The Key to Drumming Success that I Learned at My Very First Lesson

Nervousness and a little bit of fear hung on me as I walked into my very first drum lesson. I was a young 15 year old who had taken piano lessons for 7 years, but even those 7 years hadn’t prepared me for this new step out of my comfort zone. I liked the familiar, and I even thrived off of habit and consistency. But I’d known deep down inside for a long time that I really wanted to take drum lessons… one day… when I was older… when I was less scared of learning something totally new. One day I’d be more grown up and confident, able to take on a new challenge with ease and proudly join a band and be a great rock drummer. After all, that really had been my ultimate dream for a few years now. But now on this afternoon in May I found myself stumbling directly into this distant and even terrifying dream, and there was no turning back.

Armed with my SD1 drumsticks I’d purchased a few years before for a “junior drumline” class, I sat down at the kit in my lesson. I immediately liked my new teacher, who was a lovable combination of humor, honesty, and an innate ability to encourage and speak the truth. Naturally, he had me play a little to get a feel for my current level. I mustered up the courage to play something that hopefully wouldn't crash and burn.

Man, I wish this were a piano lesson. I’d feel so much more comfortable sitting at a piano right now instead.

But I whipped up an average rock beat at an average tempo, and I played a pretty average fill at the end of 4 bars. I’d been playing on my electric kit at home for 2 years now, and I’d spend plenty of time playing along to my favorite records. I knew I didn’t sound awful, but I hadn’t exactly ever gotten any feedback whatsoever on my playing.

I finished my rock repertoire demonstration after about 12 seconds, and my teacher said something along the lines “hey, that’s not bad… but we need to get you playing something more like THIS…” Then we switched spots, and he jumped on the kit.

I was completely blown away by what followed. He played some sort of fusion beat with a crazy hihat pattern with open and closed notes, complete with some kind of jazz fill that I couldn’t comprehend. But I was amazed, and I was completely captivated.

He went on to explain to me how I needed to learn jazz and Latin. I had told him I wanted to play rock and that that was really all I cared about. But he knew what was actually best for me, and I’ll never forget what he told me:

The best rock drummers out there can play jazz and Latin too.

Hmmm… Interesting. He explained that you want to have a higher technical ceiling in your playing so that you can play whatever you want to play, whether it’s super simple or super complex. Again, I was thoroughly captivated. I literally felt my mind opening up to a new world I never knew existed. I’d been cruising through my world of rock songs and about 5 different rock beats and 3 different rock fills completely unaware of a world of learning outside of my box.

This drum lesson turned out to be the beginning of a years-long journey of discovering so many things I never comprehended being able to play. I mastered basic rock playing, then moved onto jazz, Latin, and fusion. I loved the challenge of those genres, and they pushed me to massively increase my coordination and chops. I began to realize that what my teacher had said about the best rock drummers knowing jazz & Latin must be 100% true. My rock playing was now improving tremendously! I felt more at ease at the kit, and I wasn’t having to think so much about the notes I was playing. Things could flow more easily, and I could focus on the actual music instead. I was raising my technical ceiling so that I could literally play what I wanted to play.

The years that followed were the most exhilarating years of learning in my life. I was so curious and so eager to learn that I was practicing all the time and sucking in every bit of information that I could. I forgot my old fear and nervousness, because I was too busy being intrigued and excited. As I learned new skills I gained confidence, and my teacher’s encouragement did so much to build me up as a player and crush the old feelings of inadequacy. Everything was new, exciting, and thrilling, and this all began on that afternoon in May at my first drum lesson.

Here’s the deal: I believe that ANYONE can learn the drums - when they’re armed with the right know-how. I believe that “talent” is hardly a factor worth considering compared to work ethic and curiosity. If you have work ethic accompanied by a genuine curiosity, you don’t need natural ability. That curiosity IS your natural ability.

In other words, if you have curiosity and a solid resource from which to learn… you have ALL you need. A good teacher is truly invaluable, and I can’t say enough about how I wouldn’t be remotely close to where I am today without my first teacher.

Over the years that followed, I learned percussion from a teacher in college, additional jazz skills from another drumset teacher, musical and song-learning skills from a mentor, plus I was playing constantly with other musicians and learning in every experience. Majoring in music in college, I played in nearly every ensemble that I could. Playing in all these different groups (and gigging with a band outside of school and playing in church) provided such an awesome learning experience that just built upon what I’d learned in high school.

But all this started with a single drum lesson. It all began with my parents taking a chance on me and me stepping out of my comfort zone. Even my childhood piano teacher played a huge role in building my foundation for years before this. Without her, who knows if I would have stayed motivated enough with music to even take on drums!

Who are you learning from? Who inspires you to learn? What’s your big resource where you find answers to your questions?

I certainly did a lot of learning online. By the time I was in high school, YouTube was a thing and I could find all sorts of drumming info on there. But you can’t beat the rapid learning and accelerated progress you get with one-on-one lessons.

Find a good teacher, and reach out to them - even if it’s just for a lesson or two. If you find a teacher you really connect with and who knows their stuff, you’ll grow so much that you won’t remember your drumming life before. Not to mention you’ll thank yourself (and your teacher) many times down the road.

But hey - if you don’t have a reputable local teacher you can reach out to, I’d love to help you out! I’ve been teaching one-on-one lessons for 10 years now, and I've been teaching over Zoom since the lockdown in March. Folks from all over have been able to reach out for lessons as a result, which has been really cool.

Shoot me an email and let me know you're interested, and we’ll get something on the books! Be sure to include “lessons” in your email subject line so I don’t miss your message.

Remember that you really can conquer the drums when you’re armed with the right info. I’m all about giving you that info, as were all the teachers who powerfully influenced me over the years.

Thanks for reading, and God Bless.

Stephen