Re: How long could it take to be a good drummer-about three years minimum.
Man every single one of those responses above is total BS. Some bozo writes in 48 years. What good is it to tell any young person that? "Depends on what you mean by 'good'" what a load of cr@p. Any musician I've ever played with will tell you exactly how good every single drummer he's ever known is. Drumming is a critical slot in any band and it needs to be good, really good. Any drummer that isn't "good" will suffer major abuse from his band mates.
The answer is it should take a few years, maybe 3 years minimum. Below I have listed some drummers and their ages. Many of them were star drummers before they were 20 years old. Much of the drumming that shook the world was done by drummers in their early 20s. You should be a great drummer by the time you are in high school and you should be playing in a band and gigging and getting paid for it by the time you're 18. The younger you are the less good drummers there are at your age and thus the less competition there is. Any rock career chances are over by the time you're 28 and you're starting to go bald.
Less important than thinking you are "good" or even "good enough" is that you get on stage and play. No matter what you think your level is, get in one or more bands and set your goals on hitting the stage. No one should be "good" when he joins a band and hits the stage, he should be on stage way before that. That's how you "get" "good."
I knew a guy in my elementary school band that could play the drum set just fine in 4th grade. He could play along with the band and he sounded great.
I know a two-time Grammy award winning drummer that was playing in night clubs since he was 10 years old. By the time I knew him in high school he was a pro. Surprise! He went on to become a successful drummer.
Buddy Rich-Playing vaudeville at 18 months old, bandleader at 11 years old, recording and a star performing with Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra at 21.
Keith Thibodeaux (Little Ricky from I Love Lucy)-$500 a week at the age of 3, touring with the Horace Heidt Orchestra
?uestLove-drumming on stage at shows by the age of seven, and by 13, had become a musical director.
Gene Krupa(Benny Goodman Orchestra)-Playing professional when he was 16, playing in a house band and touring when he was 18, a superstar at 25. Benny Goodman says it wasn't until sometime *after* Krupa was with him that "he started playing pretty good drums."
John Bonham (Led Zepplin)-got a snare drum at 10, playing around town at 16, a superstar at 20.
Louie Bellson-At age 17, he triumphed over 40,000 drummers to win the Slingerland National Gene Krupa contest. Here's a photo with Louie to our left of Gene and my former drum teacher Joe Raynor to our right of Gene.
http://www.drummerman.net/contest.jpg
Ringo (The Beatles)-First started with music at 11 and was sick for much of his young life, but by age 17 he was playing with a band and at 19 joined famous band "Rory Storm and the Hurricanes," at 20 he was professionally drumming nightly in Germany, by 24 he was a worldwide phenomenon.
Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac)-He doesn't imagine that he was very good at 17 when a neighbor heard him practicing in his sister's garage in London and recruited him and started his career.
Dave Grohl (Nirvana)-At 17 he lied saying he was 20 and started touring and recording. At 21 he became a superstar with Nirvana.
Danny Seraphine (Chicago)-started when he was 15 and by 21 he was immortalized on Chicago's first album.
Carmen Appice (Vanilla Fudge)-a superstar at 21.
Greg Bissonette-Got a college degree and started recording at 26.
Ginger Baker (Cream)-A star with the supergroup at 27
Hal Blaine (Wall of Sound) - Played on a #1 record at age 32-an apparent late bloomer that went on to have a stellar career.