 Moon joined his local Sea Cadet Corps band at the age of twelve on the bugle , but found the instrument too difficult to learn and decided to take up drums instead . He was interested in practical jokes and home science kits , with a particular fondness for explosions . On his way home from school , Moon would often go to Macari 's Music Studio on Ealing Road to practise on the drums there , learning his basic skills on the instrument . He left school at age fourteen , around Easter in 1961 . Moon then enrolled at Harrow Technical College ; this led to a job as a radio repairman , enabling him to buy his first drum kit . 
