Bang My Drumset

Putting Music Back Into Your Life

Written by DrumSetDude

To help you understand where I’m coming from I should probably tell you my story. Here goes.

Music has been important to me ever since I was a kid in elementary school. I started playing the trombone in the fifth grade and haven’t turned back since. I moved on to study voice, piano, music theory and eventually even fooled around with the drums.

Junior High Had The Largest Impact

Junior high was probably the beginning of my serious interest in music. It was there that I performed for the first time in front of hundreds of classmates and their families. I sang “You Are So Beautiful” by Joe Cocker in a rock concert put on by the Boys Glee Club director, Don Moore.

Everyday after school the group of players and singers would practice and receive honest and sometimes painful criticism of our performances. Don’t get me wrong-Mr. Moore was a very good educator and always found a way to bring out the best performances in us. For a teacher to be able to do that with a group of teenagers put him in line for a Nobel prize I’m sure.

I know it was an experience I will never forget.

On To High School

In high school, I was the first student to rehearse and conduct a piece for my senior program with the Chamber Choir. Again, it was a teacher by the name of Richard Whitmore who showed me that I had what it took to gain the respect of my peers and get the job done. The piece was a choral ensemble arrangement of the Errol Garner standard “Misty.” The performance was spotless and was another formative experience in my life.

From there I went on to college to study music education. After a year I took some time off to review my priorities in life. The music education curriculum did not quite feel like what I wanted to do with my life. I decided I wanted to get into music production.

I worked for the next two years at various jobs and finally decided to go back to school for Recording Industry Management at Middle Tennessee State University outside of Nashville. The program was excellent and I graduated five years later having picked up a couple extra minors.

Music Starts Moving Away From Me

It was after graduation that music started moving away from me. I did not take advantage of the internship program the school offered. Big mistake. Once out of school, I had a specialized management degree, no on-the-job experience, no contacts and the internet was still in its infancy.

Needless to say, the dreaded “reality” set in rather quickly. I won’t bore you with all the details.

From that point on I worked fifteen years in the medical insurance industry, less than five years of that in an IT role until the down-sizing monster got me. Throughout all of these years, I was certain that the situation would come around where I could get back to taking lessons of some kind, buy a small piano, join a choir or do anything remotely musical.

You know where this is going so I’ll just say it: the “right time” never did come. It didn’t because nothing in our life grows unless we actively nurture it.

This Site Is For You

I created this site for all of the people from whose lives music has gone missing. To help them see that it’s never too late to start again and that anything is possible if they set their minds to it. I will chronicle my journey back to music with the sincerest hope that it will help others share their experiences with people like themselves.

The site is for you and will grow according to your wishes. My plans for the site so far include resources for selecting instruments, finding a local instructor and finding people who share your love of music online and in your community.

Please take the time to leave comments on articles or send us an email using the contact page.

Finally, I want to congratulate you for taking the first step to putting music back in your life. Hold on tight and enjoy the ride!

Tags: listen to music live, musical instrument sales, musician, private music lessons
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