Beginning drumming...were you supported or not supported

My dad tried to discourage me as much as possible.
I literally used to hide my drumsticks so he didn't know I was practicing.
I got good enough to get accepted to WVU school of music ,but it was no go as I couldn't afford the tuition by myself.
I ended up at a regular college and got a degree in polisci.
:mad:
 
My dad said I could buy a drum set, as long as I never played it while he was in the house. I kept up my end of the bargain.

my dad said that to me about heavy metal albums....6 months later, when he heard the drumming on them, he was a fan

I was "sneakily" persistent about it...
 
The only reason I even joined the band was because at lunchtime you could hang out in the band room away from the knuckle draggers and thugs.
Rough school.

At least 3 of my "schoolmates" were indicted for murder at some point in their lives.

One of those schoolmates that used to bully me choked his wife to death at age 19 and tried to burn her body after burying it in the local town dump.
His reason was I put my hands around her neck and for some reason or other she quit breathing.
He was out on probation 4 years later.
WTF?

When I hear the advice if you stand up to a bully ,they'll back down ,that is nonsense.
What if they're psychotic?
 
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The only reason I even joined the band was because at lunchtime you could hang out in the band room away from the knuckle draggers and thugs.
Rough school.

At least 3 of my "schoolmates" were indicted for murder at some point in their lives.

One of those schoolmates that used to bully me choked his wife to death at age 19 and tried to burn her body after burying it in the local town dump.
His reason was I put my hands around her neck and for some reason or other she quit breathing.
He was out on probation 4 years later.
WTF?

When I hear the advice if you stand up to a bully ,they'll back down ,that is nonsense.
What if their psychotic?
Story sounds familiar but just two went to prison for murder-both out now-one is a pastor I think. The other fella is out and though I don't believe in the death penalty this person makes me want to. Oh wait I remember another fella but an older class so that makes 3 murderers. That's the ones who got caught. When I realized I was surrounded by psychopaths I didn't turn into Charlie Bartlett (at least till later) but started weight lifting and taking martial arts-so I could protect myself. Thats a rough path having to fight people-so it's best to sedate them. One of my classmates her husband shot her in the head one day-he wasn't a class mate but she was. Thankfully not everyone is insane-maybe? The State of Georgia doesn't have a very high crime rate, except Atlanta areas which is actually one of the highest in nation. It don't get all the press as other big cities for some reason.
 
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My parents were supportive, until 6 pm when dad pulled in the driveway. Then the playing had to stop. My obnoxious older brothers (git and drummer) ruined it for me ten years before.
 
Yes, they paid for lessons, and got me a good starter kit, went to all the school concerts. They rarely complained about the noise- only when my band mates would use profanity' over the microphone. They were even OK with me being a music major, but made it pretty clear that they thought playing drums for a living was a "pipe dream" at best, and I better give a lot thought to a career outside of music or become a teacher. So that's what I did.
 
Yes, they paid for lessons, and got me a good starter kit, went to all the school concerts. They rarely complained about the noise- only when my band mates would use profanity' over the microphone. They were even OK with me being a music major, but made it pretty clear that they thought playing drums for a living was a "pipe dream" at best, and I better give a lot thought to a career outside of music or become a teacher. So that's what I did.

pretty much the same for me too...even down tot he profanity over the mic thing...though I did not get any resistance about it being my career choice, other than dad saying "when you are 18...all of the bills are on you. I don't care how they get paid, but BOOM, they are yours" He played drums as a 20-30 year old around town so he sort of knew what was out there
 
pretty much the same for me too...even down tot he profanity over the mic thing...though I did not get any resistance about it being my career choice, other than dad saying "when you are 18...all of the bills are on you. I don't care how they get paid, but BOOM, they are yours" He played drums as a 20-30 year old around town so he sort of knew what was out there

It sounds like your parents did a great job! No parent is perfect, and I am fortunate that mine put of with the noise, paid and brought me to lessons. band camp, and all the those after school performances all over town and were even OK with me being a music major- which they fully funded!. But my parents did make it very clear that I would never be able to make a living as a performer. I do wonder how things would have turned if they had believed in me, and encouraged me to work hard and follow my dreams. Maybe I still wouldn't have made my living as a performer (very few do) and become a teacher as they insisted, but it would have been nice to have that support, and not have to spend all my college years and beyond doubting myself.
 
It sounds like your parents did a great job! No parent is perfect, and I am fortunate that mine put of with the noise, paid and brought me to lessons. band camp, and all the those after school performances all over town and were even OK with me being a music major- which they fully funded!. But my parents did make it very clear that I would never be able to make a living as a performer. I do wonder how things would have turned if they had believed in me, and encouraged me to work hard and follow my dreams. Maybe I still wouldn't have made my living as a performer (very few do) and become a teacher as they insisted, but it would have been nice to have that support, and not have to spend all my college years and beyond doubting myself.

yep...

and funny thing about the teaching/performing thing....for the first 30 years of my life, I swore up and down that I would never be a teacher...i was gonna be a rock star!! And then all the sudden, around 30, I was teaching...and loving it. Everyone around me kept saying "nope, you will be a good teacher one day"...and I resisted it forever....but now, 25 years into teaching, it really is the perfect fit for me. In fact, I rarely consider it work...only when I am in accreditation or standards or licensure meetings...those suck...but my worst day teaching would be better than the best day doing pretty much anything else
 
When I was three years old, I lost my wonderful father to a massive heart attack while he was behind the wheel of the tractor-trailer he drove for a trucking company out of Georgia.

I first learned to play drums at a very early age - around 6, if that's considered early, and I learned from the guy who played drums at my then-home church and then when my Stepfather came into my and Mom's lives, I started learning acoustic guitar with his encouragement and then when I was around 10, I became an enormous Elvis Presley fan and immediately wanted an electric guitar because I saw James Burton play his legendary '69 pink paisley Fender Telecaster with Elvis. And when I finally joined my very first band in 2008, they helped me buy my very first good electric guitar (a Fender ReIssue 69 paisley Telecaster) and they both took me to practice and gigs (I'm not able to drive due to my very bad eyesight....plus, I have other disabilities such as mild Cerebral Palsy & Hydrocephalus (the latter is normally termed "water on the brain"). And, yes, if it's meant to happen, I still want my "dream" drum kit, a Ludwig blue sparkle double-kick with concert toms drum kit just like the one that my drumming influence, Ronnie Tutt, played from late 1970 to sometime in 1974 when he switched to the huge COV (chrome over Vista-Lite) kit that's seen in "Elvis In Concert" (Elvis's final television special shown on October 3, 1977 on CBS. I have the "outtakes" DVDs of both of those shows which made up the television special but, I rarely watch them......however, I'm keeping them for sentimental reasons).

So.....to make a very long story short, yes, my parents were very supportive and helpful.
 
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What if they're psychotic?
Speaking of which ,I remember being at the local town Dairy Queen one summers night.
And for some reason or other ,one of the patrons attacked one of the guys I went to school with and beat his head into a car bumper.
One of the larger guys broke it up ,but not after a pretty bloody affair.
The guy who attacked was thrown out of the Navy for having a mental disorder.
As I said ,you never know if somebody is legit insane.
 
I was on my own, bought my first set at 18 (1988) a very used Ludwig, 9 years later bought a new set a Premier with Zildjian cymbals, around 2014 I bought a Roland TD-11, and about a year ago I bought the 7 piece in my avatar picture. Parents were divorced since I was 1 year old, my mother was supportive but never was able to buy drums or music related gear so I got it all myself. The wife is very supportive of all my hobbies. (she is the reason I got 2 motorcycles and other toys).
 
I'm very lucky in that my parents were fully supportive. I saved up for a year to buy my first kit. I was a little short of money by my 'goal' date so they put in some to help me purchase it. I guess they were waiting to see if I would loose interest playing on cushions for a whole year.

I'm lucky in that I'm from a drumming family. My drums were setup in the garage and within a year we had a (semi) soundproof studio built within by a carpenter neighbour for me.

......I'm sure the money wasn't the only motivation for him taking the job!!

Spent thousands of very happy hours in that garage for the 5 of so years I remained at the family home, was a shame to see it removed a handful of years ago. Sometime when I'm back in my hometown visiting my mum I'll go to the garage and reminisce that space for a few seconds, for old times sake.

...although the roof was made of asbestos sheeting. Fingers crossed! ?
 
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As a child, it took me over a year to convince my parents to let me start drum lessons. I was clearly showing a passion, and they made me beg a long time before letting me start.

Once they saw I was serious, several years later they sprung for a very expensive Ludwig kit for me. #grateful

Once they saw I was trying to actually play in bands, they did not support that. They looked down on musicians, and they were explicitly verbal about that.
 
My parents supported my trombone playing. They knew I liked drums, but said I could never have a drum kit in the house. I practiced on a pad plus some heavy books spread out like a kit. Later on I went halves with a friend to buy on an old kit and kept it at his house so I could practice there.
 
My Father was Supportive. He paid for 6 months of lessons, and after consulting the teacher, he bought me a black double bass westbury kit. After 6 months of that kit, he walked into my room and said the drums sounded like Sheeit. So he agreed to go 50/50 on a Pearl World Series kit and Paiste Cymbals.
 
My Father was Supportive. He paid for 6 months of lessons, and after consulting the teacher, he bought me a black double bass westbury kit. After 6 months of that kit, he walked into my room and said the drums sounded like Sheeit. So he agreed to go 50/50 on a Pearl World Series kit and Paiste Cymbals.
God Bless your old man!

Mine would sit and look over the Pearl and Tama catalogs with me when I was younger.

I’ll never forget the day I was catching the bus home from school being a 7th grader.
He and mom picked me up; and, in the back as I got close was a Zildjian Scimitar cymbal pack box with the hats a crash and the ride.

This replaced my old 13” hats and two 16” MX by CBpercussion cymbals that I had assigned the right as my ride.
 
God Bless your old man!

Mine would sit and look over the Pearl and Tama catalogs with me when I was younger.

I’ll never forget the day I was catching the bus home from school being a 7th grader.
He and mom picked me up; and, in the back as I got close was a Zildjian Scimitar cymbal pack box with the hats a crash and the ride.

This replaced my old 13” hats and two 16” MX by CBpercussion cymbals that I had assigned the right as my ride.

You have Cool Parents Ransan. Not so sure about the blessings for mine, haha. Just Kidding. I wanted a Tama kit, but changed my mind when I saw a Pearl 9 piece double bass in chrome in the store window. He really liked a 7 piece Ferrari Red Pearl kit. I was going to get Zildjian cymbals initially, but since he wouldn’t budge from the Red kit, I went with Red Paiste Colorsounds. (Edit-turns out it was WLX Coral Red kit).
 
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