The Choice to Play the Drumset

buddhadrummer

Junior Member
As part of some research I'm doing for a private project, I'd like to ask forum members to share how they came to play the instrument, in terms of whose choice it was.

When answering, if you could please also share whether drums are fully integrated into your personal and professional life; or your relationship with the instrument is a more casual relationship where you manage a full-time job and other commitments unrelated to drums. Or somewhere in between.

The questions:

Was the decision to play the drums 100% your own?

or

Were you presented with the choice (by an adult) of selecting an instrument by which to learn music, and you chose the drumset?

or

Did drums just kind of appear in your sphere and you took to them and continue to play to this day?

or

Were you encouraged (or made) to play drums and it became a substantial part of your life.

Big thanks for your answers. -- ML
 
Drums kind of appeared in my sphere and I took to them and continue to play to this day.

My dad played the drums as a professional full time drummer. There was a drums set in the front room from the time I was born. How could I not play the drums. They have always been a hobby for me. I play two times per week. I have a regular full time job as an Electrical Supervisor.


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When answering, if you could please also share whether drums are fully integrated into your personal and professional life; or your relationship with the instrument is a more casual relationship where you manage a full-time job and other commitments unrelated to drums. Or somewhere in between.


Easier to start here. At one point in my life-between the ages of 14 and say 22, I 'entertained' the idea of hitting the "big time" and spending the rest of my life as a Rock Star.... Drums were the major focus of my undisciplined life, and the people I hung out with were all "musicians". However, at that time (I'm 55 soon to be 56 so do the math), being a musician could mean anything from playing in a stage band in AC to playing weekend gigs in bars while working at a car wash. Unfortunately, many of us, myself included-(perhaps most of all?) majored in partying, doing dope, and chasing chicks. Very, very, VERY, few people actually "make it" and become Rock Stars, and no one in my sphere came close. I stopped playing completely in 1987.

After a complete life change and refocus....I eventually started playing again casually around 1999, and more seriously as a church "praise team" drummer sometime around 2005 or so. My last project was working with a husband and wife acoustic duo and following them around NJ, PA, and Maryland.

Drums are once again a major part of my life and the enjoyment of playing sans drugs and alcohol is very refreshing (for ME). I consider myself a hobbyist with pro level gear who is very blessed to have both a good day job and the opportunity to play on a regular basis in church and out with some really great people. My family is very supportive of this, even though it brings in no money and requires time away from them and my other duties as a husband and father.

The questions:

Was the decision to play the drums 100% your own?

Yes, absolutely mine and mine alone.

Were you presented with the choice (by an adult) of selecting an instrument by which to learn music, and you chose the drumset?

No, in fact exactly the opposite. I wanted to be a drummer since I was I guess 5 years old and heard the Beatles and the Monkees. In third grade I flew home with the "band sign up" sheet in hand with DRUMS clearly marked and ready to go. "MOM-look at THIS!" "We will have to ask your dad." "DAD, look at THIS!" "There is NO WAY in *&#$ I will have a drumset in this house. You can play trumpet or saxophone." "WAT?!" Yep-that is just how it went down. From 3rd grade to 8th grade I was an elementary school trumpet player. Do you know what it's like to see "the other kid" playing an instrument you waited your whole life to play? For SIX YEARS?

Long story shortened...

Mom and Dad divorced the middle of my 8th grade year. Kid around the corner sold me a snare drum, bass drum, tom, pedal and hi hat for $30. I put a pretzel can in the bass drum because there was no head and I started banging away using my Panasonic Dynamite 8 track tape player and some Radio Shack headphones...

That was 1977.

Not sure that is what you are looking for but there it is...
 
As part of some research I'm doing for a private project, I'd like to ask forum members to share how they came to play the instrument, in terms of whose choice it was.

When answering, if you could please also share whether drums are fully integrated into your personal and professional life; or your relationship with the instrument is a more casual relationship where you manage a full-time job and other commitments unrelated to drums. Or somewhere in between.

The questions:

Was the decision to play the drums 100% your own?

or

Were you presented with the choice (by an adult) of selecting an instrument by which to learn music, and you chose the drumset?

or

Did drums just kind of appear in your sphere and you took to them and continue to play to this day?

or

Were you encouraged (or made) to play drums and it became a substantial part of your life.

Big thanks for your answers. -- ML

Not answers to your questions, but I suggest that you take a few answers, see what they look like and then design better questions. If that reads as unkind, it's not my intention. I'm trying to make helpful suggestions here, not score points.

You have phrased your questions as "or" options, when I think you mean them to be "and" questions.

There is a clear assumption in your questions that people who are drumming now are people who started drumming as kids. Many, many people on this site are, erm, past the first flush of youth, and took up drumming way after the time when they had to ask a responsible adult if it was ok.
 
Twenty four years ago my cousin and I got it into our adolescent heads that we would become rockstars. I was going to be the guitarist and he would be the bassist; his father was a bassist and mine a drummer and they had been in bands together in the 70s. Both of our houses happened to have a drum set in them; a family friend's gold sparkle Rogers in his, and my father's silver sparkle Ludwigs in mine. So while waiting for Xmas to roll around, harboring the hopes of getting the instrument of our dreams as a present, we both tinkered with the kits in our respective houses. Imagine, a 12 year old trying to figure it out on a monster 26/14/18/20 Ludwig, Speed King and all!

I still wanted to play guitar but I was mesmerized by the drums, so my father taught me how to play both at once. Growing up in a small town, guitarists were a dime a dozen and bassists were really just banished guitarists, so for the most part I was The Drummer once I started playing with people, and drumming became my primary focus with guitar/bass on the side. Shout out and appreciation to my parents for not only putting up with my drumming in the basement many hours a day for a good eight years or so, but also whatever band(s) I was in at the time practicing there!

Today I drum regularly but it's not my living, though for a few lean years it was a clutch source of income. I decided early on that I would have a day job instead of trying to make music my career. "Making it" was never part of the plan, probably because I grew up with that DIY punk ethos. And I hate 1099-MISC forms. But yes I will say that drums are a substantial part of my life, my main outlet and interest by far. When people ask what I do, I tell them about my music before anything else. No, I didn't become a rockstar, not even the road warrior punk rocker living in a van that I'd envisioned in highschool, but it has taken my life in other directions, introducing me to places, people, and experiences I couldn't have imagined while growing up, so for that I am quite grateful.
 
It was my choice. The year was 1984. Upon entering junior high at a new school where they had a great music class with a wide array of instruments to choose from I was torn between guitar and drums. I thought I had rhythm and was always tapping on stuff so I figured I might be good at drums. I took to it well and learned quickly. Luckily the music teacher was a great drummer so that helped a lot. I took up guitar a few years later.
 
Following the example of fellow members I think it’s easier to freestyle it than have to fit answers into preconceived options.
At around the age of 14, me and my mates decided that we were going to be the best Heavy Metal band in the world. A few of my mates already had guitars (now interestingly to this day I don’t know why or how they got them) and the Youth Club where we used to socialise serendipitously had what I warmly remember and refer to as the Frankenkit, made up of several bits of other drumkits with barely any stands and unusable due to cratetering snare drum batter head, that I did manage to use due to the ability and enthusiasm of youth to overlook faults and make things work. In hindsight I don’t know whether I was one of those people who went around tapping on things all the time which led to me playing drums, or if it was finding that I took to the drums that turned me into one of those people who goes around tapping on things all the time.
I had a 17 year lay off between 1988 and 2005 before being gifted a kit and starting again, currently playing in two bands about three weekends out of every four.
I’ve never had a lesson, I don’t feel that I need to publicly identify or class myself as a drummer or musician, and if both of my bands folded I think I could probably walk away and not miss it. This is a whole other area of research however.
 
After continually being chastised for tapping on everything, my parents presented me with a choice - for my 7th birthday - a big lego set that i wanted, or a (basic) snare drum. My 8th birthday brought me a set of Kent drums with mismatched hardware and cheap cymbals. Entirely self taught,I joined my first band at age 15 and now aged 44 I'm doing 60-70 gigs a year on top of a 50hr week at work.
 
They called to me, I bought them, I learned to play them, I worked professionally for some years. They are just a private/ part-time passion now but unfortunately not my profession.
 
I think my answer will be similar (but shorter) than some other responses: I didn’t choose the drums. The drums chose me.

I took up guitar in school but the drums always kept calling me. Always tapped on things. Kept time with my fingers, etc. I guess it wasn’t just ADD.
 
Was the decision to play the drums 100% your own?

Yes. I was about 10 years old when I began drums. I got into school band, they taught me how to hold sticks, read music, keep time, work with other musicians. I bought a junky used drum kit and cymbals for USA $ 100. Worked many jobs while playing in bands. I did not like working jobs, I liked gigging a lot more. Today I'm a working musician, no other job, not retired. I have some small drum kits and I play bars, private parties almost every day.
 
In about the 4th grade, a bunch of friends were over this other younger kid's house who had a drum set and we all gave it a try playing along with a record. Needless to say I did very well and could tell I was a natural at it. Other than sports, I really wasn't good at anything and I loved music. 7th grade, probably the best year of my life included a time with guitar, bass and drums playing Wild Thing during a chorus class. Now at 62, I'm singing and playing Wild Thing again although it's the Runaways Live in Japan version which is a heavier rock version with a higher register vocal. Ever since the 7th grade I've been playing the drums in bands and actually play bass in another band. There have been years of inactivity though.
 
I think my story is very similar to many here. I had older cousins that played in bands. I think I fell in love the first time I saw a drum kit. My parents must've recognized it, because they couldn't play a radio, gave me a Kent snare drum and rudiment book for Christmas when I was 7. I stayed in the basement for hours learning rudiments and beating on that drum. When I was 9 they gave me a PENNCREST stencil kit. Then I played along with records for hour upon hour. I joined a friend's family gospel group at 12 and started touring local churches. I played in various country, jazz, and rock groups all through school. Not long after school, I quit playing. I was tired of packing around the kit, constant rehearsals but no gigs, etc. and went to work full time. Have been full time employed since.

Fast forward to about 20 years ago. I was still missing making music and started learning guitar. Played around with that for several years, but it wasn't enough. I had to buy another set of drums. Just beat on them a while, then started answering ads looking for drummers. Have auditioned for several bands, but have not found the right fit yet. So far, all have been swimming in drama issues. Now play in a worship team for church.

Did play in a mega church orchestra for a few years, so re-kindled my reading skills.

So, drums chose me.
Drums have been more of a casual thing (unfortunately).
Very little to no familial encouragement since my parents bought my first drums. It's all been me.
 
1) The drums were 100% my choice in so far as I wanted to play music with my friends and I was the only one who could keep a beat. Plus the guy who played the guitar was better than me, and we all knew it.

2) Yes I was given the choice, and I chose the guitar. It was my first instrument and I played the guitar for 3 years before ever picking up a pair of sticks.

3) We auditioned a guy who left his kit at my friends house. Turns out I was a better drummer than he was, so we canned him and I traded my guitar and amp for a drum kit. I still play becasue its much easier as a drummer to find a band, and playing the drums is a great stress reliever.
 
Was the decision to play the drums 100% your own?

Yes. 100% on my own.


Were you presented with the choice (by an adult) of selecting an instrument by which to learn music, and you chose the drumset?

Nope.


Did drums just kind of appear in your sphere and you took to them and continue to play to this day?

Yes, my brother's teenage band practiced at our house, and the drummer left his set there, and he said I could play them. I was in 3rd grade. I became obsessed and played them as much as I could when I could. Band broke up. Drum set left. I asked for a drum set from my parents. Got a piano instead. 10 years later, I finally bought my first drum set. That was 25 years ago. I'm still playing today.

Were you encouraged (or made) to play drums and it became a substantial part of your life.

Nope. Absolutely not.
 
As part of some research I'm doing for a private project, I'd like to ask forum members to share how they came to play the instrument, in terms of whose choice it was.

When answering, if you could please also share whether drums are fully integrated into your personal and professional life; or your relationship with the instrument is a more casual relationship where you manage a full-time job and other commitments unrelated to drums. Or somewhere in between.

The questions:

Was the decision to play the drums 100% your own?

*** Yes. When I was very young, I visited relatives, where my adult cousin had a drum kit set up. I was hooked from the beginning.

or

Were you presented with the choice (by an adult) of selecting an instrument by which to learn music, and you chose the drumset?

*** I wasn't asked what I would like to play, I asked to play drums (and that same cousin gave me an old kit when he upgraded). In junior high school, the band director asked me to play brass instruments, as they had plenty of drummers but few brass players, and I had an aptitude to take to it quickly. Played brass throughout school, went back to drumming on my own in high school as we formed our first garage band.

or

Did drums just kind of appear in your sphere and you took to them and continue to play to this day?

*** Yes. See answer #1 above :) Took an extended break in my young adult years as wife, career and family took precedence, returned to drumming a few years ago and don't plan on stopping again.

or

Were you encouraged (or made) to play drums and it became a substantial part of your life.

*** I can't say that I was exactly encouraged (beyond my cousin giving me a kit), tho I wasn't actively discouraged either. My parents pretty much let me do whatever I thought that I wanted to do at the time, and would support my decision to do so. That included music.

Big thanks for your answers. -- ML

Answers in the text body. Good luck with your project.
 
The questions:

Was the decision to play the drums 100% your own? Yes

or

Were you presented with the choice (by an adult) of selecting an instrument by which to learn music, and you chose the drumset? No

or

Did drums just kind of appear in your sphere and you took to them and continue to play to this day? No

or

Were you encouraged (or made) to play drums and it became a substantial part of your life. Encouraged


Peace and goodwill.
 
Wait, wait, wait, we were supposed to have a choice? Dang! I could have gotten all the ladies if I'd gone guitar or singer!
 
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