I love drumming! Who knew?!

Lots of people have asked me over the months which challenge has been my favourite. Well, I’m not sure I have a single favourite, but I certainly fell in love with drumming, and want to do more of it. I think this might be the one new skill I continue to work on.

The idea of being the drummer in a band has always scared me a bit; the drummer is the foundation on which the entire band’s sound is built. They have to keep a consistent beat going at all costs, and they have to understand dynamics. Many a time I’ve said I just couldn’t do it, but I’ve never really tried.

Will Halsey is the drummer in a friend’s band and at one of her gigs, he suggested challenging me to play drums. As always, I agreed and then booked some time in to go and have a few lessons with him.

A modicum of natural flair

I’m chuffed to say, I took to it straight away. I surprised myself by having a modicum of natural flair; certainly enough to build on. And, most importantly, I really enjoyed it.

Lessons were few and far between because of our crazy schedules, but I learned a few of the basics before we found a song for me to perform in a band scenario. To keep things simple, we decided on a track that most musicians would know and that would be easily performed at a jam night. Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes came out tops. Great song! And I’d already learned it on bass so was familiar with it.

I booked a slot at Wraysbury Open Mic/Jam Night and begged some friendly musicians to add the vocals, guitar and bass. Then it was just a matter of dragging a few folk along to watch and getting on with it. It was sooooo much fun! I can testify that drumming is good therapy.

Real musicians

It only dawned on me half way through the evening that this was the first time I’d played drums with real musicians. Till that point, I’d only been able to practice along with the White Stripes video YouTube. I can testify that there really is nothing better than the real thing…

I even managed to play a basic drum beat on songs with two other band line ups during the evening, which was awesome! Oh, and Will’s review of my performance on Seven Nation Army? “You smashed the sh*t out of that!” Hahahaha! Why, thank you.

As always, I took a collecting tin along with me and told my story before we started the song. When I got home, I totted up £91.02 in the tin, which I’ve added to my JustGiving page.