Hi long on average to get to Trinity grade 1 in drumming

[Qu3stion]

Hi. Wondering if we should continue with my son's drumming lessons. He is 11, been playing drums for 18 months, shows little inclination to practise but always says he doesn't want to give up. Not sure it is worth the expense of we're not getting anywhere but I've no handle on how long it should take so if anyone can give me an idea of how long it has taken their child that would be great. Thanks.

Ds1 took his Trinity grade 1 in year 6. He'd been learning for about 2 years during which we had a series of disasters with vanishing drum teachers - he took the exam in the end because the last one who turned up at primary school was good and committed! My advice would be to have a conversation with the teacher about where they think this is going - if necessary take a bit of a break from lessons and come back to it when he's keener. My DS did this - he resumed lessons with a private teacher at the end of year 7 and enjoyed it much more. DS doesn't particularly like preparing for drum exams. He also doesn't really practise that much. He did grade 4 reluctantly just to get into a more advanced ensemble, but I think he plans to do grade 6 and 8. He has been playing in percussion ensembles for about 5 years now, and I think that gave him much more motivation, so you could look into that, too.

What playing does he do other than his lessons? Is he in any bands/ensembles? What sort of music is he playing?

Presumably, it was his own initial interest that started him having lessons; or was it parental pressure that thought it might be 'good' for him?

What does he DO in his lessons, and what is his practice routine?

Does he play any other instruments?

Answer these queries, and I may be able to suggest how he should proceed.

DS 2 is 8 and has been playing kit since October 2014 and passed his G1 with a Merit in February this year. He has one 20 minute lesson a week and practices for 10-15 minutes 3 times a week.

If a child is not prepared to practice then music lessons are pointless. Dd does violin and she does 10 to 15 minutes 4 times a week.

Thanks all. He's certainly not practising enough. We have busy lives around long working days so struggle to keep a routine on this. I think he'd love to join a band/ensemble but I'm not sure how to find out about those. He goes to a teacher who is independent of any music schools. He wants to play the drums - he persisted with telling me he wanted to for about two and a half years before I caved in and organised it, so not down to parental pressure, I was resisting it because of the price of lessons. I think he's just not prepared to put in the effort of practising. I'll try telling him that is the only way he'll progress and see how we get on. But he prefers group activities so I do think some sort of band practice would be great for him.

Thank you for clarifying my queries.

At 11, is he in Secondary school? I would have though most secondary schools would have a jazz band, rock band, and other ensembles.

Practising drums on your own is a rather 'sterile' experience. On the other hand, it is important to know the basic rudiments, and be able to read different time signatures, and play Swing, Shuffle, Rock, March, Ballad, Waltz, Tango, Country, and a few Latin rhythms. Does he play along to CDs?

Control of dynamics and accents is also very important.

What sorts of music does he listen to, and what are his favourites?

Do any of the county junior orchestras /bands need a percussionist/drummer?

My DS used to play with the county windband, which was 45 minutes of playing even if he did't practice his exam pieces. It took him two years before he took his grade one, and everyone in his group got a distinction. He's now in a real life band with teenagers and they "practice" two hours a week, but a suspect a lot of that time involves eating snacks.

He says he doesn't want to do exams anymore, and I'm not really sure why I'm paying £13 for a 20 minute lesson in school, when he's missing much needed English once a week.

Thanks so much for your very helpful answers. Seems to me the answer lies in telling him no practice means no lessons and also in looking for a band type set up for him. Thanks again.