It's a question you may have asked yourself in the past, or perhaps it's one you're pondering at the minute! A lot of people out there initially don't decide to play a particular musical instrument right off the bat, instead many people just decide they want to play a musical instrument, and then set about deciding what to learn. This is quite a good way to start off as it means your interest lies in music and the ability to play it, rather than the allure of a particular instrument, which can often fade once the novelty factor wears off!

Without doubt the two most popular choices for first time musicians seem to be the guitar and the drums. Of these two, the guitar seems to be quite a bit more popular, I guess a large part of the reason for this is the guitar is smaller and probably cheaper at the beginner level, and all in all isn't seen to be as much of a commitment as a full drum kit!

My purpose with this article is to fight the corner of the drums and explain why, in my humble opinion, they're a fantastic option for anyone looking to learn a new instrument! But before I get into that, I think it's worth considering the benefits of investing the time and money required to learn a new instrument.

For me the single greatest payoff offered by playing ANY instrument, is the appreciation it gives you for music in general. This appreciation will be with you for life. You will find yourself actively listening to the music on the radio and on your ipod, straining your ear to pick up the unique parts played by the various contributing instruments, and not merely passively hearing the music!

Chances are you will find your taste in music slowly broadens to take in styles that you would not normally listen too, because songs will become multi-dimensional, throwing up many more levels in the song or music piece that can be enjoyed. The other major benefit is the all important stress relief quality of music! We all know how effective a favorite song is at whisking us away temporarily from whatever is getting us down, well if just listing to your song can help relieve your stress, just think what playing your song yourself will do to your stress.

So now we've established the therapeutic benefits of music, why the drums? This is pretty simple, more than any other instrument the drums require a sense of rhythm and timing, the drummer is after all the unifying force behind the contemporary rock band. So wherever your musical career takes you, whether its playing in stadiums in front of 80000 people or just playing in your living room for your own pleasure, developing a sense of rhythm is priceless!

Rhythm isn't just an asset to the musician, have you ever watched two people on a night out dancing, one who has a sense of rhythm and timing and another that doesn't? It makes for awkward viewing, especially if they're trying to dance with each other! Now I'm not saying guitar players or piano players have no rhythm, I'm just saying that in my opinion, a good drummer has the edge over them all!

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