the tambourine beat im playing.and he was still counting.obviously his not perfectly on time yet, its his first time hitting a real drum.he kinda headbanged while he counted.thought that was kinda cool.
I saw a vid on youtube of dom famularo teaching that igor kid.they both play practice pads sitting across from each other and then igor can see what he is doing and play it together with him.is that a good way?
thank you again for all the replies.really helped me.

Great to hear you're having a good time. Imitation is a good technique for teaching young kids. The Suzuki Method is based on it. I think your technique of asking him things like his age and can he count, and then developing the lesson around familar areas is a good one. You must be patient person, and if you have the patince for it, working with young kids can really be beneficial to them.

I stumbled on a unique method to teach drumming to my 4 year-old son. I got Beatles Rock Band and introduced him both to the drum set and the Beatles. He loves it! We've had to create a makeshift drum stool using a couple of bathroom stools piled on top of each other and lower the Rock Band drum set to its lowest setting so he can drum and still reach the pedal. In a couple of months he's gotten quite good at the video game (on Wii) and now has an excellent sense of rythym. He can play all songs on "easy" mode and score 90% or above - a few songs he plays on "medium" mode. The other day he stumbled on "lefty" mode and enjoys playing this because it works out his left hand instead. Learning drumming this way hasn't taught him how to read drum notation but it has definitely given him a beat and a love of drumming and rock songs. I hope to get him a real drum set soon. It remains to be seen whether video game drumming will inspire true drumming skills.

babachung said:

stumbled on a unique method to teach drumming to my 4 year-old son. I got Beatles Rock Band and introduced him both to the drum set and the Beatles. He loves it! I hope to get him a real drum set soon. It remains to be seen whether video game drumming will inspire true drumming skills.

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This is really awesome! I love teaching the little kids. They have no hang ups or lack of confidence. I usually treat the lessons as fun time. Sure, there is education involved, but I concentrate on the fun aspect. I like to use songs like Green onions for them to play along to. Basic 1/4 notes is great for little kids. As the weeks go by the classes gradually get a bit more involved. I'm pleased to say that all children 5 and under I have taught are still with me. I've never lost 1.

I just think they're great!

i like the idea of using precussive instuments as a bench mark.

Im teaching my wee cousin very slowly, the first 3 times i let him beat the shit out if the kit, so he could get used to the noise's it made.

Great suggestions already, and this is from my limited experience.

I bought my grandaugter her first kit at 4. When starting with her I let her show me what to teach her. She wasn't interested in beats or songs which imo was fine. She wanted to do rolls around the kit and hit the cymbals. Since that was her interest I started showing her at first how to orchastrate singles around the kit. From there I gradually introduced more rudiments and emphisized volume and accents while using beginning band method books--which she still isn't excited about. Now at 7 she's still not all that interested in songs or beats but she can get around a kit better then many of the young drummers I see playing bars and I'm not saying that because she's my grandaughter. She is quick. Oddly enough, at 7, her stick of choice is Vic Firth's Danny Carey Model which is just shy of a marching stick. She likes the indentation in the stick.

I assume that the interest in songs and beats will come when she's interested, if ever. But, one thing I had with her being my grandaughter is she always wanted to "show" me what she could do. You might not get that from a stranger or it may take time to develop that relationship.

Bottom line, I didn't force anything on her, and let her decide what we would do. That kept her interest.

I would start with the basic essentials. How to hold the stick. Where to position your limbs.

Dude!

It sounds like you are not a teacher. This is NOT a putdown. It is a recocognition. I AM a teacher, my daughters are music TEACHERS, my wife is a music TEACHER. We CAN teach people. I KNOW you WANT to teach this kid............but if you cannot do it....what do you do???":

Think dude! Think!! You want to soooooooo.....re-think how to go about it. You can!!!

You might want to look at the Kindermusic curriculem. It involves lots of clapping, counting and singing games for pre-schoolers.

I have a 4 year old student who is amazing! He's already been in one recital -- he played "Fool on the Hil" by the Beatles! He is a rare kid though . . . he pays attention and never looses focus.

All excellent advice here!

Someone mentioned earlier that very young kids need parental supervision while practicing, and I think this is very important. As such, I always make sure the parents are aware of the material I assign for practice. Teenagers and adults can direct themselves while practicing; parents need to motivate and keep track of what young kids do while they practice.

Sorry I got on the thread so late. It's very interesting because I have been planning on trying to teach my 3 yr old grandson how to play the drums. He (and my son and daughter-in-law) live 1500 mi. away so I don't get a chance to see him much. We got him a toy set and I have let him play on "Gampa's big set" a couple of times. He absolutely loves it but all he does is "beat things". He can't hurt anything but you can't sit behind him or you'll get a stick in the head. Once he grabbed me by the hand and said "gampa, meer, shousompin" and led me by the hand to my drum room. At the time he was too small to open the door so he wanted me to do it for him.

He's bigger, now, so I have thought about lowering the stool to the bottom so he can reach the pedals and lowering the FT and SD so he can reach them. I am considering teaching him to play straight beats (1/4s and 1/8s) and put the BD with the HH. Whatever, he will be here in October, so this thread has given me some ideas. If he seems to be interested, I plan on sending him a scaled down set. I saw one for $175 at a local music store.

I'll keep you all posted if this develops.

Maurice

I came online searching for information about my 4 yr. old boy learning to play the drums. What fortune I found in the forum. Anyway, I was wondering if someone could direct me on the type of drum, cost efficient, a child should start playing on. Mind you that we do not have any fellow drummers in the family for him to try-out any set. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I have a four year old. I've taught him to count along when he plays, have given him drumsticks that he plays on his pillow to CDs and he sometimes gets a go on the ekit. He recently started attempting to copy me playing crosshanded rather than just bang every drum in turn. At this stage I see it as just planting seeds in his mind and that he'll pick things up as he becomes ready to

I actually don't let my kids (6 and 3) touch the drum-set - mainly because it's way too loud even with brushes and they won't wear any ear-plugs or muffs.Of course as result they want to drum - that's where an electronic set comes in. Used alesis control pad and a kick pedal (~$150 for everything) through a computer - and they drum for hours along with Queen and Beatles. I don't have TV at home, otherwise Rock Band on PS3/WII/Xbox would be perfect to keep them interested and improve the sense of rhythm. When you have their interest and keep it fun it's so much easier to push the real training on.

You guys all act like you've never heard of shock collars before.

See if he can find the pulse in a simple rock song in eights. Then try if he can stomp the bass drum pedal, and then hit the snare drum ( not necesssarily to a click or in time, but just play around a bit) - If it get's boring he will stop immediately, so it has to be fun, try new stuff everyday - but also play some of the stuff you did last time.

So for example, learn him how to hold the sticks in his hands - it doesn't have to be 100% correct the first time you practice with him. See if he can find the pulse in a rock song. Make him play the BD - snare beat... and that's bascially a lesson.

For the next lesson, you see if he can remember how to hold the sticks - then correct the mistakes a bit. Then you progress with a "harder" song, and then progress with the snare - BD beat aswell, to see if he can get the hi-hat with sometimes.

And so on - im no teacher - but that's what i would've done - but as you - I wouldn't know.

carlenesessions said:

I came online searching for information about my 4 yr. old boy learning to play the drums. What fortune I found in the forum. Anyway, I was wondering if someone could direct me on the type of drum, cost efficient, a child should start playing on. Mind you that we do not have any fellow drummers in the family for him to try-out any set. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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I set up a Hayman Junior set for 200$ (new) in the store i work in atm. It sounds pretty decent for a Junior kit. 16'' bassdrum, 8'',10'' racktoms12'' floor tom and a 10'' snare - which sounds okay (snares are inside the drum - wierd thing...). It comes with stool,hardware such as hi-hat stand, plus mounting-systems, and small cymbals. When he is about 7 years old, buy a better kit. But for a 4 year old, this is absolutely fine. I've jumped into the sky if i got one of theese when i was a kiddo! That's for sure.