Wow, Look, It's A Girl Drummer!!

How many times in my 25 year or so career did I hear, "you play pretty good for a girl; you play almost as good as a guy; you sure make funny faces when you play; maybe you should get a hip hat or a better haircut, I bet then you would get more gigs....etc. etc." How tiring it all became. Will there ever be a time when it just does not matter whether you are a man or a woman in regards to playing drums?

I am happy to say that I feel it has gotten better over the past 20 years. For example, 10 years ago I did not have one single female student. Today, I am happy to say, that about half of my students are female ranging from 8 - 60 years of age.

About a month ago or so, one of my students showed me a video on you tube. It was drummer Anika Nilles giving a lesson on the application of quintuplets to the drumset. Not only was I impressed by her impeccable technique but also by the fact that she did not , thank God, flaunt the fact that she was a woman. There was no need for her to show the world, by flinging her hair or exaggerating parts of her anatomy, how good she is. She just has to play to do that. It was very encouraging and refreshing to see such a confident display of drum technique and knowledge regardless of gender!

I encourage all to check out her lesson on quintuplets at the following link:

Anika Nilles - Exploring Quintuplets