December 9, 2004 - Thursday
On two occasions over the last couple of weeks I've told Harry that I would take him to the "drum store" and buy him a set of real drumsticks if he was really interested in learning to play the drums. Both times he's said he didn't want to go. In fact, last week when I tried, he said he "I decided I don't want to be a drummer anymore."
"What instrument he wanted to learn to play?" I asked.
"I just want to learn to build houses."

I'm just guessing, but I'd say Harry was turned off by one of two things. Either he recognized that his interest in drums is completely limited to banging things loudly, in which case starting with the pad I suggested would have very little appeal, or he was put off by the idea that learning to play the drums would involved taking lessons. I'm a lot more comfortable with the first, but I'm betting it has more to do with the second. One of Harry's worst traits is that he doesn't like being taught, or more accurately, he doesn't like to give the appearance that he can't do everything already and needs any teaching. It's silly, of course, but not an uncommon anxiety and one shared to varying degrees by both his parents.

Today I took the boys to a store right beside the "old drum store." I was on an errand of my own that happened to be in the same plaza as that Daddy's Junky Music and I figured being so close Harry would certainly reconsider his change of heart about drumming. I really don't want to have Harry discouraged about wanting to learn and play music in general and if it's drums he wants to play, then it's drums. Interestingly, it was Jeremy who was more anxious to go in when I offered to visit the drum store. Harry actually resisted a little, but eventually said OK. Of course, once in there seeing the drum sets, drums were cool again and they both wanted to play them. By the end of the visit I did, still without overt enthusiasm from Harry, buy the drumsticks above. I actually went back after that to look at drum pads and was very pleasantly surprised. I remember from when I was young student drummers walking around with very dull blocks of black rubber. The ones I found looked a lot more like a real drum, but quieter! Harry seems to like it and so does Jeremy. And it may be my imagination, but Jeremy somehow seemed the more natural musician of the two this evening as they took turns playing along with my guitar.


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