Help with my son's drumming

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Nefarious

Junior Member
Hi guys, this is my first post as a member although I have been lurking for some time. Great site! I am in need of opinions on which direction to take my son's drum lessons. He is 9 years old and is quite good. He has had a news feature done on him that was shown nationally here in Canada and has his drumming (Hail To The King cover) shown on the big screen at every game for our CHL hockey team.

That being said, we have hit a stale spot with regards to teaching. He currently has only 30 mins a week with an instructor who is great but it doesn't feel like enough. He jams for about 30 mins a day but I know there are fundamentals that he should be practicing. Should I be looking at online sites like Vemeo or are there other/better options? I am a novice guitar player and can't help him musically. He is able to read music and is a good student but I feel like we are spinning our wheels as of late. Thoughts?
 
Nefarious said:
Hi guys, this is my first post as a member although I have been lurking for some time. Great site! I am in need of opinions on which direction to take my son's drum lessons. He is 9 years old and is quite good. He has had a news feature done on him that was shown nationally here in Canada and has his drumming (Hail To The King cover) shown on the big screen at every game for our CHL hockey team.

That being said, we have hit a stale spot with regards to teaching. He currently has only 30 mins a week with an instructor who is great but it doesn't feel like enough. He jams for about 30 mins a day but I know there are fundamentals that he should be practicing. Should I be looking at online sites like Vemeo or are there other/better options? I am a novice guitar player and can't help him musically. He is able to read music and is a good student but I feel like we are spinning our wheels as of late. Thoughts?
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I think a lot of fathers here on the site would be proud to have a son like yours, and a lot of drummers would be happy to have the level of parental support you are extending to your son. Good work.

The instructor may be great, but if your son is only "jamming" 30 minutes a day, what is he getting for homework from the instructor to study and practice? Seems to me there ought to be some take-home. Otherwise, he's only spending 30 minutes a week getting better. Check to see if there is in fact homework. If there is, hold your son to doing it. If there isn't, I would suggest talking with the instructor.

If your son is at a pretty solid level of playing stuff that's in his comfort zone, now would be the time to introduce him to different genres of music. Can he do jazz, Latin, or blues? Does he have different time signatures and feels under his belt? Dynamics? While he's still forming his style, this would be when exposing him to those concepts will make him a great musical drummer in his late teens and twenties.

Other than that, make sure he preserves his love of music. If it becomes too much of a chore he will start turning it off and gravitating towards other things. Best of luck!
 
Minimum:
1 hour per day rudiments and lessons.
30 minutes per day jamming.

.
 
I'm with Jim, though I understand that the reality of the situation will be 30m/30m

For me, the important thing was doing rudiments before jamming. Not only was it a good warmup, but it gave me a chance to apply the regiment that I was working on. Puzzle pieces without a puzzle to apply them to are dull.

Other tips:

Keep a pillow-pad and sticks in the car for long (or short) rides. If they're there, he'll use them.

Play guitar and make music with him from time to time. Keep him used to playing with other people so he doesn't become a bedroom musician. Even for a novice, G/C/D/A/E goes a long way on guitar.
 
Pick him up a book called "Stick Control" by George Lawerence Stone. Its about 10 bucks. One of the best books ever written to keep your hands moving, do your rudiments and get a great work out while building coordination and speed.
 
I have a 10 year and we tooklessons from when he was 5 until 8 and he is killer on the kit. Personally, I think if your son is taking a lesson and playing 30 minutes a day I would leave well enough alone.

My son burned out and quit for almost a year but has now started and I blame part of it on my inner need to push him a little more no matter how well he is doing.

Ask any drum teacher about teaching kids and the rule is to keep it fun. No expert but I think this is serious because you dont want to ruin it for him.

From my experience, I would get him to play with others as much as possible. If he is really that good and working as hard as he is and as interested as you say he is then playing with real people is probably the best thing he could do for his musical ability beyond more lessons.

90 minutes of structured lessons a day in anything is too much for any 9 year old IMO. Dont let him miss his childhood! Does the kid have a bike?

This is your son so you know his level of interest- not trying to be nasty about this and maybe he all he wants to do is play- if so then ignore what I am saying but keep it fun. You could always ask him too.
 
Toolate said:
I have a 10 year and we tooklessons from when he was 5 until 8 and he is killer on the kit. Personally, I think if your son is taking a lesson and playing 30 minutes a day I would leave well enough alone.

My son burned out and quit for almost a year but has now started and I blame part of it on my inner need to push him a little more no matter how well he is doing.

Ask any drum teacher about teaching kids and the rule is to keep it fun. No expert but I think this is serious because you dont want to ruin it for him.

From my experience, I would get him to play with others as much as possible. If he is really that good and working as hard as he is and as interested as you say he is then playing with real people is probably the best thing he could do for his musical ability beyond more lessons.

90 minutes of structured lessons a day in anything is too much for any 9 year old IMO. Dont let him miss his childhood! Does the kid have a bike?

This is your son so you know his level of interest- not trying to be nasty about this and maybe he all he wants to do is play- if so then ignore what I am saying but keep it fun. You could always ask him too.
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No, you are right on the money Tool. My son is involved in hockey and is a good student so there is zero chance of 90 mins a day. Thanks for the advice and I shall endeavor to keep it fun for him.

Can anyone comment on the Drumeo online lessons? Are they worth it? Anyway, I really appreaciate the advice from everyone. If anyone is interested in checking out my little dude we have a Youtube channel under Rowan Rocks. I'm open to any tips/criticism you guys have as I am not able to help him musically that much. Thanks again!
 
Drum line? Perhaps the competetive nature and being surrounded by a purely drum culture. The technique, discipline, and hand speed that drum line fosters is excellent training.
 
Nefarious said:
Can anyone comment on the Drumeo online lessons? Are they worth it? Anyway, I really appreaciate the advice from everyone.
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We're at a point where most of the online lessons are fine on a technical level. I'm not going to say that they all teach exactly the same thing, but there is a fair amount of consensus on the fundamentals of playing/learning. The key is to find an online instructor that your son can relate to and is entertained by. For a teen, it may be drumeo.com. For an older adult, it may be mydrumlife.com. They all crank out enough free stuff so that you can try before you buy.

For me, it was a matter of finding a good local instructor, and using the internet's free resources to supplement my instructors lessons. A live/local instructor is there to provide realtime feedback and stop bad habits before they set in.
 
Unless he wants to be a professional I would not try to hold him to a particular practice time and certainly not 90 minutes a day. During school week there simply is not 90 minutes a day unless he foregoes all other fun things. Which personally I think is a bad idea.

I do agree though that there needs to be structure to whatever he can and decides to do. Rudiments are critical. Fun is also critical so jamming with him occasionally is good too. For someone that young I recommend a live teacher that can keep an eye on his technique to make sure he does not develop habits that can hurt his growing muscles and joints.
 
If you really want him to become great at it....forbid it lol.
 
The best advice I can give you is to let him get on with it, and let him just enjoy it.

Never forget, he is a child and children try lots of things before they decide to stick with it or not.

As long as the drumming is "His" he will enjoy, and might just stick with it. Once it becomes something you are pushing him to do then its over.
 
mikel said:
The best advice I can give you is to let him get on with it, and let him just enjoy it.

Never forget, he is a child and children try lots of things before they decide to stick with it or not.

As long as the drumming is "His" he will enjoy, and might just stick with it. Once it becomes something you are pushing him to do then its over.
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I agree. It's a delicate balance between fostering a love of it and getting him to challenge himself. This can be applied to many other aspects of life as well.
 
Nefarious said:
I agree. It's a delicate balance between fostering a love of it and getting him to challenge himself. This can be applied to many other aspects of life as well.
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He is 9 years old he does not need to be challenging himself yet, childhood is a time to enjoy yourself without pressures, they get enough of that at school.

As I say let him enjoy himself and dont make it a super structured activity. If he keeps it up and wants to take it further he can eventually decide how seriously he wants to take it.
 
yeah. just let him enjoy it. it's HIS thing. Don't let yourself turn into a "sports dad".
 
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