Do you need a degree in drumming?

It really depends on what sort of drumming you want to do. Are you planning to play drum-set with a band? Do you want to play in a drum-line? Do you want to be a percussionist, playing everything from marimba to chimes to timpani to drum-set? Do you want to play African drums or Indonesian percussion? There is so much variety in the percussion world that you will want to explore before you get to college.

Before then, I would encourage you to find a teacher who plays the sort of music you want to play. Experimenting on your own and practicing a lot is critical, but a teacher will be able to help listen to you and guide you in the sounds that you create. Also, a teacher will be able to help you develop good technique so that you don't hurt your wrists. Musicians have to be very careful to protect their hands and wrists, and it's easy to do lasting damage by playing too much the wrong way. Musicians who want to protect themselves and continue to develop skills throughout their lives take lessons forever, even if they just meet with a coach a few times a year. It's important to have someone else's input.

Regardless of what sort of drumming you want to do, I would also encourage you to join a drum-line now, either at school or in the community. Playing snare drum will help you develop rhythm and good technique that you can apply to any percussion instrument.

As far as college goes, it really depends on what you decide to do. It may be that you will choose to major in business or music business, so that you will be able to manage yourself as a working musician. Some schools have a jazz influence, and many offer classical performance degrees. Having a degree might not make a difference in getting gigs, but it will definitely help you to get hired as a teacher or find a day job. Most musicians have a day job; it's statistically harder to support yourself entirely through performance than it is to play major league baseball. College is a great place to meet other musicians, too, and performing is one of the best learning experiences you'll ever find.

you don't need a degree for drumming. Just watch and listen to other drummers to emulate them and you'll get better. My brother is a drummer for a metal band and he taught himself how to drum. He bought tapes/DVD's on how to do the basics and he just practiced everyday. When he started his first band, the other musicians in the band pushed each other to get better and the more they practiced the better they got. He has videos on Youtube if you want to check them out. His name is Joe Corbin and his band is Upon Deaths Arrival. He's been playing drums for about 16 yrs now. You don't need to spend all that money educating yourself on drums when you can do it yourself.

If youre REALLY serious and absolutely want to spend the rest of your life drumming, I would say its a good idea to get a degree in percussion performance. It really depends on what kind of school you're going to go to, but you're most likely going to need to learn much more than just drum set. You would need to understand keyboard percussion (marimba, xylophone, etc.) and multiple percussion (timpani, tambourine, etc) Usually a performance degree requires at least four years of school, up to eight if you want to get really good.

12" : 8 Pi" = x : 360 do the arithmetic.