Every Human Can (and Should) Drum

Why Drumming Could Be Your Child’s Gateway to a Love of Music

If you’ve been following this science-based blog series, you already know that music isn’t just fun — it’s biological, instinctual, and deeply rewarding and regulating to our bodies and emotional state.

In previous posts, we explored how singing and making music together release powerful neurochemicals like dopamine, endorphins, oxytocin, and serotonin, while lowering cortisol (stress). That powerful mix helps people of all ages feel happier, calmer, more connected, and more secure.

While singing and dancing come naturally to some, they can also be an intimidating and vulnerable place to start — for children and adults alike.

Drumming, on the other hand, may be the most accessible, simple and universal entry point into music.  

It is primal, cathartic, and pure.

And - It offers instant gratification.

You hit something… it makes a sound… and the body responds.

That’s why drumming can be the perfect gateway instrument to a lifelong love of playing music — especially for babies, toddlers, and high-motor kids who are wired perfectly for drumming. In our classes, rhythm and percussion play a central role in helping children feel safe, confident, and eventually ready to participate in their own way.

This is why every human should drum.

The Science of Drumming, Rhythm & Instinct

Modern neuroscience shows that rhythmic percussion engages large areas of the brain simultaneously — including motor regions, auditory processing centers, emotional regulation networks and timing circuits.

Some well-established findings from music and brain research:

• Group drumming increases endorphins, improving mood and reducing stress

• Rhythmic activity supports bilateral brain integration, strengthening communication between the left and right hemispheres

• Steady rhythm provides external regulation, which is especially powerful for young children whose nervous systems are still developing

One widely cited study from the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, led by Barry Bittman, found that group drumming:

“Induces significant increases in natural killer cell activity and reduces stress-related immune suppression.”

In simple terms: drumming helps the body regulate and heal itself!

But this response to rhythm didn’t begin in a lab.

Across cultures and throughout human history — from early hunter-gatherer societies to Indigenous and tribal communities around the world — drumming has played a central role in healing, ritual, communication, bonding and collective regulation.

Anthropologists and evolutionary scientists widely agree that shared rhythm and synchronized movement were among humanity’s earliest tools for group cohesion. Long before formal language, drumming helped humans:

• Coordinate movement and action

• Establish trust and safety

• Regulate emotional states collectively

• Strengthen social bonds and identity

When people drummed together, heart rates aligned, breathing synchronized, and nervous systems entered shared rhythmic states. The same biological rewards we still experience today — dopamine, endorphins, oxytocin, and reduced cortisol — rewarded the body to encourage drumming as a behavior that leads to connection and survival.

In many ways, our music classes are not so different from a drum circle around a fire — shared rhythm, shared safety, shared regulation.

That evolutionary wiring is still alive in our bodies.

So when a child drums, they aren’t learning something new —they’re responding to something ancient.

Why Kids Often “Come Alive” When the Drums Come Out

If you’ve been in one of our classes, you may have noticed that we don’t start with drums right away.

This is very intentional.

Many babies and toddlers need time at the beginning of class to observe, orient, and soak in stimulation. They’re listening. Watching. Their nervous systems are quietly asking, “Is this safe?”

In my experience, that process often takes about 25–30 minutes, especially for newer students, and once they’ve reached that point, all they need is a little nudge…

And then… the drums come out.

Something shifts.

Kids who were quiet lean forward.

Kids who stayed close reach out.

Kids who weren’t ready to sing suddenly say, “YES — I’m in.”

Rhythm bypasses language and self-consciousness. It reaches back into our primordial instincts and awakens something timeless — meeting children exactly where they are.   

Why Drumming Can Be the Gateway Instrument

Trying to start a very young child on a tonal instrument like piano, violin, or guitar can be frustrating for everyone involved.

But a drum?

Now we’re talking.

Hit drum → sound.

That’s it.

That instant feedback loop is exactly what many young children need. It builds agency, confidence, and joy — without asking them to sit still, follow rules or “get it right.”

This is why drumming can be the doorway into a lifelong relationship with music — especially for high-motor kids who are wired perfectly for drumming.

Drumming:

• Allows large movement as part of the process!

• Allows kids to LOVE the WILD part of themself!

• Offers immediate cause-and-effect feedback!

• Is incredibly Cathartic (which is why parents should try it!)

• Requires the least “formal” instruction to begin (just get after it!)

• Develops brain-to-body coordination

• Establishes a rhythmic foundation while also absorbing melody and musical structure

What Children Are Absorbing Through Drumming (More Than You Might Think)

When children drum — especially from a very young age —they're absorbing music as a whole system.  Learning rhythm anchors the body musically, but along the way they are also exposed to:

• Melody and harmony

• Musical phrasing and form

• Dynamics, feel, and groove

• Timing relationships between parts

• Emotional expression through music

• Musical teamwork and cohesion

All of this is being encoded internally — long before they ever touch a melodic instrument or learn to read music.

I’ve seen this clearly in my own child.

My son is now nine and an incredible drummer and overall musician. He has always been a large-movement, physical kid. Sitting still for “small” activities was never his preference — but he loved to drum. We leaned into that completely and bought him his first real drum set for his third birthday.

While drumming along to his favorite songs, he absorbed an enormous amount of internal musical understanding.   Because he was immersed in music during the most plastic stages of brain development, his ability to pick up a melody or rhythm is already MUCH better than mine!

That early exposure didn’t just teach him how to play an instrument.

It taught him how to be musical. 

It's just now, at age nine, that his executive functioning and ability to “sit still” have reached the point that he can learn an instrument like guitar or saxophone.  Due to his time drumming, those instruments are coming much easier for him than they would have otherwise. 

The Big Picture

Music is so satisfying for humans as a whole because it has so many entrance points for different personalities.

Some people sing.

Some dance.

Some play instruments.

Some simply listen and observe.

It is one of the rare spaces where the body can lead and the brain can follow — and for many children, drumming is where they find their groove.

That’s why I encourage parents to always have small drums, bongos, or percussion instruments around the house (pots and pans absolutely count).

And if your child shows a real affinity for drumming, consider finding a way to support it as they grow rather than trying to migrate them to other quieter instruments.

I know having a drum kit in the house is hard to imagine for a lot of people, but I want to offer an alternative - the electric drum kit!  These are smaller and can be volume-controlled (can even use headphones), and packed with really fun sounds that keep kids engaged for hours.

If this resonates, we’d love to drum, sing, and explore rhythm with you and your child in our Winter Semester — classes are now enrolling at www.ramblindanmusic.com

All the best, always,

Ramblin’ Dan