6 Year-Old Drummer Rocks Like A Pro At School of Rock Princeton

When Raghav Mehrotra bounces through the door at School of Rock Princeton for his weekly music lesson, he seems like a typical energetic and carefree 6 year-old boy.  But when he takes his seat behind one of the school’s full-sized, 7-piece professional drum kits, his game face emerges - and it’s obvious that this youngster comes to play, and play loud.

“Raghav has natural musical talent above and beyond anything I’ve ever seen, and he may become a better drummer than me before he’s a teenager,” explains Dante Cimino, professional drummer and music director of School of Rock Princeton.  “He inspires both our younger and older students as well as our teachers, and he’s an amazing representative of School of Rock’s performance-based music program.”

Raghav first began drumming at the early age of three, when his parents bought him a floor tom-tom.  He loved banging the drum, and experimented for hours with different rhythms as he played along with the radio, CDs, and an iPod.

At three and a half, Raghav graduated from tom-tom to a mini drum set and began taking drum lessons with Daniel Johnson, a percussion teacher from Hopewell, NJ.  Daniel found Raghav to be a quick learner, and the two jammed together on such exotic instruments as an African djembe hand drum, a Peruvian cajón drum, Latin bongos, and Indian tablas.

“To witness Raghav’s unique talents blossom has been truly inspiring,” says Daniel.  “I’ve performed live with him in front of audiences, and it’s apparent that he’s not just my student, he’s also my musical peer.”

When he turned four, Raghav graduated to a junior Ludwig drum kit.  He progressed quickly, and when searching YouTube with his parents Pooja and Gaurav for videos of other young drummers, the family came across information about the School of Rock.

“We visited School of Rock Princeton in August 2010 and met with Dante,” explains Pooja.  “We showed him some video clips of Raghav in action, and he thought that the School would be an excellent place to develop Raghav’s rock n’ roll drumming skills and his enthusiasm for the drums.”

Currently a second grader at Maurice Hawk Elementary School in West Windsor, Raghav is as comfortable playing with accomplished teenage musicians at School of Rock as he is with his two year-old brother Vir, who bangs along on a djembe when Raghav plays his drum set at home.  In addition to practicing the exercises, rudiments, and songs that he’s learning in his School of Rock lessons, Raghav also enjoys playing along the music of his favorite bands, which include Rush, Led Zeppelin, Dire Straits, Guns N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones, Jet, and Yes.

The reason why Raghav is so passionate about the drums couldn’t be more genuine:  “I love playing drums because I love music and it makes me very happy,” he says.

VIDEO:  Raghav jamming along with "Tom Sawyer by Rush.