Moving to the beat: Abiel Ramdeen loves drumming

At the Sui Generis Sound Drumming Academy, Abiel Ramdeen is learning to play different types of music on the drums including reggae, soca, and gospel.

Abiel's father bought him a toy drum set when he was three, and he hasn't been able to put down the sticks since.

When Abiel’s toy drum set broke, his dad decided it was time for an upgrade and gifted him a real drum set for Christmas in 2019.

Abiel instantly placed his skills to the test.

“I got it (the drum kit) for Christmas morning and I told my dad thank you so much. I was so happy; I tried my best on it and played Merry Christmas.”

He joined the drumming academy in 2019 and instructor Quianna Mahabir has been helping him sharpen his skills.

“She (Quianna) teaches me about the different kind of drums, beats from different countries and other things," said Abiel who lives in Diego Martin.

“I like everything about the drums but sometimes I get upset when I’m playing it and it doesn’t sound exactly like my teacher teaches me.”

He does have a favourite, though. He told Newsday Kids, “My favourite thing...is the crash (cymbal) because it makes a lot of noise and I also like to play fast beats.”

Before covid19, Abiel would have in-person drumming classes but now, he and other students at the academy have their classes on Zoom.

He misses having in-person classes and hopes to reunite with his friends soon.

This week, he learnt to play reggae beats on the drum but his favourite genres to play are soca and calypso, because he likes to play fast-paced music

Although he doesn’t practice them as consistently as the drums, Abiel can also play the guitar and piano a bit.

“The guitar I don’t play as much but now and then I’ll play the piano.

“I find the guitar is the hardest (instrument I play) because sometimes the strings hit your nails.”

Music isn’t the only thing Abiel has an interest in; he loves cars especially fast ones.

With his toy cars, Abiel has been practising doing cartwheels and other tricks at home.

“I also like fishes and that’s why I have some outside.

“I have a lot of them. Because there’s a lot, it could be 50 or 60, but I feel like it’s a thousand.”

He doesn’t find it’s hard to take care of the fishes because he only has to feed them while his parents help him do other things like change the water in his aquariums.

A standard one student at La Puerta Government Primary School, Abiel is keeping up with his work online though he misses playing with his friends when they were able to go to school physically.

“I get to learn about a lot of stuff in school and sometimes I even get to learn about music.”

For now, Abiel wants to be a drummer and he is focused on bettering his skills every day.

But don’t be surprised if he joins a football team; he’s been playing football since the age of four.

He loves the sport and is eager to start back learning with a small club he’s involved in when its safe to do so again.

His favourite footballers are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.