Let’s set the scene: I finally got into the band at Merton Intermediate. I’m nervous because it was my first day in the band.
I walk to the back of the classroom Walking with my tail between my legs with nervousness (where all the percussion equipment is located), and sit down on a stiff black chair used by every band I’ve been in to this day. And then I see a soon to be very familiar face walk into the percussion section and smile and say, “Hi! I’m Tim Rush. I’ll be helping you throughout the year with your music and I’ll be giving you lessons every Tuesday or Wednesday during lunch!”
I never thought that day was the start of something so gigantic that it would lead me into the rest of my life but looking back on it, I realize it was.
I’ve been with Tim for seven years now and, originally, I referred to him as Mr. Rush but as we spent more time together we became good friends, so I just started to call him Tim. Tim has always been there to help me figure out music and teach me how to play percussion.
It started out on a Tuesday during lunch. Instantly after I started in that band in sixth grade, I started taking out of school lessons every Tuesday night with him at Hartland Music. Every time I’d walk in, he’d be sitting and waiting and we’d both have the same greeting of, “Yo watsup,” in an extremely laid back manner which made me feel like I was in a place where I could learn and feel safe.
We started out on easy stuff and it he amazed me with how he was able to play such complicated beats and other assortments on the drum kit. It blew my sixth grade mind  and still blows my mind to this day. He is a machine in human form because he can play virtually any song nearly perfect.
Every year after sixth grade, I got better and better. I gained more complicated skills and honed my talent. There were many times where I didn’t want to practice but he ALWAYS told me, “If you practice, you’ll get better and we can do what you want then but you have to play the simple shtuff first.”
If I hadn’t listened to him, I wouldn’t have ever learned as much as I did. I’d bring in the most complicated things for him to figure out and he’d transcribe it on paper with ease. His ability to detect music and write it is like a microphone that can pick up any miniscule sound and put it on sheet. He has an ear for music, it just makes me want to be like him. He is an inspiration for me!
Whenever I play a song or piece he taught me outside of school, I can hear every word he has said about the piece and every small detail in every nook and cranny of the song. It just goes through my mind whenever I play and I focus on that because I remember how to play the most complicated parts thanks to remembering what he said.
I’m currently a senior and pursuing a career in audio production or in music and have performed as a drummer in multiple concerts and gigs at bars. I love playing music thanks to Tim. He inspired me to be the BEST drummer I could be and I still take lessons from him today.
So whenever I think of that first time I met him and never thought I’d be where I am today, it reminds me of all the good times and the inspiration he was to my drumming. It’s still as refreshing to this day to get to learn from him. He’s like a machine that just plays and makes music. He is Tim Rush, a drummer, a teacher and an inspiration!