We drummers often get mocked as the “gorillas” of the music industry. We’re expected to turn up, hit things in time and go home and get ZERO credit for it! Being a drummer, aside from being AWESOME, has some incredible benefits for the mind and body that no one really talks about, so here’s 9 of them…
- Managing Stress
We’ve probably all been there at one point, that one co-worker or friend who knows exactly the right way to push your buttons and rile you up to the point of near explosion! You get so riled in fact that you walk right over to them, grab them by the scruff of their neck, look deep into their soul with a scowl that would melt the sun and scream “SEE YOU?! GET TO F…”. That’s what your mind’s eye envisions, at least. As much as we’d like to, it’s not always professional to smash another person’s head off the table multiple times. Drums are about the only head you can strike more than once and not cause harm, which is why they’re a fantastic stress reliever! They’re the perfect outlet device for letting out the days frustrations or inconveniences, meaning you can go about your day in a calm, collected manor. You might have a few broken drum sticks, though…
- You’re The Most Intelligent Member Of The Band, Probably…
It’s been scientifically proven that a drummer’s brain is programmed slightly differently to other musicians in the band. When you think about it, that makes total sense. We have to focus on moving four limbs simultaneously in either syncopated or alternating repetitive motions for long periods of time, setting and staying at the tempo of the song, set up the most equipment and all of this while your bass player is trying to figure out why your band mates guitars have six strings and his has four. We have to spin several plates at once, knowing that if we drop one it could potentially be game-breaking. Only beings of a higher intelligence could do all that effectively. You’re welcome, singers!
- ALL ABOUT THE GAIN-TRAIN!
Okay, so you might not end up with 24-inch pythons like Hulk Hogan playing the drums (except for our Dave) but drumming can be a fantastic workout for you! On average you could burn up to 600 calories in an hour of intensive drumming. To put that in perspective, that’s the equivalent of the average Sunday Roast…or two Krispy Kreme donuts. Times that by four for a wedding gig and that’s almost a full days worth of calories you burn! Of course there’s plenty of variables, I mean sometimes wedding buffets are TOO DAMN GOOD but you get the idea. Shed some pounds by smacking some drums, BROTHER!!
- YOU GET ALL THE DUDES/CHICKS…
…yeah, that’s not true at all.
- Hand-Eye Coordination
As mentioned in the intelligence section, we have to be able to coordinate a lot of different limbs with contrasting rhythms at one time. In order to do that our hand-eye coordination needs to be pretty high to do this effectively and make it look/feel effortless. I guess you could argue that drumming makes you a better driver! Think about it, you’re still moving four limbs in order to make the car move, right? I don’t know, there’s got to be some relation somewhere on the Internet. Either way, your coordination from playing drums will be ON-POINT!
- Mental Health
“Depression” & “Musician” go together as frequently as milk with cereal, but the drums provide an excellent outlet to shift focus and work towards a goal while subconsciously allowing your mind to recalibrate. It doesn’t matter if you’re working out the most complex polyrhythm or even nailing your double stroke roll, it all makes a difference. The best part is the feeling of accomplishment when you finally nail that polyrhythm or showcase your sweet doubles round the kit, which in turn makes you feel GREAT! Speaking of feeling great…
- Confident AF
The reality of being a drummer is that unless you’re Michael Schack, you’re probably going to have to perform with other musicians, which in turn will result in you playing in front of HUNDREDS of people. It can be hard to get that confidence at first, but drums are a great outlet for you to showcase everything you’ve been learning to your friends, family and everyone else which you’ll only grow from! Playing live really brings out your inner confidence and only gets
- Social Life, Yo!
Being a drummer might not seem like the most social instrument on paper, but every band needs one of us. Drumming provides a great chance to link up with new people and reunite with old friends! It also opens up other opportunities of performing with lots of different bands. You can really make friends for life with other bands and especially other drummers! Your local drum shop (NUDGE NUDGE, WINK WINK) will hold events regularly for you to meet with other drummers and bear witness to the professionals live!
- It’s A Marathon, Not A Sprint
Learning drums isn’t the same as learning to ride a bike. It isn’t an overnight achievement, nor will you ever stop learning how to master it. It’s an unwinnable game in some respect, you’ll spend months of your life learning one phrasing which notoriously opens up another MILLION ideas from it. It’s really quite incredible the focus, dedication and discipline you learn from playing the drums. That’s what is pretty beautiful about this instrument, it teaches you so many other skills that you can apply to everything else.
So there you have it, drums are pretty amazing. You already knew that though, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this. If I could sneak in another benefit of playing drums to even out this list, it would be this; It allows you to own some pretty special and rare drums! From custom drums made from exotic woods, to limited runs of artist cymbals and gold plated bass drum pedals. Having amazing gear only makes the process of becoming a drummer just that little bit more exciting! Check out our stock and feel the lasting benefits NOW!!