Kuwentong Musikero
The first time I played in a band was as a drummer. But it wasn't a real band. And I wasn't a real drummer.
The summer before Grade 6, I took up drums at the Musar-Yamaha music school in Baguio because I had nothing better to do. Piano was quickly losing its thrill (or was I thrilled about it in the first place?) so I thought I might learn some other instrument for a change. Drums seemed like the perfect choice -- no note-reading, no chord progressions, no freaking theory that frustrated me out of my skull. I thought, how hard can it be just banging away?
Of course, drums proved to be more than just banging away. It demanded total body coordination which I sadly did not have. And although there was no note-reading, there was drum notation which was sometimes just as confusing. And to think I was only playing the standard 5-piece drumset. It's a good thing I did not know Mike Portnoy then or I would have gone out of my mind trying to figure out how he does what he does.
One afternoon, I was practicing in one of the rooms while my teacher wandered off somewhere, as my teacher was wont to do. A guy who I assumed was also a student there knocked on the door and asked if I could please play a simple rhythm on the drums while he and his friend played guitar and bass. They were working on something in the next room and badly needed a drummer, and they had heard me drumming through the not-so-sound-proof wall so they decided to ask my help. I said okay, as long as it was a really simple rhythm. Anything more than that, I was afraid, would short-circuit my brain.
So I came into the next room, a jamming room, and played the rhythm they taught me (which was simple, thank God) as they shredded away on their guitars. All the while, all I could think of was: wow, I'm actually playing in a band. It did not matter that I completely sucked at drums. It felt like the coolest thing in the world.
Nine years later, I still feel the same way. The only difference is that I now play the guitar (and can't remember a damn thing about drums). Nothing compares to the high of playing with other musicians. It's the high of forging a music bond, and a music bond, unlike so many things, is always profound and enduring.
The summer before Grade 6, I took up drums at the Musar-Yamaha music school in Baguio because I had nothing better to do. Piano was quickly losing its thrill (or was I thrilled about it in the first place?) so I thought I might learn some other instrument for a change. Drums seemed like the perfect choice -- no note-reading, no chord progressions, no freaking theory that frustrated me out of my skull. I thought, how hard can it be just banging away?
Of course, drums proved to be more than just banging away. It demanded total body coordination which I sadly did not have. And although there was no note-reading, there was drum notation which was sometimes just as confusing. And to think I was only playing the standard 5-piece drumset. It's a good thing I did not know Mike Portnoy then or I would have gone out of my mind trying to figure out how he does what he does.
One afternoon, I was practicing in one of the rooms while my teacher wandered off somewhere, as my teacher was wont to do. A guy who I assumed was also a student there knocked on the door and asked if I could please play a simple rhythm on the drums while he and his friend played guitar and bass. They were working on something in the next room and badly needed a drummer, and they had heard me drumming through the not-so-sound-proof wall so they decided to ask my help. I said okay, as long as it was a really simple rhythm. Anything more than that, I was afraid, would short-circuit my brain.
So I came into the next room, a jamming room, and played the rhythm they taught me (which was simple, thank God) as they shredded away on their guitars. All the while, all I could think of was: wow, I'm actually playing in a band. It did not matter that I completely sucked at drums. It felt like the coolest thing in the world.
Nine years later, I still feel the same way. The only difference is that I now play the guitar (and can't remember a damn thing about drums). Nothing compares to the high of playing with other musicians. It's the high of forging a music bond, and a music bond, unlike so many things, is always profound and enduring.
posted by loffy at
9:27 AM
