At what age did you start drumming?

I started when I was 40. Is that unusual?
Not at all. Plenty of folks start later in life.

I got my first kit at 7-8 I think. It got put up real fast because no one took interest in me being interested in drums. They arent sports.

At 16 I bought another kit and started over. I consider that my starting point, not 7-8. That was 28 years ago.
 
nope, nothing unusual in that! i know people who started in their 50s and 60s and enjoy it :)

me? i started xmas 1988 at 18 months old, proof was provided to me when my mam showed me this photo :)

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I started when I was 40. Is that unusual?
Probably, yeah. Most people I played with started in their early teens like myself or earlier. The amount of info/skill one can really internalize at a young age can be enormous and I'd honestly have to say that starting young will be an advantage that'll last you throughout the journey.

But I recently enrolled in a music school to finally get my music theory and ear training up to par, and I met a lot of folks around my age (48) there, whos enthusiasm is surely right up there with the youngsters...it's an absolute pleasure to see them go through all those stages of learning how to read and play, learning how things can sound with other people...

I also gave a guitar as a birthday present to one of my buddies, who's younger than me but still old enough to qualify as a late starter (30) , and seeing and hearing what he's doing with it...it's a joy to behold! (especially as he's a lefty and I bought a regular right handed guitar...he's now playing right handed as a lefty and is killing it)

End conclusion is it's never too late to dive in and see where it takes you...I guarantee you that the first time you nail that specific thing, or get that specific groove, or get that first happy nod from the bass player in a jam....that'll be enough to keep you going! That's the thing with music...if it feels good, it feels good ;)
 
I started taking lessons on the pad in Junior HIgh School when I was 12. About a year later my parents bought me a Slingerland Stage Band 4 piece drum kit. I still have it, albeit in expanded format.
 
started set at age 4, 1972...added school band in 5th grade - 1980; first live gig with rock band in 8th grade - 1984; added bass guitar in 7th grade as well; did the record contract pursuit/touring in a van thing from 1988 - 2001; started music school in college in 1997; finished music degree in 2014; have been teaching middle school and high school percussion as a band director since 1992 as well; still playing in 4 bands right now as well
 
Bunch of us lip synched with cut out guitars to Get It On in a school assembly in 1973, I was thirteen and banging a hand drum, I wanted to play guitar but got "stuck" with the drum..ha, anyway spent the next forty years playing bass. Three years ago bought a cheapo kit and now playing in a band doing 70's chart tunes..blues etc, I'm now 61...so nope your def not too old to do anything..
 
I was 8. Wow I’m amazed that a majority of us started relatively young. Maybe it’s just a sampling error and more people speak up the age go up? But as it is I think it’s significant maybe it’s a behavioral trait or one that would lend itself to drumming-like specific improved motor skills, etc. ?
 
Played guitar and drums from 11 to 17, quit drums when I joined the military. Devoted myself to guitar until I was 35.
Returned to drumming at about 38.

I started when I was 40. Is that unusual?

Did you have any other musical experience? That probably makes a huge difference. I've seen people start out on drums having no musical ability and I think to myself "how?"
 
The usual story: Apparently I was always banging on pots and pans as a toddler so was told to get drum lessons which didn't officially start until age 10 (seems to be the average age judging by the posts so far). First kit was at 13 years old however.

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and gotta have the obligatory "rock and roll" middle finger!! Are those CB700's?
 
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