As well as being a fun instrument to play, there are many benefits we see when children learn to play the drums. In this post we’ll take you through a few of our favourite benefits to playing the drums.
1. Playing the drums is fun!
We might be biased but we do really think that the drums are the most fun instrument to play in the world! We are the timekeepers of the band, the drum beat is what makes people dance to music.
Learning to play drums allows us to build new skills and recognise progress. As your child progresses in their drumming journey they will learn new grooves and fills which can be fun to play, they can also learn to play along to their favourite songs!
2. Learning drums builds confidence
Learning a new musical instrument with a supportive teacher can help children to build confidence. As skills progress on the kit we see children build in confidence every single week.
There is no one set route to learning to play, but a tutor who will help your child recognise their progress on the drum kit will help to build confidence both in lessons and (more importantly!) outside of lessons.
For some children working towards graded exams is a great way to measure progress and the certificate at the end is a reminder of their hard work on the kit.
For other children just keeping a record of progress shows how far their skills have progressed and allows them to feel proud of their achievements on the instrument!
Being able to measure and recognise progress in any skill is the key to building confidence and drum lessons are the perfect environment to nurture this progress.
3. Drumming allows children to build friendships
Learning to play drums gives your child opportunities to make friends outside of school. From the other children you meet at lessons to children they may meet when playing in bands, there are plenty of opportunities to meet new people who also love music.
As your child develops their drumming ability they may want to join a band. There are many opportunities to do this, from joining a school or community brass band to starting a band with other children who enjoy similar music.
Whichever route your child chooses, playing music with other people is a great environment to meet new friends who have similar hobbies and this is something that will allow them to continue building new friendships even as they progress into adulthood!
4. Playing a musical instrument can be a fun hobby for life
Everybody needs a hobby and drumming can be a fantastic hobby for life.
As your child gets older and progresses at the drums, they may want to join a band or start recording their own music, or maybe they’ll enjoy playing along to their favourite songs!
The truth is, there’s always something new to learn on the drums, so it’s a great hobby that your child can keep coming back to for many years to come.
5. Playing drums can build creativity
Music is a creative field and drums are a huge part of that. In drum lessons we not only learn to play beats and fills we recognise from the songs we listen to, but we also practice creativity.
This could range from a short improvised solo to playing along to our favourite songs and re-writing the drum parts to come up with new ideas.
Whichever path your child’s lesson follows, playing drums is a great way to learn and express creativity.
6. Learning a musical instrument can build academic skills
Studies have also shown that learning a musical instrument can help children to develop academic skills.
A 2018 study with the catchy title ‘Longitudinal Analysis of Music Education on Executive Functions in Primary School Children’ assessed the academic skills of 147 children who started to have music instrument lessons.
The study found that learning to play a musical instrument helped children to boost academic performance including short-term memory, planning and language-based reasoning.
Whilst there are many benefits to learning to play drums, our favourite ones are that it’s fun and we can see the confidence of or students grow as they learn new skills!
If you’d like to chat about lessons for your child at our Manchester studio or if you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.