So, your preschooler wants to be a drummer!

Editor’s note: this is a follow up on a previous post entitled Are Children Starting to Drum at A Younger Age?

I have been contacted by several parents who have asked me what I feel would be the best way for them to support their young child’s desire to drum. These parents were speaking of toddlers to 6 years of age, and the children have already shown a clear and strong like for rhythm making and drumming.
Some of the ways to recognize this in a child are that the child…

• enjoys tapping and banging on things
• enjoys moving to music
• appears to be mesmerized whenever they watch a drummer in person or on TV
• can’t stop talking about drumming
• can’t stop talking about drumming!!!

Below are my thoughts, suggestions, and tips for parents who have found themselves wanting to help their child with drumming.

First off, find the help of a good teacher.
This will be the subject of a future blog post as it is obviously an important topic. But for now, the ideas below are a few that you can follow before you even find a teacher.

Buy some drum sticks.
Start there. I suggest a light to medium weight stick, like 5A. Encourage your child to play on a bed or carpeted floor with the sticks. Make it clear to them that they should not play with too much aggression, but encourage them to hit pillows and other surfaces to experiment with sound. They can hold the drum sticks using a “matched grip”, which is basically the natural way you would grab any stick, and do the same thing in both hands. For a more in depth and complicated description of matched grip, watch what this guy has to say.

Encourage dancing and moving in rhythm.
Like the song says…”Everybody dance now”…put on some music and encourage dancing. Movement and dancing are directly connected to drumming and rhythm making. It will benefit the child when they begin drumming if they develop their sense of rhythm in their physical body. Rhythm moves through us, dancing is a part of it, and it is fun!

Buy a hand drum.
Hand drumming is another easy way to access the joy of drumming. There are many drums made specifically for children. Synthetic drums can be more durable than wooden drums with natural skins. Although I prefer the sound of a wooden drum, I like this synthetic drum for use with young children. Another  product combines the concept of  drumming and modular Lego style building, check it out here.

Put on some music and encourage your child to drum along.
This is an effective way to help develop a sense of rhythm and develop the skill of keeping a steady beat. Yet another fun way to enjoy listening to music. And be creative, choose music that you like to listen to also.

Video games and drumming…
Personally, I am in favor of video games that incorporate a play along aspect as part of the game. Guitar Hero, and Rockband have exposed many children to music making and I have had many students who were inspired to study a “real instrument” after they tried these video games. I encourage you to unplug the video game, and let your child experiment with playing the plastic instrument on their own and improvising without the game. These games have a “stand alone” or “jam” mode, in which the instrument can still be played and heard, but the game is deactivated. The goal here is to have the child be able to play on their own and not be co-dependent on the video game in order to create.

Positive Reinforcement
By supporting your child’s musical interest and desire to drum, you are giving them the gift and blessing to follow their call to create and explore their own unique path to rhythm. Good luck!

Feel free to email me or find me on Twitter @pathtorhythm