Dude,
If you have a real passion for it, then picking it up by ear
shouldn't be a problem. Unless you're one of those poseurs who are
in it just to look cool with drumsticks sticking out of their back
pockets or trying to impress some chick in school by joining
Superband! I had friends who started taking lessons at Yamaha just
because they thought it would be cool to play the drums, only to
get bored a month later and dropped out.
I started playing in Sec school without any formal lessons, just
jamming with some classmates who all wanted to play the
guitar. Fast forward about 20 years later (with some periods
of hiatus here and there) I'm now playing in my church band.
Depending on how good your sense of rhythm and co-ordination is, it
should take you a couple of years to get reasonably adept at
playing the drums. Just don't expect to play complicated drum solos
from the get-go, but you should be at least be able to play along
to some simple ditties.
If budget permits, get drum pads mounted on a frame to place in
your home for practise. Like everything else, practise makes
perfect and once you pick it up, you won't forget it.
Check out www.freedrumlessons.com for
starters. They've got really cool beginner lessons (with videos and
accompnaying text) that should get you going, at least for now.
Suggest to also listen to some Ramones (go to YouTube) - if you are
too young to know, they are a now defunct punk band that
used really simple 4-4 beats for their songs.
Hope this helps.
