Ben’s story

Ben Cadman is a drummer who has already achieved impressive results in his graded drum exams at a young age. He first picked up the drumsticks when he saw a drum kit at his cousin’s house. 

“They had a big drum kit there, so I just started playing”. 

Ben quickly found that playing music on the drums had a profound impact on him.

“It can change my mood sometimes. If I am a bit sad, I might go in my drum room, and I will just play, and it makes me feel better.”

After a while, Ben and his parents decided it would be a good idea for him to start taking lessons with a teacher. He started working with his teacher on songs from Trinity’s Grade 1 drum books just for fun, working his way through the first few books quite quickly.  

“I enjoy the variety – the types of music you can make. I like Rock & Pop, so Trinity is great for me.”

Before long, Ben was ready to take his first graded exam.  

“My first exam was my grade 3 exam – I did quite well in it. I ended up with 97% and a distinction so I am quite happy with that!”

Ben is equally modest about his impressive achievements in the next exam he took!

“I did my grade 4 exam in December 2021 – I did quite well – I got a distinction and 88%”

Ben has a solid routine when it comes to working on his drum skills, and it has clearly paid off.

“During the week I will practice my grade songs, I might do a bit of improvising, like grooves on the high hat, off beat snares, and I might practice trickier drum skills, such as drags and buzzers.”

As well as developing impressive new skills and developing his musical repertoire, Ben and his dad, Martin, have found that the drums have given them a new way to connect and enjoy time together. Martin told us:

“It’s been good for us to spend time together. We probably have 2 or 3 hours a week where we’re in the drum room together, practising or listening to other music.”

We’re sure it won’t be long before Ben is ready to take his next exam:

“I’ve started my grade 5 recently. There’s no pressure for me to take exams but I think when I’m ready I might take a couple more.” 

“I enjoy the variety – the types of music you can make. I like Rock & Pop, so Trinity is great for me.”

Find out more about Trinity Rock & Pop exams
More Trinity success stories