Drum instructor Larry Bennett shares his experiences teaching girls and women how to play drums. He also provides his top four tips for practicing.

Larry BennettMy approach to teaching drum students is simple. Be the best that you can be and have fun doing it.  While it’s obvious that guys dominate the world of drumming in number, women certainly have an advantage for the simple fact that they are a rare find.  I explain this fact to all my female students and whether or not they understand its significance, the fact still remains.  From a teaching standpoint, I treat all my students basically the same.  The differences will lie in how much knowledge they possess when they arrive at my studio for the first time.  Are they green around the edges or do they already come with skills?  This will dictate where I start them in their studies.  Other than that, what I teach and how I impart my methods are the same for both genders.

If you think for a moment that the girls can’t keep up with guys, you’re wrong!  My teaching career has spanned over 30 years and I can say without hesitation that the girls possess the same skills as the guys.  It’s been a privilege to have worked with so many girls over the years and they most definitely rock with the best of them.  I’ve taught them as early as age 6 and up into the fifties.  Most of my students (guys or girls) are young and a lot are adolescents.  These are my favorite age groups as they all pick up the skills necessary to progress quite easily.  Problems occur on occasion when I’ll be working with an adult who never developed certain skills correctly, such as proper technique.  They take a little more time to “fix” as they are more set in their ways, and as we all know, habits are hard to break.

Getting back to the girls,  I often find that they come with a diligence not often found with the guys.  Their approach to practicing seems a little more regimented and that can only lead to quicker proficiency levels.  To be honest, I’ve never met a female student who hasn’t given her all when it comes to practicing.  Unfortunately, I can’t say that about all the guys I’ve worked with over the years.  Drumming takes a lot of hard work and dedication, and in my opinion, the girls (as few as there are) are a little more disciplined when it comes to honing their skills.  I don’t think this is a result of gender competition as much as it is the way they’re wired.  Regardless of the reasons, I always enjoy working with them.

Music is also a huge confidence builder and I have found that the girls tend to be a little more expressive with their creativity, not to mention shedding their inhibitions, over time.  Case in point would be one of my current students Olivia Davis.  I started teaching her at age six and was not only impressed with her innate talent, but her incredible ability to absorb the lesson material very quickly.  The word “absorb” is very fitting as she’s like a little sponge when it comes to learning.  Sure she was a little shy at first, but in a relatively short time ended up losing all her inhibitions.  In the few years I’ve been working with her she has never failed to evoke inspiration at my student recitals.  Her raw talent and comedic expressions always leave the audience wanting more.  To date she has amazed us with such songs as Code Monkey by Jonathan Coulton, The Ocean by Led Zeppelin (4/4 and 7/8 time signatures) and Superstition by Stevie Wonder.  She’s a marvel to watch and an absolute joy to work with.  Olivia rocks like no other!  I should also mention a few other students who are up-and-coming drummers:  Maisy Cooper, Nisty Tharp, Jasmine Koromzay, Greta Carnes, Zoey Payne Graugh, Alexandra Wyatt, Annabel Agras and Denise Cook.  Their dedication and awe inspiring talents are second to none.

In my 30 years of teaching I’ve taught about 150 girls. I’ve noticed a trend over the years with more and more girls signing up for drum lessons.  It’s a trend worth noticing and it’s always refreshing for me to take on a new female student.

I grew up listening to the female greats such as the legendary Karen Carpenter from The Carpenters, Cindy Blackman from Lenny Kravitz, Gina Schock from the Go-Go’s, Debbi Peterson from the Bangles, and of course Shelia E.  I was always intrigued when hearing about a new female drummer to listen to, and I always wondered why there were so few.  Nowadays there are so many female drummers out there making a name for themselves, like Marilyn Mazur (formally with Miles Davis), Meg White from White Stripes, Alessia Mattalia from The Spins.  Fortunately, the list goes on and on.

Practicing Tips:

  1. Learn your theory.  For most people, playing by ear will only get you so far.  Theory helps you to “understand” what it is you’re doing and reinforces many aspects of your playing.
  2. The best approach to take when working on anything challenging is to slow it down.  If that doesn’t work, try boxing the part of the rhythm or fill that is giving you a problem.  Boxing means to draw a pencil line around the group of notes in question and to practice just those notes.  When you finally get it, start back at the beginning of the phrase and play forward, hopefully playing through the challenging part well.  If you still encounter problems, repeat the box, then the phrase…repeat as necessary.
  3. Record yourself when you play.  This is of paramount importance as it’s so difficult on occasion to be objective enough to know if you’re playing something correctly.  By listening back you may find you need to work on your timing, execution, etc.
  4. Be careful not to “over play.”  Unless you’re trying to play like Keith Moon, try to focus on just what’s necessary to make the song work.  Remember, sometimes “less is more” when it comes to performing.

If I were to offer additional advice to female drummers it would be to never let the fact that the guys dominate the drumming world keep you from living up to your potential.  If drumming is your thing, then go for it.  Remember, being a girl you have an advantage in getting noticed simply because there are still so few of you.  Drumming professionally can not only bring you recognition but job security as well.  And who wouldn’t love making a career from playing the drums?  Secondly, find a good teacher if you don’t already have one.  Look for a teacher who is dedicated and will not treat you differently from the guys.  Lastly, practice hard and remember that anything in life worth doing is worth doing well.  Oh, and don’t forget to have fun in the process, as having fun doing what you love is the key to success !!!

Bio: Larry Bennett grew up in New York and attended the Drummers Collective Institute back in the late 70’s.  He’s been teaching privately ever since and currently can be found teaching at his school, the Boulder Drum Studio, in Boulder, Colorado.