I was always interested in and passionate about learning drums, as I love listing to music especially beats one, and hence learning drums would become very interesting for me. Drums have various parts that make a different sound, usually on basic drums set there are 9 different instruments like – Bass drum, Floor Tom, Snare drum, Hi-hat, Crash cymbal etc. Drums are played through 2 sticks and there is a sequence that should be followed up to make a beat. I would further like to learn a few different beats and try to play a song as well in my AS classes. 

LO1 – Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

My weakness was that since I wasn’t aware of drums and their parts, therefore whenever our sir used to give us the sequence I wasn’t able to figure it out how shall I play it. And also I wasn’t able to set up the coordination between my legs and hands since I was at my first stage it became difficult for me. Once I knew my weakness it became easy to work upon it, so I started to learn all the parts of drums and then started playing the sequences. It is always important to know the weakness so that it becomes easy to work upon it.

LO2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

The challenge was lack of practice since we only get 1 class in a cycle which wasn’t sufficient for me to practice and learn different beats. Though I haven’t yet figured any solution to my problem, I can ask my mentor to give me more time during the class period and I myself can try to learn quickly. Challenges are a must that comes at everyone’s path….and it’s really important to undertake challenges so that we can learn more than what we actually do. While taking up this challenge I figured that I was developing communication and self-management skills because I had to manage and give time to learning the parts and sequence of the drums so that I can play songs in it. These skills can also benefit me in future while learning more advanced sets and playing or composing any music in my further colleges or university if any.

LO4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

Commitment and perseverance were very important in learning something new. Drums was very much new for me, because I have never attended any music classes, so learning it needed commitment towards it. I had to commit myself to practice and learn it in every AS classes. Perseverance also played important role in my learning. Learning drums at the first stage was very difficult until you don’t learn how to control your legs and hands together. That’s where I had to overcome my difficulty and put dedication towards learning drums. Committing things is definitely not easy until you follow them and so is your dedication and perseverance towards what you do.

The learner profile developed through this process.

Inquirer – This has helped me in learning something new concept independently with other, developing skills towards music since I love listening to music especially pop ones it made me curious towards learning drums as well hence this learner profile helped me identifying as new and different aspect of learning.

Balanced – It in important to keep myself balanced in every field, from studies to sports to arts sector as well hence this learner profile helped me in making me stable in all the sector of learning life.

My takeaway from this wondrous experience is that I was able to develop the ATL skills in me through which I learned how to play drums. I also got a chance to perform in a band during our TOK classes, which gave me the experience to perform in a band and play drums.