Beginning at a Drum Roll

Before my drum teacher Carrie went on a tour with his band, he gave me two music sheets to practice and keep me busy for the time he would be gone. Well.... I was already working on one page. I mean I am a genius but not THAT genius! 

The day after my lessons, I quickly practiced my music so I could go play with my best friend Seia. And after only ten minutes of practice I was out the door! The next day, same thing happened. You get the cycle. One day I finally completed that page and got to move on to the next one. That one was toooooooo easy! I really should have practiced them again.

After school my mom picked me up. It was the day I usually go to drums. Tuesday, “The Magic Day.” And finally Carrie was back. That feeling you get when you’re on a roller coaster was forming in my stomach. Before lessons I went to my house to get my music folder and my awesome drum sticks that I’m so proud of! After that we drove off to drum lessons. When we walked in I was shaking all over! The  music academy was filled with music. You could hear bass, guitar, piano, but most of all you could here the drums. “Hi Pepper!” Laura said. She’s the manager of BMA (Burbank Music Academy) “Go right in Carrie’s waiting for you.” I thanked Laura, said bye to my mom and off I went into Carrie’s tiny little room.

As I neared the door I could here the drum beats get louder and louder. I opened the door grasping my drum sticks in my sweaty hand and my music folder under my arm. The drumming stopped and sitting in front of his drum kit, sat tank top wearing, gum chewing, blond streaked haired, tattooed, spray tanned (I know right!) Carrie. “Hey Peppa!” Carrie teased. “Haven’t seen you in a while!” He held his hand up for a high five so I did. I sat down at the other kit and fumbled with my music trying to find the page. 

I finally found the page. It took me awhile to start off and when I did, it sounded BAD! “Woah! Woah! Woah!” Carrie said, “What was that!? Have you been practicing?” “Well.... yes but our neighbors were home one week and on the weekends and umm... school was in the way....” It sounded like I had lied, but I hadn’t. “Ok. Just start again. SLOWER.” He replied. So I did it a bit slower. Boom! Boom! Bop! So far so good. Boom!Boom! Bop! “Good!” Carrie said approvingly. “Again!” After that one perfect beat I really bombed it. At the end of our lesson Carrie told me he didn’t think I was ready for a new music sheet. I was sad. He walked me out to my mom and told her about my fail. The more he talked about it, the more I felt miserable.

The next day I was still a little upset but I didn’t show it. During school I was thinking about my lessons. I knew what I had to do. When I got home I walked right into my room and started to practice that one beat. After a bunch of fails and stubbornness I finally got the beats right! I walked with my head up out of my room feeling great and proud of what I achieved. When I walked out my mom said with a big grin on her face “GOOD JOB!!!!!! I HEARD EVERY BIT! GREAT!” Every word made me happier. 

I was so excited for drum lessons so I could show Carrie how much I had improved. We had changed my drum lessons to Saturdays because I had started guitar lessons on Tuesdays. The whole day I was waiting for my lessons to come and it felt like years until I was finally able to go! When we got there we were surprisingly early, so we had to wait for Carrie. I was worried, excited, and anxious all at the same time. I kept thinking about what Carrie would think. Would he like it? Or would he think it was terrible? In between daydreams Carrie came out of a different room and called me in. “Bye mom!” I said while hugging her and then I disappeared into his room. 

“Ok where were we?” Carrie asked. “Beat E number three” I replied. “Ok, now start.” he said. I started off at a great beat! Carrie was being ridiculous and was dancing. In my mind I was saying, “WHAT!?” After awhile Carrie told me to stop and praised me for my good beat. We did the rest of the page and started on the other one. I had “Aced” my lesson. I hadn’t finished that other page just yet which means I can’t graduate to a new page, but next time! Speaking of next time, I also get to start playing a beat to a song! Now I’ve got to go practice...... Don’t want that mistake to happen again!