Adults Learning Drums

Dylan1267

Junior Member
I am a drum instructor/performer in Chicago, and over the years I have noticed a unique set of concerns that pertain to my adult students. Many of them feel like they're too old to start playing and are generally insecure about being a beginner at an instrument. I think this points to a larger issue, which is that we have all been deeply ingrained with the idea that adults are poor learners. In my experience, most adults learn faster than kids because they are more disciplined and focused. Kids may be ideal sponges and have a higher potential for learning, but I find that their lack of focus and discipline often outweighs their innate advantage. Do other adult drummers out there feel the same way about learning the drums (or any instrument)? If so, just remember that you can learn, and will probably be able to play along with songs you like a lot sooner than you think. Not to mention, practicing is enjoyable in itself, and is not merely a means to an end. I've found that once the student starts playing and realizes how and rewarding it is, he/she no longer cares about these stigmas and regrets ever thinking this way. Anyway, this is kind of a ramble, but I just wanted to see if others have felt these same feelings, and more importantly wanted to encourage you to ignore them and start playing!
 
Where are you an instructor in the Chicago area? I'm 56 and am just stating out on the drums (well I played drums in the grade school band for 3 years) I've play bass for 30 years so I'm not new to music, but I have to agree with you.I as an Adults am more patient, less distracted, and have a more organized
routine than I did when I was a kid.
 
I know exactly what you are talking about. I have been playing the drums for a very long time. Always behind the band. I wanted to get out front and make music instead of drumming and supporting the music.
I tried to learn guitar. As soon as I got to the B chord my fingers could not bend in that direction. I got discouraged and quit.
It seemed to me that it would take a long long time to learn guitar. And being an adult I felt I didn't want to wait that long. And practicing was boring.


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Jim, you have my sympathy on the guitar thing. Understand that "a B chord" is the barred form of A, and that once you are able to play it, you can play any other noted chord value in that form simply by sliding up and down the neck. You're also one finger away from all of the minor versions of the same chord.

Guitar is an instrument with about a half-dozen major hurdles that you hit early on. It really opens up once you cross that threshold.

My feeling is that Drum -> Bass would be a fairly natural transition.
 
I work in education (I run a school for people who want to become professional dog trainers) and one common denominator I find in adult learners is that everyone generally has something they already do well when they begin learning a new skill (whether that be being good at their job, good at their favorite pastime or sport, good musician, artist, photographer etc), so that can sometimes cloud their ability to accept being a complete beginner at something new. Behavior that's reinforced goes up in frequency - that's Thorndike's Law of Effect in action. So if the adult learner doesn't find the new activity reinforcing, then they will be more likely to follow the Matching Law, which states that given the opportunity to engage in two different activities, we will engage in the one that is the most reinforcing (kind of obvious) - so adult learners may be inclined to retreat back to the activities they're already good at if not properly reinforced by the new activity. It depends on the learner too - some folks find repetition and the ability to master something difficult very reinforcing, others will find the immediacy of something reinforcing, like being able to right off the bat play a simple beat along to a song they like etc.
 
I've got direct, live experience with this. I'm 50, and my youngest son is 7. We both started about 3 years ago. He practices about 10 minutes a day. I practice way way more than that. Nevertheless, in some ways, he's more advanced than me. He's been working on groves from the Funky Primer. As he starts working on a new column, he can look at a line, and then play it --- maybe not with great time or quality at first, but playing it. Me, I've got to work through it note by note. On the other hand, I'm farther along with rudiments than he is.
 
It is not just beginners, but people like me who are coming back to drumming after a long absence. As an adult, I am more acutely aware of my own limitations as a player, and I definitely have times where I regret not taking drumming more seriously when I was younger. I'm glad to be playing again in whatever limited capacity I can, but sometimes I feel like I have so much to catch up on that it can be daunting.
 
Re: Adults can be poor learners....it's an individual thing. Some people love learning, others, less so. Some people delight in not being able to do something and must keep trying until they can. Other's have a sense of failure when they can't do something quickly. Maybe some adults go in it thinking "how hard can it be?", and when they actually try their hand at it, maybe don't want to put in the time doing the "drudgery" of beginner basic essential things. Drums are a loooong term thing that can never be "beaten". You really need to accept that going in, no matter what age.

It's really all up to the adult if they are willing to forego instant gratification for long term skills. Music is a sort of mental fountain of youth. That's enough reason to indulge in it right there. It keeps your brain popping like it should. It's easy for me to hear stuff in my head that I can't pull off. It's fun and rewarding to me trying to get that stuff out and translate it to my limbs somehow. I don't need anyone else to challenge me, I have way more challenge than I am even capable of with a small set of drums. But I have that luxury as I don't rely on my musical skills to live on.

It's all up to the individual.
 
everyone generally has something they already do well when they begin learning a new skill (whether that be being good at their job, good at their favorite pastime or sport, good musician, artist, photographer etc), so that can sometimes cloud their ability to accept being a complete beginner at something new.

^^^ This. Teachers should never underestimate the amount of trust placed in them by adult learners, who put themselves in a position of vulnerability. It's my belief that every so often, all teachers should have a few lessons in something they have no experience of (and possibly little aptitude for), so that they never forget how it feels!

Nothing, however, breeds confidence like confidence. IME (a teacher in a former life), people don't need to be told that they're good - they can generally work that out themselves, and it's too relative a term to be useful - but they DO need to be reassured that they are capable of doing it. If your teacher believes in you, you're far more likely to believe in yourself.
 
Pretty timely post for me... I will try to touch on a few of your points.

I'm just beginning to explore learning how to play clarinet - which by every and any measure is about removed from drums as possible (which I've been doing for 38 years).

Heck, I haven't even had my first lesson yet as the instrument I have is being worked on, but I've been watching as many videos on getting started as I can squeeze into my day. And... I haven't made it much pass how to assemble and care for the instrument!! I've become completely overwhelmed at the starting a new instrument phase.

I know my private teacher will work me through all of this but I can't tell you how many times I've said out loud how we take for granted our knowledge on the instrument after having done it for so long.

Just two weeks ago I felt beyond confident drilling tom mounts on 3 bass drums (which came out fabulous) and yet at the same time, I don't feel remotely comfortable assembling a simple clarinet.

As an adult student - I'm a sponge. I love to learn - bring it on. Leveraging my experience with drums, I know full well the trials and tribulations of all of this. I know the value and importance of practice and more importantly - how to do so.
 
I started playing when I was sixteen lol (I'm 32 now) . . . I cannot really relate to this post personally, but I do lessons and have a few adult students. The common thing they tell themselves is that they feel they are "too old" to start something like this, which is nonsense. It doesn't matter what age you are, if you have a good instructor and he can teach each individual in a way that makes it stick, you are never too old. I do find that the adult students need more "personalized" approaches than the younger ones. Younger ones I can teach all the same way. The adults are a little more challenging for me because every single one I have spoken to was apprehensive about even walking through the door. There's a shell to break there and it can be kind of a challenge sometimes.
 
Maybe another discussion but I once heard part of a conversation between 2 men, around 45 or so. The one was just learning to play drums, the other asked whatever strange delusion would make a grownup man want to hit a set of drums with pieces of wood in his free time.

It probably was said in a joking way but I can imagine the new drummer might be asking himself the question when he is having a bad day.
 
When people bandy around this phrase "adult learner" I'm often puzzled by the fact that these 'adults' are so often influenced by external forces about what they're doing. If a friend should ask why you want to do this or that at your age, and they give up because of it, that tells me that you're not really an adult because you're being influenced by other people who probably don't have their s*%t together, either.

So when adults come to me, I'm interested in seeing where they mentally are. They shouldn't be phased by anyone questioning what they want to do, because only kids have a problem with peer pressure, don't they? I'm encouraging and love it when I meet people who are picking up an instrument for the first time, but they should be focused on what they want to do with it, not succumbing to people who may question why they're doing it. I would feel guilty taking your money for lessons if you're really just coming to me for encouragement to continue, so the mental condition is paramount.
 
They shouldn't be phased by anyone questioning what they want to do, because only kids have a problem with peer pressure, don't they?

No. If that were the case, there would be no such thing as bullying in the workplace, for example. Besides, you're not taking into account the fact that a great many adults question themselves, which is a mature thing to do in day-to-day life but can also have a negative impact on them.

I would feel guilty taking your money for lessons if you're really just coming to me for encouragement to continue, so the mental condition is paramount.

Don't you feel that part of your role as a teacher is to engender a positive mental condition in order to enable learning to occur? It's immensely satisfying when you see a student blossom BECAUSE OF YOU, and become a different, more confident person. And then they're much, much easier to teach and they learn far more quickly.
 
Maybe another discussion but I once heard part of a conversation between 2 men, around 45 or so. The one was just learning to play drums, the other asked whatever strange delusion would make a grownup man want to hit a set of drums with pieces of wood in his free time.

It probably was said in a joking way but I can imagine the new drummer might be asking himself the question when he is having a bad day.

The asker of the question would have received a two word answer from me.

The second word would have been "off".
 
I know exactly what you are talking about. I have been playing the drums for a very long time. Always behind the band. I wanted to get out front and make music instead of drumming and supporting the music.
I tried to learn guitar. As soon as I got to the B chord my fingers could not bend in that direction. I got discouraged and quit.
It seemed to me that it would take a long long time to learn guitar. And being an adult I felt I didn't want to wait that long. And practicing was boring.


.

Hi Jim. Its a tough hurdle to get over. The best way to learn a new instrument, at almost any age I think, Is to pick a song you love and would also love to play. Get the chords and sequence from the music or off the web and learn to play that one song.

That way you are not learning to play the guitar you are learning to play music, and a song you love. Its easier to stay motivated if you can hear the progress as you work through the song.

A lot of people get discouraged, especialy when its an instrument new to them and they think "I have all these hundreds of chords to learn before I will be any good." Thats probably true but If you learn one song, that means a lot to you, those same few chords can be used to play dozens of songs, so you are learning what you need.

Then pick another song you like, with different chords, and you then have another few dozen songs you can cover using those same chords. This method just takes away the overwhelming burden we sometimes feel when confronted with all that is involved in a new instrument.

Just use the tools you need to do the job at the time. When you need more complex tools you can then aquire them by the same method. Its the same for all instruments.
 
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Hi Jim. Its a tough hurdle to get over. The best way to learn a new instrument, at almost any age I think, Is to pick a song you love and would also love to play.
Just use the tools you need to do the job at the time. When you need more complex tools you can then aquire them by the same method. Its the same for all instruments.

Great idea. Thank you !

Come to think of it this is how we learned to play when we were young kids in our garage bands.


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Great idea. Thank you !

Come to think of it this is how we learned to play when we were young kids in our garage bands.


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Aye mate,spot on. Its also the method I used to teach my daughter to play guitar. From one song, a couple of years ago, she now plays in a folk band.
 
We are all life-long learners. i learned that from my "extended stint" in college-started in 1973 and finished in 1992. What I "learned" is I have to "master" a subject or task and I can do so on my own with motivation and effort but it sure helps to get assistance from the experts. I didn't count two postdocs-add 4 more years dang.So I may be an idiot, but I'm an educated idiot. LOL.
Motivation, discipline, and persistence is what it takes. From what I've seen the masters are really disciplined practicing daily to master their instrument, and musicians have to be motivated and persistent to ever make a career of it.
 
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