It is great to hear that your son has expressed interest in learning the drums, age is really subjective. There are children who started as young as 2 years old, do a search on youtube and you can see plenty of videos of young kids playing the drums! The most important factor is interest, if your son has that interest, build on it! Have fun!

You could check out your neighbourhood music school and see if the drum instructors are receptive to teaching toddlers. Some drum instructors are comfortable teaching children and some are not, so a little asking around will help.

Some tips for you:

1) Check the equipments to see if your son can sit comfortably and that he can reach most of the toms, cymbals and foot pedal. Some music school have those “kids drum” which are smaller in size and more suited to children. Your son has to feel really comfortable with the equipments.

2) Speak with the teacher, most drum instructors are friendly and will share with you things to take note of and what to expect in class as well as what is their approach towards teaching children. You could really find out alot about the drum instructor’s attitude towards teaching children in a short conversation.

3) Prepare protective gears, drums are loud instruments and you are responsible for your child hearing, which means that ear plugs are very important! get a good decent ear plug from the local music store. Ask the store assistant to show you the proper way to wear the ear plugs. Once you know how to wear them, then you can help your son wear the ear plugs.

Loud noise can cause tinnitus or hearing loss and there isn’t any known cure for tinnitius. So start your son on the right path, get good hearing protection.

4) Be encouraging, your child at 4 years old will have limitations doing certain lessons or exercises, either cognitively or physically. I cannot emphasize more about the importance of patience, encouragement and praise!

5) Have fun! Children learn best when they are having fun! So create the “fun” element and environment, and your child will probably learn one of the most interesting skill that will benefit him when he grows up!

God Bless!

Cheerios!

My son is 4 years old this year and he expressed interest in learning drums. He has no prior music knowledge except songs we sing in church and school. I am not sure if this is the right age to send him for such lessons and would appreciate some advise from the pros…

We don’t expect or have high and big demands on his drumming but its more of nurturing an interest he has.

I would appreciate any advise from you. Thank you and God bless.