Benefits of Playing Drums: Physical, Mental, and Social

This transcript has been edited for clarity. 

Hello. I’m David Kerr, professor of cancer medicine at the University of Oxford. Today, peculiarly, I’d like to extol the benefits of drumming. 

When I was a youngster, about 2500 years ago, I played the side drum, and the snare drum, in a couple of very good pipe bands. Then things got busy as a medical student, studying as hard as one could, and being swept up with the sort of warp and weft of busy clinical practice, running the laboratory, and so on. I gave it all up. 

On November 11th, we had a Remembrance Sunday in which citizens of the United Kingdom gathered around war memorials to commemorate and celebrate the fallen from the great wars. 

I had an awful notion to start drumming again and to join a pipe band, so I did so. I joined the Laidlaw Memorial Pipe Band in North Oxfordshire, a wonderful group of men and women, fantastic musicians. I want to extol the virtues of it, and I’m going to tell you why.

There are some very obvious physical benefits from drumming. Cardiovascular health — there is some quite good evidence that it can help you modulate blood pressure if you’re hypertensive. It improves motor skills. In order to be able to drum at a high level, you’ve got to have a good degree of hand-eye coordination, which as we get older is a good thing to be able to do.

It’s physical exercise, it genuinely is. If we’re out marching, and we’re drumming and beating rapidly, it’s good physical exercise. I’m talking about a snare drum, but you could be talking about a tam-tam and so on. Pain management — we know from the Melzack and Wall theory that distractive activity does improve pain control. Again, we have patients who have gone to drumming classes as part of a chronic pain management situation, and it’s worked really well. 

There’s even evidence that it can boost the immune system. There’s some evidence to show, bizarrely — well, is it bizarre — that you can improve T-cell function by drumming, and moving things forward that way.

There are cognitive benefits also. You’ve got to have a decent memory to be able to beat out. You’ve got to pay attention and focus. That’s got to be improved. It stimulates the brain. There’s no doubt that rhythmic activities do help connect the right and left hemispheres, perhaps recovery from stroke as part of physiotherapy.

There are emotional and mental health benefits. There’s that sense of community, coming together, being part of a drum corps, being part of a band, and being socially networked, particularly for those of us who are getting a bit older and have never really had the chance to develop a social circle outside of work. It helps with social interaction. The community building, the sense of communication skills, that sense of inclusion, bonding, collaboration, and collectivism are great. 

Take up drumming, honestly, even if it’s playing a tam-tam. It doesn’t need to be the complicated snare drumming of a pipe band. You don’t need to be a rock and roller or a heavy metal drummer, but just get into the rhythm of life. See if you can infuse yourself with that, obviously, as I have infused and enthused by finding my mojo, which I have, and getting my rhythm back again.

Explore the joys and the wonders of drumming. There are bound to be local classes. Have a go at it and see how you enjoy it. Tell me what you think. Tell me if any of you share this rhythmic experience. 

Of course, you might say, well, I would play the violin, or I’d take up playing the clarinet or the piano. Absolutely. They can be solitary things, too, unless you’re playing in an orchestra. Think about drumming, because it’s a collective communal experience. 

For the time being, Medscapers, over and out. Thanks for listening, as always.