Not at first! If you’ve never played before (or have tried a little and found it’s something you enjoy), the first few lessons can be tailored to help you to learn a little more about drumming to see if it’s something you’d like to try further. That said, for maximum enjoyment (and to get the most out of your lessons), access to a full kit is highly recommended – perhaps you have a friend with a kit that you could borrow occasionally? Failing that, there are a number of practice/rehearsal facilities available to hire locally that are equipped with kits that can be rented for quite a reasonable price. In the longer term, should you decide that drumming is for you, then Nick can certainly help you to make the right choices when it comes to getting something to suit your needs and budget.

Yes! Nick can help you in all aspects of studying for exams, and currently teaches Rockschool, Trinity and LCM syllabus. He can also help you to study towards GCSE, A Level and any other exams you may have coming up.

Yes, although a lot of the time it’s better to learn the techniques and methods for playing those songs, as much of what you can learn can then be transferred to playing other songs and styles of music. Nick tends to focus on this aspect rather than just learning specific songs, although your favourite songs/artists/genres will be referenced throughout your lessons.

No! It doesn’t matter what age you are, drumming can, and should, be fun and enjoyable. It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking to have a career in music or simply playing to have fun – perhaps joining/forming a band with friends – drumming has no upper age limit!!

No, however, it is something that Nick will teach you along the way. There’s a bit of a mis-concetpion that reading music can be a) difficult, and b) unnecessary when playing drums, but Nick’s approach is to help students to understand that reading music will benefit them massively in not only their learning, but also their understanding of what they’re playing. Music is often viewed of as a language, and having the ability to read that language is much more beneficial than simply learning things ‘parrot’ fashion.

Nick accepts drum kit students from the age of 11 years upwards (school level KS3 and above). Younger than this can be difficult due to the physical limitations of playing such a large instrument as well as the concentration needed to take full advantage of each lesson. However, Nick does offer younger students the chance to learn, and accepts students from age 7 to learn how to play snare drum and read music. Many of the students who have studied with Nick for a number of years started out this way and benefited hugely from having such a strong foundation to their drumming journey.