Hi

I can play the drums but have never been taught bar someone showing me a basic beat 20 years ago the rest I have just made up so any technique will be a little unorthodox.
Some friends of ours has a 7 the year old son who wants to learn the drums and have asked me to give him some lessons to gauge intrest before forking out on lessons and kit.
Basicaly what should i teach/show him that will not hinder him when he starts lessons.
I have looked on a Drum Forum but they have baffled me with terminoligy. You see although I play the drums I am not “into” drums or drumming If you get what I mean.

I know there are/were some drummers when the old forum was up and running so any pointers would greatly be appreaciated.

Many Thanks

If he eventually does drum lessons you don’t want him to pick up any bad habits, so start with learning basic 4/4 time. It sounds boring as hell and it will also depend on the attention span of a 7 year old.

Sit beside him with sticks in hand and go through the motions of playing the time slowly and get him to play along with you. Then towards the end of a lesson, give him a performance on the drums yourself, this will demonstrate to him that if he does a bit of work he can achieve this.

That’s how I would do it, although I’ve never had a lesson.

As Sonor says.

Don’t teach him any bad habits. Best thing you can do for anyone trying to learn to play the drums, or any other instrument that requires a good sense of rhythm, is teach them to count in 4’s!

Sorry, I know that sounds stupid, but honestly it’s paramount. Sit with the kid, listening to some of the music he likes, get him just to tap a drumstick on something on every beat, but count them out. The logical progression from this is then to recognise how often you will get a shift in key or instruments may come in or out perhaps every 16 beats (4 bars), or 32 beats (8 bars), or even 64 beats (16 bars).

Basically, as long as he can count in 4’s, can recognise the beat in a song, can hit a drumstick on something in time to the beat (ie. his timing isn’t all to pot, and if it is, good luck telling him he’ll never be a drummer!).

I started learning to play the drums at 12, carried it on til I was 17. By then though, I had realised the music I liked wasn’t using real drums and was of course using synthesised beats. I got into House music in a big way from 17 onwards, and when I was 18 I bought a set of decks and a mixer. Nearly 11 years later, I’m still a DJ, and quite a few of those 11 years I have earnt a reasonable bit of money from DJing, though of course nowhere near as much as I’d like.

What’s DJing got to do with drumming I hear you ask. Well, I learnt early on that rhythm and timing is everything! These skills I picked up from my drumming (and a certain degree of natural talent, though it does need to be nurtured) stood me in good stead for DJing as I understood the structure of the music.

I’m not a classically trained musician, so I can’t talk about things like the guys on the forums you have found, and don’t know all the terminoligy. What I do know is when something feels right, and when a song/track is going to build/break and whether it’s changing significantly every 4 bars, 8 bars, 16 bars etc. You get a real feel for the music after a long time, but it’s learning the basics of most music being in a 4/4 beat to start with that is the best lesson you can teach anyone!

That said, a 7 year old kid is just gonna wanna pick up the sticks and bang the drums, and will probably have about 5 whole seconds of attention span! So good luck 😉

P.S. You don’t need a drum kit to practice playing the drums. I used to sit on my bed, sticks in hand, just beating the duvet for hours when I was a kid, practising playing along to CDs or tunes on the radio. It’s all about refining your rhythm.

I’ve been playing since I was 15 (43 now) but with a rather lengthy break up until last year. I now have a new band just about up & running.

The basics are the most important – as said above. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 etc. Get him started with just the right hand on the ride cymbal counting out 1 2 3 4. Then add the bass drum, also 1 2 3 4. Then add the snare on 2 & 4. That’s it. Throw in the odd crash on 1 if you like. Keep it simple

Another thing – a 7 year old isn’t going to fit behind a full size kit, no matter how much you lower the stands – a 22in bass drum is just too big for that

See if you can find a song that the lad likes, then make the effort to learn the drum line yourself – and show it to him. Remember also that an acoustic kit is a wee bit loud

If you do get anywhere, try also having a look here: http://www.icanplaydrums.com

that is of course assuming he’s right handed…