How I learned to play the drums

           If you want to learn how to play the drums, there are many ways you can do it, but this is the way I did it. When I was a kid, I always wanted to play the drums, but my family didn't have a lot of money to buy drums and things like that. So when I was about five years old,  I started hitting pots and pans in the kitchen with big spoons and sticks. My mom didn't like that. I used cardboard boxes or plastic tubs for drums. In school I would bang on my desk with my hands or pencils. I used whatever I could find. I finally decided to buy a drum set about 20 years ago and learn to play. You can get a starter set of drums with cymbals for about $300 to $500. I bought a nice set of used drums for $500 that was worth a lot more than that because the guy needed money, fast. After I got the drums, I just started playing around on them by myself, but then I realized I was just making noise, so I bought some CDs about how to play drums and then found a drum teacher for weekly lessons. I tried to practice my drums every day for at least half an hour, but sometimes I was too busy with work, or was just lazy, or didn't want to bother my wife and daughters.  So I found a guy my age who played the guitar and liked the same kind of music. We didn't play too well, but we played LOUD. We had fun playing music together, but neither one of us could sing, but we had fun. Now I don't take drum lessons, but I listen to rock music from the 60s and 70s like The Beatles, The Who, and The Police, and I just play along with the music. I have a good time, but I would not say that I am a good drummer. There are many great rock drummers, but I like Ringo Star of The Beatles and Stewart Copeland of The Police. Now, I am teaching my little grandson Alex how to play the drums, and he can have my drums later when he gets older. I bought him some little drums. Like grandpa, Alex thinks it is fun to bang on the drums. Most drummers like to play drum solos as a way to show their skills. Click here to hear a drum solo by one of my favorite drummers: Stewart Copeland drum solo  Wow!  I wish I could play this well, but for now I just enjoy listening to drummers like him. In conclusion, when you know how to do something, you don't necessarily have to be good at it; what is important is that you have fun doing it and don't take yourself too seriously, because if you think you are a great drummer, there is always some drummer out there who is better than you.

KISS

          KISS has two meanings. It is an acronym that means Keep it Short & Simple. And it is the name of a bad (in my opinion) rock band, Kiss KISS live.  The band KISS is okay, but all their costumes, make-up, and fireworks are really better than than their music. The group KISS needs to follow the advice of the KISS acronym and Keep it Short & Simple, make it more about their music, and less about the theatrics.

         The acronym KISS can be good advice for us in our modern world, where everything is so complicated. Maybe it would be better to get back to a little simpler life. Maybe it would be good to listen to good music, and not be so interested in how the band members are dressed and how good their fireworks are. 

        KISS can also be good advice for ESL students.  When you are writing, don't use a big word when you can use a short word that means the same thing. "Use" and "utilize" both have the same meaning. So why not use "use"?  Don't use big words just to impress your reader, because he/she might not understand what you mean. It's better to stick to words you know rather than look up new words you don't know when you are writing.  KISS is a good thing to remember when you are writing a summary. A good summary is better when it is short. Also, the longer your paragraph or essay is, the more likely it is that it will have mistakes.  Besides, in today's world, everyone wants everything short because most people don't have a very long attention span. So take my advice, and Keep it Short & Simple.  What do you think--about the rock group, KISS, and about the KISS acronym?