rogue_drummer
Gold Member
Ordinarily I wouldn't post something like this, but it is both funny, true, and sad at the same time.
Long story short - this past Sunday when I showed up for early rehearsal I was told we have a new drummer for the rotation in the praise band. She'll play 1 song and would I mind mentoring her? Okay, No problem I thought.
It was one of the teens that regularly sings in the choir and has a good voice.
Red Flag #1. I come to find out she was supposed to play next Sunday but either her or her parents encouraged or insisted she play this past Sunday. She was emailed the material a few days ago but someone in her family forgot to give it to her. She didn't know the songs we were going to play and had never listened to them. So they show up wanting her to play anyway.
Red Flag #2. Upon ushering her into the drum booth and giving her a pair of sticks, she confessed to me that she had never played drum set before but she plays hand drums and had played marimba in junior high. I'm starting to see a pattern...but I remain courteous and hopeful....
Red Flag #3. The song she chose to play was the first one on the order and it is very fast and challenging if you have never even listened to it. So the song starts and she's fumbling around, as I expected she would. They stop the song so the leader and guitars and keys can discuss things. I begin to mentor this young lady by telling her the different parts of the kit, what the different drums do, etc. I see she is keeping a decent beat on the kick so I begin to tell her to just play quarter notes on the hats and kick and 2 and 4 on the snare. I recieve a very encouraging reply. Okay, maybe this might work....
Red Flag #4. The song starts and stops several more times and she fumbles every time, looking at me and saying she had no idea what she is doing. (About here I really wanted to say "no sh*t!", but I held my tongue and tried to give her the 1 minute pep talk....) I was trying to encourage her to calm down, relax, play quarter notes and just try to keep a solid beat is all that is needed. And as far as I could tell, she was keeping a solid beat on the kick, so we have something to start with....
Red Flag #5. The poor girl starts crying. Being the father of 2 daughters myself and a granddaughter, my fatherly/grandfatherly mode took over. I was trying to calm her down and ease her mind. But in the end she said she didn't want to continue and trots off to the ladies room to compose herself. All the while I am thinking poor kid! She was thrown into a situation guaranteed to make her fail. Being a sideman all I could do was lend an understanding ear and try to encourage her and mentor her.
So I take over the kit we finish rehearsal.... The service goes fine.
To wrap this up, I feel very strongly, even had to restrain myself from pulling her parents aside (who are pillars of that church) and chewing them out for pushing their sweet daughter into something that is guaranteed to make her fail immediately and make her look the fool. No wonder she broke down. She had NO experience playing drum kit and wasn't even prepared! And her parents KNEW that!
It never ceases to amaze me how some people can think that they or family members can play a drum kit perfectly the first time never having even touched one before.
Long story short - this past Sunday when I showed up for early rehearsal I was told we have a new drummer for the rotation in the praise band. She'll play 1 song and would I mind mentoring her? Okay, No problem I thought.
It was one of the teens that regularly sings in the choir and has a good voice.
Red Flag #1. I come to find out she was supposed to play next Sunday but either her or her parents encouraged or insisted she play this past Sunday. She was emailed the material a few days ago but someone in her family forgot to give it to her. She didn't know the songs we were going to play and had never listened to them. So they show up wanting her to play anyway.
Red Flag #2. Upon ushering her into the drum booth and giving her a pair of sticks, she confessed to me that she had never played drum set before but she plays hand drums and had played marimba in junior high. I'm starting to see a pattern...but I remain courteous and hopeful....
Red Flag #3. The song she chose to play was the first one on the order and it is very fast and challenging if you have never even listened to it. So the song starts and she's fumbling around, as I expected she would. They stop the song so the leader and guitars and keys can discuss things. I begin to mentor this young lady by telling her the different parts of the kit, what the different drums do, etc. I see she is keeping a decent beat on the kick so I begin to tell her to just play quarter notes on the hats and kick and 2 and 4 on the snare. I recieve a very encouraging reply. Okay, maybe this might work....
Red Flag #4. The song starts and stops several more times and she fumbles every time, looking at me and saying she had no idea what she is doing. (About here I really wanted to say "no sh*t!", but I held my tongue and tried to give her the 1 minute pep talk....) I was trying to encourage her to calm down, relax, play quarter notes and just try to keep a solid beat is all that is needed. And as far as I could tell, she was keeping a solid beat on the kick, so we have something to start with....
Red Flag #5. The poor girl starts crying. Being the father of 2 daughters myself and a granddaughter, my fatherly/grandfatherly mode took over. I was trying to calm her down and ease her mind. But in the end she said she didn't want to continue and trots off to the ladies room to compose herself. All the while I am thinking poor kid! She was thrown into a situation guaranteed to make her fail. Being a sideman all I could do was lend an understanding ear and try to encourage her and mentor her.
So I take over the kit we finish rehearsal.... The service goes fine.
To wrap this up, I feel very strongly, even had to restrain myself from pulling her parents aside (who are pillars of that church) and chewing them out for pushing their sweet daughter into something that is guaranteed to make her fail immediately and make her look the fool. No wonder she broke down. She had NO experience playing drum kit and wasn't even prepared! And her parents KNEW that!
It never ceases to amaze me how some people can think that they or family members can play a drum kit perfectly the first time never having even touched one before.
Last edited: