I was fortunate enough to be on Faculty at the Royal Conservatory of Music Community School in Toronto for  20 years. My roles were that of  a private instructor specializing in drums and percussion and as Conductor /Artistic Director of the RCM Percussion Ensembles. In that wonderful time, I had the pleasure of teaching so many interesting students.  Many who went on to have music careers but so many more who when on to just play music for the sake of enjoyment.  Because anyone could come to the community school no matter their age, in a given year I could have a age range of private students from 7 to 70.  Teaching taught me so much about people, and perhaps the biggest lesson I learned was not to judge too quickly (which I did more quickly in my early teaching career).  I learned that talent is such a small factor when it came to achieving success. Hard work always wins. Those with lots of talent are always in danger of  feeling like they don’t need to work hard and they often end up quitting when something does not come easily, which eventually happens.

Now you should understand that drum students are not like other typical music students.  Unlike piano or violin, nobody’s Mom or Dad is out there saying “Now I want you to take drum lessons or else!” , “And you are going to practice 2 hours a day!”  Usually is it the opposite.  Young drum students usually have to beg their parents for lessons and to get them an instrument. Adult drum students often came in saying ” I took piano as a kid and hated it but I have always wanted to play drums!” Young and old alike play drums because of the fun factor ( as well as the “cool” factor). Many people don’t even know drummers can read notes (well at least some like me can).  Over the years I have taken in many a piano student who just wanted to put the fun back in music.  Now I don’t mean to slam learning piano.  I think it is a great instrument and one that everyone should spend some time with.  It can teach you so much that will definitely be valuable. But for many people, it is easy to get caught up in the rigidity of having to perfect those scales, technical studies and pieces as well as get high marks on those exams. It can easily happen that there isn’t much time left to have fun in a practice session. And fun is not a word I would ever use for a piano exam!

Kids falling in love with music are so wonderful to watch.  They improvise with ease. (A great life skill!) They are not thinking about what they are trying to perform but they are falling in love with sound. (It is not unlike the way that very small children fall in love with colour when they finger paint).   They don’t know what a wrong note is, they are just putting sounds together and responding to what they hear. Often if they are under 8 or so, they play with such ease using very relaxed movements (movements that adults spend months or years trying to achieve). They imagine, create and are not scared to do something silly.  It is so much fun!  The challenge of every music teacher is to not let that joy disappear as children progress as players.

These days I teach on a larger scale (still using drums) by helping organizations work together better through my team building programs. However, I also quietly allow them to regain their love of playing music again.  Something that they left behind many years ago because they didn’t like practicing or didn’t do so well on a music exam.  They get to experience a side of themselves they didn’t know they had.  Occasionally, just occasionally  when everything falls into place, the experience can be so powerful that it brings some people to tears, because making music with other people is one of the most joyous things you can do.

Most parents want their kids to take music lessons and there are many good reasons for that.  Supposedly it develops better connections between their right and left brain,  makes them better thinkers, allowing them to get better grades, allowing them to have better career opportunities and so on. All noble goals, but my advice is if you have kids, encourage them to have fun with music. All that other stuff will still happen.  And if you are an adult wishing to play, or you are trying to get better, allow yourself to start with the fun, the rest will come. The fun must be there when you play because if it is not no one will want to listen to you.  And I bet that the journey of progressing on your chosen instruments will have a profound impact on other areas of your life.