No matter how old your child is, if you tell him you want to take beginner drum lessons, there are two simple tests you should take before spending hundreds of dollars on a drum kit for him. A test is for you. The other is for your aspiring drummer. If your child doesn’t have some innate rhythm, he’ll get very frustrated with beginner drum lessons and may give up music altogether. Rather, just a little bit of rhythm will get them started on what could become a lifelong hobby, or even a career.

So let’s see how you, as a parent, do on your test before we even talk about the child’s test. First step for you: Get in your car, turn on the radio, tune in to your local rock music station, crank the bass up and turn up the volume until the car starts to vibrate. If this doesn’t bother you, you’ll be a good drummer dad. If this bothers you, there is another option you have to not go crazy and that is to buy a portable sound booth. If that’s not an option, you need to steer your child away from beginner drum lessons or they’ll be arguing about when he can practice, where he can practice, and their nerves will be on edge.

If you passed Step One, let’s move on to Step Two: Please answer this question truthfully. Do you have enough space in your home to accommodate drums, a guitar amp, a bass amp, and at least three people?

If you said “yes” to Step Two, let’s move on to Step Three. Would you be willing to have a band come to your house to practice every week? Would you be willing to have a band practice at your house several times a week? If you have a child who is only 8 or 9 years old, you may not think this would be a big deal. But remember, if your son sticks with the drum lessons, he’ll be 14, then 15, and the band members will also be teenagers. Band rehearsal is always at the drummer’s house because the drums are too cumbersome to transport. The guitarist and bassist only have their guitars, amps, and maybe a couple of pedals. (That’s why we cover Steps two and three.)

Did you pass step three? Let’s move on to the last step, the Fourth Step. Is your home one of those homes where all the kids help themselves to soda from the fridge or snacks from the cupboard, or do you expect your kids’ friends to wait for a soda? This isn’t like baseball where moms take turns bringing snacks. The other moms in the gang don’t even know that their kids are helping themselves at your house. But chances are your child is telling others that he’s okay.

If you’re still on board then you’re the one Perfect the drummer’s mom or dad.

Now let’s see if Junior has the basic rhythm needed to get started with the beginner drum lessons. the drums are the hardest instrument to learn. Unlike the guitar, keyboard, or wind instrument, drumming requires the ability to do something different simultaneously with each hand. Y each foot. This is what makes beginner drum lessons incredibly frustrating for some kids.

Remember when we were kids trying to rub our heads with one hand and pat our stomachs with the other? This is how you will assess your child to see if beginner drum lessons are worth exploring. Have your child sit in a chair with his feet on the floor and rub his head with his left hand and pat his stomach with his right hand. As he does so, he counts out loud, “1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4” at varying rates and ask him to tap odd numbers with his left foot and even numbers with his right foot. . Halfway through, have him switch feet to touch the left one on “1 – 2” and the right one on “3-4”. Then, while he continues to tap his feet, ask him to switch hands so that his left hand pats his stomach and his right hand rubs his head without skipping a beat. Finally, he switches his feet back to the left touching the odd numbers and to the right touching the even numbers. Y change your hand movements so that the left hand is now rubbing your stomach and the right hand is now patting your head.

How did it go? If this was too difficult, skip the beginner drum lessons and suggest he play bass or keyboards instead. If she laughed at how easy this was, head straight to the music store and get yourself a beginner drum kit and sign her up for those beginner drum lessons.