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Teacher
Feature
Why Drums?
There is a whole world of music to discover. It's been around for 10, 000 years or more as part of the human experience but it’s just about possible you may not have tuned in yet. Then again it's never too late.
Aborigine, Egyptian, Zulu, Inuit, Shang, Aztec, Ashanti, Mongol, Navajo - tribes and nations of the world evolved making magic, medicine, love and war - worshipping to the pulse of drums.
The animal-skinned instrument, beaten by hands, sticks and beaters developed in modern times to a collection of drums and cymbals – a drum kit – to be played at once by the multiple limbs of a single player. The sound of this collective instrument formed the backbeat of adventures in rhythm like Jazz and Latin music and then became the irresistible force at the source of the storming tidal wave that was rock and roll, the music that transformed the modern world.
And that is where drums now reside. At the core of modern culture. The pioneers are legendary – Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Ringo Starr, John Bonham, Keith Moon, Ginger Baker, Carl Palmer, Carlton Barrett, Stewart Copeland – these heroes of mine [every drummer chooses his own] spoke a unique language, instantly recognisable and irreplaceable in their band’s sound. And therein lies a challenge to drummers of the future – to find a sound of their own.
In this regard drummers have a huge advantage over other musicians. Playing drums, more than any other instrument, enables uniqueness. Every drummer sets his drum kit up in his own way, and every drummer inevitably plays within the bounds of his own four limbs and his psyche; so, no two drummers can possibly be exactly alike and when you play the drums, they become an extension of, and an expression of you. Drums beat out your being. They inspire and sooth. To share this feeling – to give others the opportunity to find it - is the greatest feeling in the world.
Eric Clapton said something like “It isn’t what you get from music that counts – it’s what you give.” So, go learn, teach, share drums. There is a whole world waiting.
David E. Wilson
Feature Teacher
David E. Wilson
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Drums Teacher, Blackburn, Lancs UK
