Drumming

One of the things that brings Jake complete joy is drumming and it's heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time to watch him play. He enjoys it so much and tries to hard, but his left hand just can't keep up and I remember how good he was getting before his stroke. At times he has to stop and re-position his left hand on the drum stick because it loses it's grip. He also can't move it around the drum kit nearly as much as the right, but he tries really hard to keep a steady beat with it. I honestly wonder at times how he does it...

He has been taking weekly lessons for about the past year and the first several months were spent doing a lot of "drumming therapy," working on basic beats and patterns that helped to engage the left hand. He's recently started working on playing some songs and seems to be really enjoying it. Here's a clip from a few weeks ago playing some Tom Petty. (Sorry the first little bit is bouncy, it gets smoother after about 10 seconds). https://youtu.be/FRyaBhcdjl4 They use an electronic drum kit at his lessons, it's a lot quieter since the volume is controlled by an amplifier or it can be completely silent when used with headphones. It's also more forgiving since all the drum and cymbal heads are rubber. He's been saving his money for one for awhile and we decided to pay for the rest of it for Christmas. Because they aren't loud, we put it upstairs in the spare bedroom. His regular drums are in the basement and he doesn't like going down there by himself, so if Luke wasn't in the mood to practice his guitar and go down with him, Jake wouldn't go. Since getting them, his practice time has more than doubled. I am so glad he has something that he truly enjoys doing. It feels like so much of his day involves frustration or doing things he doesn't like to do (PT exercises, stretching, being corrected by us on his gait), it's good he's got something that brings him pure joy. I've asked him if it's frustrating for him now since both hands can't go at full capacity and he surprised me when he said, "a little, bit but not really." I wonder at times if it's harder on Todd and I than it is on him, but I love that he still tries and hasn't given it up.