I got out of the car about 7:30 last night and heard someone playing his drum set.

Oh… we live in a condo, by the way.

It didn’t bother my wife and me because we live on the other end of the building so we didn’t really hear it unless we were actually listening for it, but I do remember feeling very sorry and angry for their upstairs neighbor (so I guess it did bother me).

While this drummer is actually pretty decent, he’s giving drummers a bad name. Many people think that the drums are cool and that drummers themselves are cool, but only during a performance or conversation. Any other time, people find us annoying. We drum on everything: shopping carts, the desk, the table, our laps… And then there’s practicing: the tick-tick-tick on the drum pad, the loud sound of the drums… it’s rare that I can drum on my drum pad at home without my wife asking if I’m going to stop soon.

We are annoying musicians to most. And the guy playing a drum set in a multi-dwelling building is a rude contributor to that. But, he’s also one of the inspirations behind this post.

There is no reason why he needs to drum on his kit, really. Yes, playing on your instrument of choice will help you to become more familiar with how that instrument feels, how to handle it, how to manipulate it, etc. But the drums are unique in that all you really need is a pair of sticks (and sometimes not even that). You pretty much need a saxophone to learn how to play the saxophone. Same with a violin, cello, trombone, etc. But drummers can learn how to play the drums with nothing but a pair of sticks and a surface to play on.

The other inspiration behind this post is a particular group of high school kids that just don’t understand this concept.

Back in February, at one of my high schools, several of the students got very, very disappointed when I told them we wouldn’t be using drums for at least two months. A deep sigh emanated from their breaths and all I could say was, “You don’t need to play on a drum to be a drummer.”

A good drummer should be able to sound good on a drum pad. If you sound good on a drum pad, chances are you’ll sound pretty decent on a drum. If you sound horrible on a drum pad, you are most definitely going to sound ten times worse on a drum. Everything becomes amplified: all the mistakes, the bad attacks, the lack of control… the rule of thumb is if you can’t play it well on a pad, it will sound worse on a drum.

In the end, if a drummer really loves the act of drumming, it shouldn’t matter if they’re playing on a drum or a tin can. The physical act of drumming should be fun, no matter the playing surface. Indeed, playing on a drum is fun, and it’s certainly educational, but time has taught me that a pair of sticks and a surface that can tolerate a beating is also just as fun if I’m playing well.

Plus, I can play in my condo without bugging the neighbors.