National Drummer Day — 15 November

What is National Drummer Day?

Drummers are truly talented humans, one of the many reasons they’ve earned National Drummer Day on November 15. Drummers are so coordinated they can do something different with each limb and make it all sound perfectly synced. How? Studies show that drummers’ brains are actually wired differently than us mere mortals, giving them enhanced problem-solving abilities and an entirely different way of looking at the world.

History of National Drummer Day

Even though the first drums ever were made out of alligator skin and clay pots (such dapper drums for 5050 BC), the art of drumming extends well beyond humans. Macaque monkeys will drum on objects rhythmically to show social dominance. Some rodents will also express communication by drumming their paws on the ground. Additionally, the way in which animals appear to process this syncopated sound is similar to us, leading many scientists to believe that drumming pre-dates humans in our global evolutionary timeline as a way of communication. 

So by practicing drumming, you’re actually practicing something that is – most likely – older than humanity. 

Additionally, the drums basic shape and build has been unchanged for thousands of years. The difference between Rush’s massive drum kit and the alligator skin drums found in China in 5050 BC may seem huge at first sight but are actually rather small in the grand scheme of things. Drums are drums are drums – and playing them turns anyone holding a beat into a living link to the past. 

While technologies evolve and electric kits fashionably fall in and out of style, drumming’s importance to the way we express emotion and communicate is still as strong as it was before we ever figured out how to build one.