I honestly can’t remember why I decided to move to snare drum, but the first thing that comes to mind is The Muppets drum kit I had when I was 6 or 7. I don’t have many memories of actually playing those drums, but I have one vivid recollection of my red haired neighbor, Sarah, sitting behind the kit while I stood and watched her bang away in a non rythmic fashion. Smashing around wildly, hair flying around. It was the first time I was interested in girls.

I joined the band at school and took up the snare drum. Sort of. I learned to read the sheets, and practiced away on my little drum pad. It was a wooden one, with the rubber pad on the top. The Star Spangled banner was one I distinctly remember, as that big fib of a song was the reason I quit playing snare drum four or five months into it.

See, the reason I said that I sort of played snare drum, is because I didn’t. Only the two best players used the actual drum. The other six kids were silently playing on the muted pads. I made a huge mistake when we performed our national anthem, and quickly realized no one could hear a single thing I was playing. I practiced evening after evening for a week or so to play that song with all the cool rolls. After my mistake at the performance, and realizing that no could hear a thing I was doing, I was just banging on the pad like a gorilla.

Then I quit playing, or not playing, the snare drum in the school band.

I will learn patience eventually.
Pictured : The Fumblemuckers. Photo by Donna Smith, Crossover Productions.