I Drum, Therefore I Am

Gareth Dylan Smith is a drummer, teacher and scholar based in London, England. He plays mostly rock, punk, folk, blues and musical theatre, and has performed, taught and presented his research on four continents. Gareth writes for DrDrumsBlog.com and is Editor at SUS Music. In his 41-year career, Bill Bruford, who has generously provided the Foreword to this volume, has played with Yes, King Crimson and Genesis, as well has his own groups, Bruford and Earthwords. Bruford retired from public performance in 2009, but he continues to be active as a speaker and lecturer.

• Contents: Foreword; Preface; ’I drum, therefore I am’?; The snowball self; Learning to play drums; The snowball self in motion; A part and yet apart; Ethnicity and cultural heritage; Gender and drumming; Conclusions; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.

'Recommended.' Choice ’This is one of those rare books which is at once scholarly, penetrating and insightful, whilst being highly entertaining and at times extremely funny. It's a joy to read.’ Lucy Green, University of London, UK ’This work will likely be considered Opus 1 by the world’s emerging king of popular music pedagogy.’ Clint Randles, University of South Florida, USA ’Gareth Dylan Smith is the perfect candidate to tell the story of who we are as drummers and why we drum in the first place.’ Pete Fairclough, jazz drummer and teacher at LIPA, UK ’Smith has demonstrated outstanding scholarly achievement’. Matt Brennan, University of Edinburgh, UK ’This is an important, serious and very well considered study of what it is like to be a drummer. All the topics that Smith covers are interesting and relevant to players and educators alike ... I hope he continues his study into what makes us tick!’ Toby Goodman, drummer, percussionist and teacher 'As drumming is such a primal, ancient form of music making it is fantastic to finally have a book that focuses on how important it is to the identity and lives of drummers. This will be a valuable resource for people within music education and I wish it had been available when conducting my own research. The chapter on gender is particularly relevant to changes taking place in the way we see gender and sex in instrument choice and popular music.' Gemma Hill, drummer, writer and teacher 'Gareth Dylan Smith [...] also known as Dr. Drums, has turned an in depth study on drumming and identity into a compelling, informative, and entertaining read... Smith seamlessly mixes scholarship, analysis, and expert storytelling to profile the identities of the participating drummers and illuminate the myriad ways in which drummers learn to drum, or more profoundly, learn to think like or to be like drummers... Smith’s considerable wit and personal affinity for the subject matter make for a particularl