Wednesday, April 13, 2011

My Son Wants To Be In A Band.

Hubby left for New York this morning. It's a short trip, but I plan to get some serious stuff done today. Thing Three is sick, which has put a crimp in my plans somewhat--he had a fever and sore throat this weekend, and then on Tuesday he was fine. Well, APPARENTLY at Scouts last night, he was running around in the cold playing Capture the Flag with only a shirt on, and all night last night he was coughing, and this morning, the fever is back. UGH. I'm waiting for a call back from the nurse to see if I should take him in to the Dr. Given his history, I get nervous whenever he sounds like he's getting a chest cold. :-(

My other son, the non-athlete who is highly intelligent and artistic, (who will be twelve next month, AACK!) was invited by one of his schoolmates to be in a band. They are getting together over the weekend to start it. We told Thing Two we didn't mind he was in a band, but we wondered what INSTRUMENT he would be playing, since he is too embarrassed to sing in front of anyone and he only took Trumpet for one year in the fifth grade.

His answer? "Drums, Mom. I will be the drummer." Apparently he plays the drums "really well at school" when they play around, and he wants to try his hand at them in a band. Um, doesn't it take some SKILL or at least LESSONS to play the drums? Also, I've never seen Thing Two play the drums EVER, in his LIFE. Well, maybe on the Wii, but that isn't real playing, is it?

Hmmm, not sure about that one. I guess we'll see. But since our neighborhood has the houses pretty darn close to each other, I doubt having a drum set in the garage would go over very well. IF I was to ever consider letting him have drums...

*sigh* I always told him I'd encourage him in his artistic pursuits...

4 comments:

Michelle Miles said...

Buy the drums! LOL! My son wants some, too. I think it must be the age.

Devon Ellington said...

Hope Thing Three feels better soon.

One doesn't just bang a can to be a drummer. You need an almost preternatural sense of rhythm, and have to be a strong enough leader so that when other band members get offtrack, the drummer guides them back. The drummer is the anchor,lynchpin, and most important member of the band, although usually not the front man.

If he's serious about it, he'll figure it out. If he's got the talent for it, he'll find a way to make it work. If this is just a phase, he'll get over it in six months to a year.

You can get the drum pad with the sticks that's not a full kit. It looks like a small padded podium. They're used in the dressing rooms on B'way all the time, so as not to disturb other performers by those who are in a show, but also in a band when they're not onstage. The drummer can still feel the rhythm and hear the rhythm as he rehearses, but it doesn't disturb anyone around.

Brenda said...

You can buy an electronic drumset with HEADPHONES! My youngest had them when he was younger. He could drum away and we could hear nothing. It's a brilliant idea.

Anonymous said...

Good luck with that.

Hope your thing three feels better.

Janey