She’s only 8 years old, but the girl sure can play! Japanese drummer, Yoyoka Soma, grew up with music and instruments all around her, thanks to her musical parents who had a home studio. By the time she was 2 she was playing the drums “as if I were playing with toys”. By 4 she was performing at concerts, and by age 5 she was playing in a family band with her parents and releasing their own albums.

 

Yoyoka lists Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham amongst her drumming idols, and it’s clear she’s been studying the late master closely, in this impressive and spirited cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times”.

 

Far from an easy song to play, Bonham’s use of sixteenth-note triplets on one bass drum has been emulated by rock drummers ever since, not to mention the fact that he manages to keep the hi-hat playing eighth notes throughout almost the entire song with his left foot. As Jimmy Page has stated: “The most stunning thing about the track, of course, is Bonzo's amazing kick drum. It's superhuman when you realize he was not playing with double kick. That's one kick drum! That's when people started understanding what he was all about.” Keep an eye on Yoyoka’s little foot in the left hand corner of the video.

 

But what’s most awesome about Yoyoka’s performance is the look of sheer determination on her face, followed by pure joy when the chorus kicks in! It proves that you’re never too young to appreciate the world’s greatest rock band.

 

To appreciate how well she nails the performance, listen to the original version first...

 

 

 

And now you're in the mood, play Led Zeppelin all day long with our 'I Like: Led Zeppelin' Spotify playlist below...