Drum Lessons with Rowan from Red Drum School

My Top 10 Reasons Learning Drums is Awesome in 2026!

1 It’s FUN!!! 😃

2 It’s EASIER than ever before. Read on…

3 YOU DONT NEED DRUMS AT HOME
You can learn drums All you need to start off with is a pair of drumsticks, ideally a practise pad (not essential but it really helps) and a willingness to spend some time practising what they've learnt in between lessons.

Drumsticks are £12ish, ideal size is Vic Firth 7a for kids or 5a for adults from Absolute Music or Amazon. Practise pads are £20-£35, the best makes are Realfeel, Zildjian, Billy Hyde and Pearl. Larger pads can be slightly easier to play for beginners, but generally any size will do. Put it on a cushion on the chair in front of you and drum away!

Of course having a drum kit at home really helps, but "making a drum kit" out of cushions, books, pots and pans etc is really fun and effective. I also teach how to practise many things using just hands and feet, so you can practise any time anywhere!

4 DRUMS CAN BE QUIET FOR YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR NEIGHBOURS
Electric drum kits are great now, so noise is not an issue. Play the song and your drums through the same headphones/speaker and it feels like you are right there playing with the band!

5 DRUMLESS SONGS
It’s now easily possible to remove the drum parts from your favourite songs, so YOU can be the drummer. You can do this for FREE! You can also get lots of drumless songs ready-made on YouTube.

6 DRUM COVERS - INDULGE YOURSELF!
There are now loads of videos now of people playing the drums to popular songs. These are inspirational and give great ideas for how to develop parts of songs. Search “drum covers” on YouTube and get ready to have your mind blown! Sometimes songs with very boring drum parts normally have had their drum parts transformed by these geniuses! Also if you are new to drumming, look for drum covers five children as they nearly always create simpler parts that are easier to play that you could copy. (and don’t be put off by that eight year old who is playing some really difficult sounding drumming – he’s probably been playing for at least five years!)

7 YOUR “BILLIONAIRE” MUSIC COLLECTION!
You now have easy access to more songs than ever! Youtube/Apple Music and Spotify let you access millions of songs and offer recommendations and playlists. The more you listen to music you enjoy, the better a drummer you’ll be. Now it’s much easier and better than ever before.

You can also easily slow them down to make them easier to play to by just pressing a couple of buttons on YouTube. This means songs that previously seemed too fast to play two or now within your reach! You can even make a loop for sections you want to play so you don’t have to keep rewinding! (it’s easy to do and takes about 10 seconds to do!)

7 EASY RECORDING & SHARING
Recording your playing or your band is really easy now. Gone are the days of needing special equipment to record and having a nightmare sharing recordings due to large file sizes, now you can easily record and share with just your phone! Many of my pupils enjoy making a video of them playing and sharing it with friends and family.

8 MORE FUN PLAYING, NO REWINDING!
Apps have changed the game when it comes to learning songs. They let you slow songs down to whatever speed you want, loop sections and save the loops for future practise and even easily change the pitch of your favourite songs so they sound like they are being played by the devil or chipmunks! This means it’s much easier and more fun to learn songs. It also means you can take on harder, more challenging songs.

9 MENTAL HEALTH KICK!
For numerous reasons drumming is great for your mental health:
- It builds confidence
- Connecting with the music/other musicians feels amazing!
- It gives you something great to think about in contrast to the endless stream of depressing news we seem to be getting at the moment!
- When you realise that you can actually enjoy effectively practising any time anywhere with just a pair of drumsticks or just your hands and feet, you realise you’ll never be bored again!

10 THE PURE PRIMAL JOY!
The silverback gorilla beats his chest, we are really not that different! There is just something really enjoyable about picking up a pair of sticks and hitting things! Whether it’s cushions, pots and pans, a rubber practise pad or a drum kit, you get a huge physical reward from the physical motions of drumming. I recently asked drummers in a Facebook group what they love most about drumming and lots of the responses were about how much fun it is to simply hit things with their sticks! This is the case right from the start. I’ve noticed a couple of people who play many different instruments say Drums is their favourite - often this is why! As you advance, you enjoy the physical feeling of all sorts of things that you learn to play. Even the world-class players I’ve learned from enjoy spending many hours building up their skills on a rubber practice pad. It’s just fun!

Please note: I save my time for my pupils, so if you are not one of my pupils, unfortunately I won’t have time to explain exactly how to do any of the things above. If you are one of my pupils, or are on one of my waiting lists, just ask and I’ll let you know!

I hope this has been useful to you. Happy drumming!😃🥁

Tx or whatsapp me if you’re interested in lessons.

Spaces subject to availability. All ages and abilities taught since 1999. Lessons are tailored to YOU.

Rowan 07888745420

I hope you have a great bank holiday weekend!☀️🙂

I just saw this on Instagram, thought you might enjoy it! Rowan

@tobines crossing way over the line with this one 😲​ Z Customs sounding tight with this level of finesse 🔥

Are you interested in how rhythm can help your child develop? I found this fascinating! Rowan

Your child’s first reading lesson doesn’t start with books. It starts with rhythm. Preschoolers who can clap to a beat often learn to read more easily. Because rhythm isn’t just music. It’s the brain’s first language. It’s how sound becomes story, and story becomes understanding. ➡️ Before children learn letters, they learn patterns. Every lullaby, rhyme, and nursery song teaches syllables, pauses, and tone. Language is rhythm, and kids who can keep a beat can better hear the sounds inside words. That’s what helps them connect sound to symbol, speech to print. ➡️ Neuroscience shows music and language share the same brain circuits. Beat, pitch, and stress are processed in the same networks that decode speech. So when your child claps, chants, or drums along, they’re not “just playing.” They’re wiring the brain systems that make reading possible. ➡️ Rhythm does more than build literacy. It strengthens focus, memory, and attention. It trains the brain to listen, to sound, to stories, to people. Each beat builds the foundation for learning and connection. ➡️ Forget the flashcards. Sing nursery rhymes. Clap together. March around the living room. Reading doesn’t begin on the page, it begins in the body. Studies show these rhythmic skills predict literacy and focus later in life. 🔹 Tierney & Kraus (2013) found that the ability to move to a beat predicted early reading readiness. 🔹 Harvard’s Dana Foundation reported that rhythm sense in toddlers predicts stronger reading ability. 🔹 MIT studies showed rhythm games improved reading scores more than phonics drills. 🔹 Northwestern research linked beat perception to better speech processing and attention. When a child moves with music, they’re not just learning rhythm. They’re learning how to move through language. Follow @readysetparent for more research-backed parenting insights.

Enjoy this, it’s my favourite compilation of drum covers! It’s my 🥳 birthday today, so I wanted to give you something special. Rowan

Power Forth 1.8K likes, 63 comments. "Incredible Drummers"

Imagine playing to an audience this huge!!! 🤘🔥(up to 1.6 million apparently!) Enjoy. Rowan

Metallica - Live in Moscow 1991 [Full Concert] | Remastered 4K 60FPS Metallica live in Moscow, Russia on September 28, 1991. Remastered in 4K 60FPS using artificial intelligence.-Send your video requests on Upwork: https://bit...

Happy Easter!!!🙂Here’s my favourite drumming video. Enjoy, Rowan

Meinl Cymbals - Aric Improta - "Blur-Lights in the Videodrome" "Blur-Lights in the Videodrome" by Meinl Cymbals artist Aric Improta On July 01, 2017, Meinl Cymbals hosted our Meinl Drum Festival at our HQ in Gutenstetten...

 That’s the way to do it!😂 Rowan

Los Angeles is full of surprises! This time, rapper Anderson .Paak was spotted zooming through a neighborhood on a wheeled drum kit while also expertly playing on it. 🥁🏎️