That was a good drum break

Alex has been taking drum lessons every Friday for the past 4 weeks. Here's a little peek as the instructor helps him do some beats and fills.

Jeff, Alex's drum teacher is also a first grade teacher.

Alex is livin' his School of Rock dreams.

Music Monday--Ramon Sampson

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

A slightly different Music Monday today. Guitar Center runs an amateur drummer competition every year, holding competitions in their stores, regional finals, and then finally culminating in a national Drum-Off in Los Angeles every January. Last Friday was the most recent Drum Off at the Wiltern Theatre. Ramon Sampson from Tennessee won. He's all of 19 years old. Maybe in 10 years Alexander will be performing.

Drum Off

Alex is crazy about the drums and music in general. He is constantly drumming on something and singing along.

I guess Guitar Center has been holding a drum-off for the past 20 years. If we had known earlier, we would have gone to one of the preliminary competitions at our local store, just 5 minutes away. The finals are this Saturday in Hollywood. Not sure if we will be able to go, but judging from last year's winner, it looks cool:

Maybe one day Alex will compete. The winner gets a really nice prize, $25,000!

Pictures from Sep 2008 visit to the Museum of Making Music:

The museum exhibits were fascinating, however, Alex thought the coolest part of the museum was the interactive area.

For those of you who live locally, here is a FREE alternative:
The Camp Drum Circle: Sundays - approximately 8pm. Located at the fire ring next to Patagonia/Adventure 16. This drum circle has been meeting consistently for around 5 years. At this time it is unfacilitated and very freestyle. Everyone is welcome. All levels. Djembes, doumbeks, congas, bongos, buckets - come one, come all.

post by David