First steps

So - how to take those first steps ?

Step 1 was to sow the seeds of the idea with Mrs DrummingDad : after all I can't exactly just clear out a room one day and move a drum kit in. After an expected "Don't be stupid!" I eventually convinced her that with silencer pads on a drum kit would be fine in the spare room (which currently houses my guitars, PC, rowing machine and a futon. The latter item, I suggested, is rarely used and takes up about the same floor-space as a lovely shiny drum kit. I think she felt that arguing was a waste of time and so the matter was sealed : I had spousal permission !

Step 2 was to find a teacher : a quick search on the Mike Dolbear website (yes, that place again - I honestly will say more about it soon) revealed that just one local teacher was registered on their website so I investigated his website (all very impressive) and emailed to book some lessons : 5 bi-weekly lessons arranged for the New Year :-)

Step 3 was to buy lovely things ! : yay - now for the exciting stuff. I went to a local music shop (which reputedly specialises in drums) and bought a set of sticks and a 'practice pad' with which to practice the absolute basics until my lessons (which seem sooooo far away . . . ;-) )

Hello and Introductions

Hello there good reader, and welcome to my blog (it seems odd writing this - does anyone really read other people's blogs ? . . . ) *ahem* Anyway, 'Hello' . As the title suggests I'm a Dad in his 30s who recently and inexplicably got the bug to play the drums. I've never played the drums before even as a child, and what little musical inclination I did have was always to play the guitar (which over the years I have managed to achieve a proud but below average standard and I play guitar in a covers band).

So as it's just you and I reading this let's be honest with each other : this is my mid-life crisis isn't it ?

When I'm rich and famous from my drumming exploits . . . (are you laughing ? come come now, and after I was so honest with you . . . ) people will want to know why I did it and I will tell them : My toddler made me do it.

It's true : he's always banged on things and from 18months would drag the pots and pans from the cupboard and arrange them in a semi-circle around him then set about them with a wooden spoon and a cake spatula (please note that neither were made from tuned and hand-matched hickory but he seemed to get on just fine) and this led to us buying him a toy drum kit for his second Birthday. He quickly battered it to pieces so time came for a more robust 'toy' which resulted in this :

which is a mini-kit put together from real drum kit parts by a very clever chap going by the name of "fiveknucklebullet" on the Mike Dolbear forums (more about this excellent community in a later post)

so the next time I was home alone you can guess what I got up to (actually if your mind is as single-tracked as mine maybe you can't, so I'll tell you:) i played his drums.

and what a revelation. I was grinning from ear to ear. I wanted some. I NEEDED some. And dagnabit I was going to get some !