Drumming has been my main hobby for over a year now and in learning to play the instrument, I experience many highs and lows. There are times that I feel good about my progress. In my own assessment, I think that I reached the level that a first year should. But there are also times that feel so frustrating like taking a new lesson, learning a new technique or song which I don’t seem to get right. When I’m frustrated sometimes I ask myself the use of pursing this hobby. I also ask myself the reasons why I decided to take drumming in the first place.

Looking back, I was trying to find a hobby that I can be passionate about. I have many hobbies but none really interested me enough to make me take them seriously. All I know is that I like music… I enjoy listening to it, digesting it and relating it to my life. So I thought of learning a musical instrument. My options were to learn piano / keyboards, guitar, or drums. Out of the three I chose drums because 1) playing it is a real physical activity compared to guitar or keyboards where mostly only the hands and fingers are used 2) there are many people who already know how to play guitars and keyboards but quite a few who play drums 3) banging the drums would be a great outlet for negative emotions.

What’s the use of spending time and money for this hobby? Will I ever make a good use of it? Right now I don’t know the answer. All I know is that I’m enjoying it. It’s a form of self expression. Sometimes I do imagine myself playing a great song in a concert; and I like that.

Would I choose it as possible career in the future? I have a long way to go to even consider music as a possible career. They say that it would take 5 years to be really good at something and then another 5 years to be a master. Probably in my 30’s I will know the answer =).