BELLEVUE, Wash. — Drumming takes timing, coordination, and rhythm... none of which were on display when Team Evening visited Ned Smith's drum studio in Bellevue for a Field Trip Friday.
"If you go slow, you won't make mistakes. If you don't make mistakes, your muscles catch on that you want them to repeat something. And they start helping you. And you can actually feel when it happens. You actually start to glide a little bit," Smith says.
He sometimes goes by the nickname "Ned Zeppelin," as his website says. Smith claims he can teach anybody, including us. The lesson starts with, of all things, a game of patty-cake. "I'm the only teacher who does this. I stole this from physical therapists."
His method starts with simple movements of hands and feet, without drums or sticks. Then it builds from there. Smith has a degree in Clinical Psychology from Tufts University in Boston. So he starts with the mind before the body. And he says he specializes in teaching kids with ADHD or Asperger Syndrome.
When each member of Team Evening had a go at the drum kit, it was clear the only solution was more cowbell.
Book a lesson with Ned Smith on his website.
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