Why are they all so damn young?

J

johanisu

Member
All the great drummers seem to have started aged 10 or even earlier. By the time they were 18 they were already playing professionally. Did any great studio/touring drummers start slightly later in life (15 onwards)?
 
I read an interview with Steve Gorman from the Black Crowes who said that he had only been playing a few months when he recorded most of the songs that eventually became 'Shake Your Moneymaker'. That was in 1987; which would put him in his early 20's.
However, I had also heard that he played snare drum in school so he may have had at least some prior experience.
 
Haha this is a question that has always been in my head. No matter what, most legendary drummers seem to have been drumming from birth. All great players learned to drum at age 3 and then start gigging before they become teenagers, thats just unbelievable! I started drumming at my 15th birthday, and now i'm 16 and i feel, looking at all these amazing musicians, that i cannot achieve such status just because of their early beginnings.

Now i doubt i will ever reach such levels as Dennis Chambers and the like, but i still wish i had gotten into drumming and music at such an early age, as the best have. In the end, i think the advantage the best drummers got was not only more time to learn, but also being immersed in the instrument and learning with everyone around them and making the drums all that is important to them.

I always hate when i see some child prodigy play better drums than i can...
 
What you are all seeing is the product of parents devoting time and money into their child's endeavors. Yes, the kids worked hard, but if you had the same opportunities, you would be just as good. These kids didn't start out by being "better" than you. $$$ = success more often than not.
 
Mom and dad got me started when I was 4, and a jazz trumpet playing uncle hipped me to all the standards at a really young age. Yes, I started gigging when I was 13.

But I still suck at alot of things. So I'm not sure when you start has anything to do with it. Even with my supportive parents and a burgeoning semi-career through college, you still gotta audition like everyone else.
 
mm that's cool though..the idea of playing professionally at age 18. guess some of us make it or not.

Charlie Brown made it pro at age 12... nahh jk.
Mm.. don't know who has made it though..or maybe i do but i just can't think straight.
 
Another way to look at it is that yes, they are professionally gigging at a young age. Can they continue to gig like a regular job? How many times have we read about these people who get on a big show or hook up with a big artist, and the show gets canceled or the big artist decides to do something else. Then these professionals are out looking for another gig just like everybody else, albeit with a better resume.

It must be hard once you realize that your house payment, medical, food, various insurances, car, is all up to you when you're a pro musician (well, everything's up to you regardless of what you do). Bless those guys who can do it playing music.
 
I think part of it is you learn things so much easier when you're younger and become "more natural" at them rather than "Learnt".
I had a sister 4 1/2 yrs older and little brother was nearest person around to hit a ball back when she wanted to start knocking a tennis ball around the garden so to a degree I'm a natural sportsman and adapt to most bat / racket and ball games easily. I simply put it down to developing an eye at an early age.
Wish I'd started drumming earlier especially as with so much sport from my youth my body's falling apart and it's no longer an option but at least my drummings improving :)
 
Thanks for all your responses. Thank you Pollyanna; knowing that someone as legendary in the session world as Marotta started at 19 is a very comforting thought.
 
"Vinnie Lammi is undoubtedly one of the UK’s premier session players. He has performed worldwide and recorded with an array of top artists including Robbie Williams, Emma Bunton, The Cocteau Twins, Supergrass, All Saints, Take That, Mel B and A Man Called Adam. Vinnie recently recorded and performed with ex-Spice Girl Mel C and was booked up for The Spice Girls world tour 2007 and 2008."


I remember reading that this guy didn't start until he was 17 and he's doing pretty well for himself...
 
Mike Portnoy allegedly started drumming in high school. Neil Peart almost fits this bill, as he first got a drumset for his fourteenth birthday. Keith moon started at 12. Bonham got his first full set at fifteen.

I got my first set at fifteen. Maybe there's a pattern? P;
 
Coldhardsteel said:
Mike Portnoy allegedly started drumming in high school. Neil Peart almost fits this bill, as he first got a drumset for his fourteenth birthday. Keith moon started at 12. Bonham got his first full set at fifteen.

I got my first set at fifteen. Maybe there's a pattern? P;
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Cool. I got my first drumset at 15 and it has been a year. Just for me, what were you able to do after a year of playing the drums at 16? I just wanna see where i am at.
 
Danny Carey started playing at 14.

I think the age thing is a myth for the most part.

It really comes down to dedication and instruction. I've only been playing 7 years now, and I can hold my own against other guys on the scene who have been doing it since birth just because they don't practice as much.

Remember hours behind the kit > years owning a drumset. There's always exceptions though just look at Thomas Pridgen's resume..you have to be 14 to enter the GC drumoff now because of that guy lol.
 
I would think that more important than when you start, is what do you do with your time when you do start. Practice, find a good teacher, practice, practice. The speed at which you learn and the amount of dedication you have will mean more than when you started.
 
GRUNTERSDAD said:
I would think that more important than when you start, is what do you do with your time when you do start. Practice, find a good teacher, practice, practice. The speed at which you learn and the amount of dedication you have will mean more than when you started.
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I agree with this to a point, at 14 I wasn't that interested in practicing rudiments / hand to hand etc and just wanted to play to music. Now I sit and do them religiously hour after hour and have seen a huge improvement as a result and my level's gone up 3 steps.
That said though if you took a 47 year old and a 12 year old, gave them exactly the same teacher, enthusiasm, dedication and practice routine I think the 12 year old would pick it up quicker.
 
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