drummers to the rescue

Hello, Paul here; I am a drum/percussion teacher based in Cambridge (I do other bits and bobs too, I like to keep busy...). I love teaching drums, I have been a drummer for pretty much all of my life and for the last eight years I've been having a lovely time educating, watching my young (and, er, 'mature') drummers also get the same enjoyment out of it, I teach across three lovely schools as well as privately. I've always wanted my lessons to 'not feel like school' - we'll learn, but it must be fun, and exciting. NOTHING is more exciting than being onstage, performing live with a band. The buzz! The adrenaline! I could go on for hours about the benefits of drumming to our mental and physical health, but as soon as you start drumming you'll know that anyway. 

But here's the thing: I know I'm very lucky, I have the best job. The students learn in a fun way > I have just as much fun and get a living out of it. But I can't help but feel we can create something wonderful here and benefit various charities at the same time. For a good while now I've been putting on these little showcase gigs. Themes have ranged from Oasis v Blur (a personal favourite), Number One Hits and next up we'll have Stranger Drums (the music from Stranger Things). We've always done them for charity, a bucket goes around, a few quid goes in from happy parents/randomers at the bar, my magnificent students have the chance to show the world what they've been learning. We've done well, but we can do so much more.

We're going to put on more and more student gigs, and make more and more for charity. It's a win-win-win>win situation: I have a lovely time training up my drummers for gigs > they have the time of their lives playing with a live band whilst learning all the time > charities make a ton of cash > venues do rather well at the bar because it turns out proud parents watching their children make music like a celebratory pint or two. 

As a teacher, I'm generally very much anti-grades and exams...kids have to go through so many tests and exams as it is, why put them through more pressure outside of school? You don't need a bit of paper to know you're awesome. Playing in front of a hundred people on a big stage with a professional band is way cooler in my opinion, especially if by doing so your performance makes a bit of charity so you're benefiting somebody else whilst doing so. I've had students go on to study at music college, form bands, a few of them will (annoyingly) be more successful than me. Their gigging journey starts here. 

Check back here for regular gig updates, fundraising totals, ways to donate remotely via the JustGiving page for each show if you want to support this idea but can make a gig. 2026: this is the year we really make a difference.

Outside of the student lessons, I'm relaunching my Celebrities Drumming project. The plan is simple: I give a celebrity a free half an hour drum lesson. They realise just how fun and important drumming is and hopefully vocalise that a little bit. They sign a drum head and a book. That head and book will eventually be auctioned off for charity once I've got 100 celebs signed up. Everyone should be a drummer, after all. I first attempted this a couple years back, but time ran away with me a bit and I'm still on just the one celeb - the lovely former Blue Peter presenter, Liz Barker, and that's cheating because she's a good friend of mine. If you happen to be famous and you're reading this, and more importantly - if you want a drum lesson, ping me a message and I'll pop around with a little jazz kit and get you grooving. 

Aside from all the charity stuff, I run team building drum sessions for companies. It's a rather chaotic drumming gameshow (which I guess is the opposite of team building as you're competing with each other...), it lasts about 2 hours and it's available for private parties, too, of course. I love doing them, and have even taken the concept to the Edinburgh Fringe for a run of shows. Drumming makes everything better, even if you're working in a formal business park...

Right, enough rambling. I blame the coffee. Thanks for reading...shall we do some brilliant things, then? 

If you're a charity that needs our help, if you're a musician who wishes to collaborate with my drummers (onstage or recording), if you're a venue that is up for hosting an event...drop me a line: thepaulrichards@gmail.com