tips for my son

patriot dad

Junior Member
Hello....
My son is 16 and progressing very well he has a very good ear.
Has been playing about three years or more. Trying to remain purely objective here. He has really gotten alot better in last year. How do i get him some connections with dedicated upstarts and love for music.
I really believe there is a natural gift and he is very keen to all genres of music.
Advice anyone, I believe a talent not to be wasted. Thank you.
 
Let him find his own way with his music. He will seek other musicians on his own. He will go through a right of passage. Just continue to do what you have been doing and give him support.
 
Maybe look into a local music school as an after school activity or something? There are some places that do a good job of placing you in a band with musicians at similar levels to you, and direct, teach and supervise weekly rehearsals. And if you're lucky, a place might set up gigs for the band.
 
Agree with the above....I'm 65, you don't want to "push him"....just make it available to him.
Let him find his own way but not learning things you will have to unlearn later on is a reason
for lessons by a good teacher.
 
Wow thanks for the input!
I am in full 1000% support , I play bass so i have helped him in many ways.
Any thoughts on soundproof material? I enjoy listening to him but looking for ideas to keep the dB restrained
 
As far as noise, maybe an electronic kit he can play with headphones on? I do this at home and all I use is a pretty cheap kit I got off ebay. It's not pro but it works well enough for practice.

My daughter is 15 and plays the flute, sax, and clarinet. I participate in her band boosters, take her to see shows and we jam together at home. I got her weekly lessons and the rest is up to her. If she wants me to pay for lessons though, she has to practice, which she is good about. She wants to major in music in college so it seems to be going well!
 
Maybe a headset radio for Dad so he can listen to the game? Best Wishes! Playing bass with him so he can better understand how the two work together could be invaluable.
I used to rehearse with bass players, just the two of us, on various grooves etc. It really helped propel a band.
 
He should know that people who are serious about music, however talented they are/aren't, spend many hours with it every day. Beyond that, he should do exactly what he wants to do with it-- it's best to let him decide his own level of commitment. If he decides to be serious about it, you should help him be in contact with as many other musicians, and as much live music as possible. He needs to be listening a lot, practicing a lot, and playing with people a lot, and he needs to know, and be around, a lot of players.
 
I'm not sure that you've given us enough information in order for us to offer advice.

  • Does he play by ear or can he read music? Not being able to read music will hinder his progress. It is analogous to having a library of information at your disposal, but not being able to read English.

  • You said that he has been playing for over three years - does he take lessons? If not, I would seek out the best instructor you can find and sign him up for lessons immediately.

  • Is he in school band? School band will offer him the opportunity to play percussion in concert and marching band. He may also have the opportunity to play drumset for jazz band and school musicals.

  • You didn't mention which city you live in. Many larger cities will have drum clinics come through town. Even smaller cities may have an occasional clinic. Check with music stores or manufacturer's websites for clinic listings.

  • Seek out music of all styles throughout town. He may enjoy watching a symphony pops concert to see the drumset used in a different way than he is used to. Colleges and universities will have percussion ensemble and jazz band concerts. They may also have guest artists from time to time.

  • You can also try to expose him to drumming by showing him this site as well as Vic Firth's website, which is extremely educational. There are magazines such as Modern Drummer and Drum Magazine that will help to keep him interested. A membership in the Percussive Arts Society will also be very educational and allow him access to Percussive Notes journal online or a hard copy of the journal - depending upon the membership you choose.

Any thoughts on soundproof material? I enjoy listening to him but looking for ideas to keep the dB restrained
Make sure he is wearing ear protection.

If you want to go the inexpensive route (instead of soundproofing), you can get mutes for the drums such as these http://www.vicfirth.com/products/mutes.php For the snare, I recommend this http://www.steveweissmusic.com/product/sabian-quiet-tone/drum-practice-pads

Jeff
 
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Hi -

I'm a couple months late in responding, but I’ve been in a similar situation over the last few years and can validate everything jeffwj said. My son Max is turning 18 in a month, has played drums for 7 years, is playing in a prog metal band with guys ten years his senior, and has been auditioning for music schools over the last month.

Here’s my and my son’s experience directly related to jeffjw’s comments:

1. Learning to read is a must, Max has gotten gigs because he can sight read well, and there’s no getting into a music school or program without good reading skills.

2. Getting lessons is important, and the right teacher is key. We were lucky to find a great teacher who clicked with my son and made learning fun for him, tailoring his teaching around my son’s interests.

3. Max joined the high school marching band which had an enormous impact on his chops, and where he learned leadership and diplomacy skills when he became section leader. He joined the high school jazz band to get experience playing other genres and that led to him studying jazz and Latin, and that led to him being a much better overall player. And also as jeffjw noted, he’s played for school musicals and with the orchestra for the community theater company.

4. We haven’t attended any clinics in town, but a local music store puts on several "Rock and Roll Workshops" each year. Kids who attend form bands, learn a couple songs, and then perform in public. Attending them gave my son confidence neither of us knew he had. These types of things are well worth searching out.

5. I have a wide and weird range of musical tastes, and Max has been exposed to all of it, whether at home, in the car, or live. His first concert was John Lee Hooker when he was five, and his most recent was Transatlantic last month. In between he’s been to countless rock and jazz shows, the symphony, the opera, you name it. It's all influenced his playing.

6. Watching, hearing from, talking to, and reading about other drummers – and other musicians – have been huge for Max. The Internet has been a phenomenal learning tool.

7. I can’t over-reiterate jeffjw’s advice to wear ear protection. Hearing does not come back. Ever. Max has been using sound isolation headphones when practicing by himself. They act like regular headphones so you can play along with your iPod, but they reduce external sound levels so you can keep the iPod turned down too.

8. As for sound-proofing: I sprayed insulation into the walls of the practice room, dropped another layer of drywall on the walls and ceiling, created a “plug” that covers the window and covered that wall with rubberized sound-proofing material. The other three walls are covered with acoustic foam (not soundproofing, just sounds better). I also replaced the door with a solid slab, then added a second door (you have to go through two doors to get into the room), and weather-stripped them. Is it soundproof? Not even close. But it knocks the sound down to tolerable levels both inside and out.

I’d like to add a few other comments as well:

A. Players of all ages, skill levels, and instruments are looking for each other on Craigslist. Max struggled finding players at school that had the chops to play the kind of music he was interested in (e.g. Dream Theater), but he found them on Craigslist. Some parental involvement here is suggested, though

B. I play a little bass too and jammed with him as often as he wanted me to when he was starting out. Playing with another person, even a hack like me, taught him about listening and improvising.

C. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I learned to play drums along with him. It’s been a great bonding experience and I actually got good enough to join a band (albeit an awful one). Max and I can talk shop and he knows I know what I’m talking about. Now he’s my instructor. And I am his roadie, drum tech, and bank. Also, with two drummers in the house, my wife is outnumbered and can’t complain about the volume.

D. More about lessons: groove1 points out that without lessons you might learn stuff you’ll have to unlearn later on. Along those lines, without learning proper technique early, a young person can do a lot of damage to ligaments and tendons that will plague them their entire lives.

E. Being well-rounded: Although Max is fanatical about drumming, he takes guitar lessons and studies piano on his own. He wants to be a well-rounded musician and says it helps to know what the guitar player’s talking about when he calls out to go to cut-time after he plays that augmented minor seventh.

Lastly, my wife and I have never pushed him. We've armed him with information, provided support and encouragement, exposed him to as much music and as many opportunities as we possibly could, and the rest has been all him.

Sorry if I’ve been long-winded, but I’m passionate about how passionate my son is. He found something he loves to do, is exceptionally good at it, and is driven to constantly improve. Gotta love that!
 
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