WHEN QUESTLOVE REPOSTED MY VIDEO
There I was, waking up the day after Christmas, grateful to sleep in a bit and get some much needed rest. After I was awake, I opened my phone to check emails and social channels, not thinking or expecting much. Oh, was I wrong! I first noticed that Questlove himself (you know, from The Roots, The Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show, the Obama’s BFF, etc) had commented on a video I had posted on Christmas of my drum student getting her first drumkit.
My husband Alex said, “Liz, he didn’t just comment on your video, HE REPOSTED!” I couldn’t believe it. Questlove, one of THE biggest drummers out there right now, shared a video of MY drum student to his 1.5 million followers? Yes, he did. Let’s backtrack a bit…
This video now has over 800,000 views!
IT ALL STARTED WITH MY 6 YEAR OLD DRUM STUDENT, LYLA
I have been teaching drums to Lyla for 9 months where she’s learned over 10 songs, drum beats, drum fills, rudiments - all with a smile on her face. The only time she played on a full drum kit was once a week when she would come over for lessons. The rest of the time, she practiced on a practice pad and literally airdrummed. Never once did she complain or say it wasn’t fun - she was having a blast!
Her parents wanted to get her a drumkit for Christmas, so I recommended a few options, one of them being the Ludwig Questlove Pocket Kit. I noticed that when Lyla played on my full kit at my studio, she would struggle to try and move the drums to get comfortable - you could just tell they weren’t her size. I knew Ludwig is a trustworthy brand and after listening to some videos of the kit in action, I knew it was the perfect kit for her. It was a bit more expensive then other introductory kits, but I’m glad her parents went with it :)
Her parents bought the drumkit and shipped it to my house where I put it together and tuned it up. We made plans for me to drop off the kit on Christmas Eve since Lyla had absolutely no idea she was about to be gifted her first ever drumkit. I asked her Mom to take a video of her response to see if she would be excited or not.
UH, YEAH - SHE WAS PRETTY EXCITED!
Her Mom sent me the video and I teared up! It was such a sweet moment, and knowing how hard Lyla worked for it - it was so touching. I almost didn’t share the video because it was a personal moment. But with her parents blessing, I decided to share it on my Instagram feed and tagged Questlove and Ludwig Drums hoping they would see it just so they can see the impact they have on people.
When I opened my phone and realized what was happening - I was in shock. I was excited, then nervous because we didn’t expect this and I know how people on the internet can be (not so nice). Had I just subjected this 6 year old to humiliation? But the response was overwhelmingly positive! The things that Questlove shared about his own first drumkit, the encouragement people commented to Lyla, and the amount of people who reached out to ME to thank me for teaching drums was insane. I couldn’t believe it! It was so inspiring. There were even a few people who anonymously donated drum gear for Lyla! Incredible.
All this to say - you never know how you might encourage others and what might catch on - so keep creating, pouring into others and sharing! It may just bring a lot of joy to people.
HI, I’M LIZ APONTE
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