If you have a child who is interested in playing drums, you may be wondering how old they should be before sending them to drum lessons.
The answer to this will differ for everyone, but there are a few things to know about how children respond to drumming lessons depending on their age.
In this guide, we’ll answer how old you should be to start playing drums. We’ll also explain a few key factors about learning the drums at different ages.
You can never be too young to learn how to play the drums. A quick search on the web will give you videos of toddlers absolutely ripping it behind the kit.
However, getting formal lessons for a toddler can be very tricky. They’re not yet in the phase where they can take on a lot of information, and drum teachers often get frustrated by this.
So, it’s best to just let a toddler have fun behind the drum kit without forcing them to learn too much. Some of them are naturally able to play and learn, which is how you get those kids that are already brilliant from young.
Here’s a reasonably suitable age group that can start with drum lessons. The drum lessons should be fun, though, as no young child is going to be interested in going through rudiment drills for 30 minutes every week.
Kids at this age are usually pretty good at learning how to play basic beats and fills. They may even have an interest in various types of music, which you can show them how to play on the drums.
Proper lessons can start here. This is the age group where kids are learning different things in school, and having them in a music program will make them learn how to play the drums a bit more efficiently compared to younger kids.
You can start teaching kids of this age how to read music, and they should be able to pick up all the basics after a while.
This is also the age where they’ll start loving the drums, and that will lead them to practice more. The more passionate they are about playing the instrument, the better they’ll get at it.
Once a child becomes a teenager, they should be able to learn most drum aspects. There are so many teenagers out there that are highly proficient behind the drum kit. They’re big enough to feel comfortable, and they have more than enough mental capacity to get really into it.
It’s never going to be too late to start learning how to play the drums. The beauty of most musical instruments is that you can’t be limited by age. There have been pensioners who start with drum lessons in their retirement.
The only potential limiting factor is if you have body issues that stop you from being able to sit at a drum kit for extended periods.
There’s no definite answer to this question. The truth is, you can never stop learning new things to play on the drums. Even the best drummers in the world are constantly practicing and getting better throughout their whole careers.
If you’re wondering how long it will take to become good enough to play in a band, it will most likely take about a year to learn how to have good rhythm and keep time with other musicians comfortably.
While there is no best age to start the drums, the most optimal age would arguably be anywhere between five and seven years old. A child of this age will develop a passion for the instrument if they like it, and that will make them love drumming lessons.
Younger kids won’t be able to focus for long in drum lessons, so it’s better to let them have fun and experiment with the instrument. If you try teach them too much, they’ll find drum lessons to be tedious, and teachers get frustrated by that.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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