I am not a drummer, but I did learn something closer to piano.

My 2 cents - Just go and teach. I would have loved if I were taught drums. The children who lost their last teacher also lost some of their recreational activties, and regaining that would be great. Also, DRUMS ARE FUN!.

Do not be afraid. If you think you are not going to do well, maybe try to teach it to some relative or friend or neighbours’ kids first, and make sure it is a good experience for them.

This falls outside my expertise as dad, but into my wheelhouse as an ex child and hobby musician.

The reason why guitar but not piano stuck for me was the lack of relatable music at my level. Piano music being taught was boring and music I didn’t care about. Simple guitar tabs for rock music made me keep at the guitar.

Try to relate the things you are teaching to songs you know the kids like. Learn the music the kids enjoy.

The best way to build confidence as a teacher is to go in with a detailed plan and still remain flexible.

Having a good plan gives you a roadmap that you can always lean on when needed. You will be less flustered because you will always know the direction you want to go. It is the backbone that holds up your teaching.

Being flexible as a teacher is important because people learn in so many different ways and at different paces. That’s especially important with kids because they don’t necessarily know their own learning styles, and you never know what they are coming from before they enter the classroom.

It is so awesome that you are maintaining your musicianship and willing to share your enthusiasm with others!

Queen is the answer to most music questions; including teaching.

I think you’re over thinking it. After 6, teaching kids how to do things is like teaching excited adults how to do things, just with less swearing. Lay it out in simple terms, raise the bar as they get better, and remember that this is supposed to be fun. If you’re worried about pop music, remember that this puts you in the perfect position to introduce them to new music too. Sure, you start with whatever they’re listening to, then slip in a, “hey, this sounds a bit like [band name], you should give this a listen.”

As far as getting easily bored by pop, a few things:

• That’s why this is a job and you’re getting paid (hopefully?).
• You’ve got to meet students where they are if you want them to develop a passion for drumming and eventually for better music. They won’t enjoy it and stick with it if you tell them to play music they don’t like.
• Think about teaching the fundamentals more than songs in many cases, then find a song where those fundamentals are used. Balance progress towards proficiency, which kids don’t find fun but is the most important, with the type of progress kids like: playing along with popular songs.
• Pop beats are honestly a great foundation for more interesting genres. You gotta start somewhere simple. Yet, as students come to see just how simple pop is, they are more likely to want to learn more interesting stuff as time goes on. Think of their first requests as gateway beats lol, and then direct them to places where they’ll find more interesting lessons once they are already enjoying the instrument.

As far as working with kids:

• Be ready to use traditional notation if you want to set students up for further success in more advanced studies (saying this just based on the first video).
• It can feel like it’ll be crazy to work with kids, but it’s a lot easier in an activity they’ve chosen rather than a school course they are forced to take. They can be immature, but they will eventually understand the lesson of “this is how you get good, even if it feels more boring to spend half your practice time on techniques rather than just playing along with your Spotify library.” For the kids who really refuse to do so, it’s just “ok let’s learn a new song today,” and you’ll have to just swallow the fact that they aren’t advancing as much as they might otherwise. Those kids are there for a different reason and are still learning about drums.
• Use stories more than you might with adults. Eg, “Practicing heel toe might feel impossible and boring, but check out this Zeppelin track where he doesn’t need a double kick to play wicked fast, and can therefore still use the hi hat. Bonzo would come home after carving furniture all day and just practice his kick technique so that one day he could play the funnest beats of all time. But he had to start with the simplest drills.”

I’m neither a teacher nor a musician, but my son is a musician (including drums), has been to lessons as a child, has done some lessons for kids on guitar himself. He’s also got a friend who is a brilliant drummer and has taken plenty of his own lessons as a kid.

I’ll see if I can get them to provide some input for you here. Watch this space.