Bach's story

Bach Huy Nguyen is an 11-year-old drummer who, after just a few years of playing the drums, has achieved a Merit at Grade 8 in Trinity’s Rock & Pop Drums exams.

Bach’s first brush with music was at five years old in Vietnam, when he started taking piano lessons. After Bach and his family moved to Australia, his piano lessons stopped, but at the age of 8 a new passion was sparked when he attended a trial drum lesson.

Bach told us about that first back lesson in 2020.

“I picked up the drumsticks and my teacher Peter at Peter's Private Drum Lessons told me how to hold them.  I played a few simple beats and then I just started playing – and I loved it!”

We asked Bach what he liked about drums in particular.

“It's a funny instrument, and it's also complex, which means that I have to try hard to achieve something to play well. It’s difficult but that's why I love drums because it gives me a challenge.”

Bach has a broad and varied taste in music, learning songs from a range of genres in just a few years.

“I started learning drums seriously when I learned 2 or 3 songs of Snarky Puppy and then I moved on to Math Rock with Chon, which is really hard because you don't know what's going to happen next - It's pure craziness!”

Also a fan of Fusion Jazz, Bach told us what he liked about songs in these genres.

“They are complex with lots of improvising - If there’s irregular stopping and starting, time signatures and stuff like that I like it. Something to learn independently and to think about.”

Bach’s started learning pieces from Trinity’s graded songbooks in 2022.

“This last year I found out about Trinity on YouTube - I saw the technical exercises there and they sounded really fun. I started learning one and two of them and after that I found the Trinity syllabus.”

“In Trinity’s syllabus all the technical devices are put together into a solo or a song. I find it more fun to play it that way because it's continuous."

“I bought the Grade 8 book, and I learned some songs, such as Fire from Jimi Hendrix, Rosanna from Toto, 7 Days from Sting and so on.”

Bach loves performing and regularly draws large crowds when he busks in Sydney.

“I love busking because it improves my confidence - I feel really happy when the audience support and cheer for me.”

“Also I get to play with my friend Taiyo, who plays on the piano and sings. After we busk, we get to hang out and drink boba tea together, which is really fun.”

Bach’s father, Huy, tells us that Bach has already added another string to his bow.

“He picked up drums and piano quite quickly and he said he needed to a new challenge, so I gave him the guitar to try, and he seemed to get it quite quickly."

With three instruments already under his belt, we asked Bach if he had any advice for someone just getting started.

“If you were trying struggling to play the drums, don't give up because though drums are hard at first, once you learn the basics, you can you find it a lot easier.”

You can check out Bach's drumming on his YouTube channel or follow him on Instagram.

“In Trinity’s syllabus all the technical devices are put together into a solo or a song. I find it more fun to play it that way because it's continuous.”

Find out more about Trinity Rock & Pop exams
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