Learning Drums? Check our buyers guide..

If you have just decided to start drum lessons, firstly
I would always advise to get a few lessons under your
belt before buying anything.. Make sure that you enjoy
it and can see yourself continuing for the forseeable
future. Once you know drumming is for you, you will need to get a few basic items which I will cover in this blog post. Clicking on the product links will take you 
to more detailed product pages with the option to purchase online..

OK, first up you will definitely need a pair of drumsticks.. there are sticks of all sizes etc available so I would recommend something of medium size and weight such as a 5A model. Go for decent Hickory wood sticks such as those made by Vic Firth (and their cheaper version, Nova, which are great value for money ).  Another good item to own initially is a practice pad...this is a small rubber pad that you can practice your sticking patterns and rudiments on....it gives the feel and bounce of a real drum but is quiet and far cheaper! Popular models included the Billy Hyde Pad, and the Remo Tunable Practice Pad. These pads will last a lifetime and are invaluable for practicing at home. Another initial purchase might be a tutor book...your drum teacher will usually recommend one that he/she tends to like working from. For me, I tend to go for the Drumsense Volume 1 Book and CD, which gives a great introduction to playing the drum kit. This combination of sticks, pad and book will get you started and you'll soon make some good progress if you spend some time each day practicing.

After a while, you'll hopefully get the drumming bug and will want to practice more and more at home between lessons...this will mean buying a drum kit, either electronic or acoustic (each has their pros and cons)....

In todays blog post we'll look at entry level electronic drum kits. These have got extremely popular in recent years as the prices have got lower and the quality has improved. The market is now awash with chinese models under a wide variety of brand names, many of which are not particually good or robust. One exception to this is the Carlsbro CSD532, an affordable electronic kit with good sounds and a decent build quality. At around £259 its a great buy for the beginner and will really help you to make some progress with your drumming. You can plug in a mp3 player and drum along to your favourite songs, or use the onboard metronome to ensure that your playing is precise and in time.

The market leader in electronic drums is most definitely Roland, a well respected brand that produce some great kits at a wide range of price points. The entry level Roland TD-1K offers excellent sounds and a rack system that wont take up too much room in the house. It also features onboard play-along backing tracks and a metronome, so its ideal for serious practice. It uses rubber pads which feel fine, but if you fancy a mesh snare drum pad for an even more realistic feel and response, the next model up, the Roland TD-1KV might be the one for you. Either of these kits will give years of use as a great practice aid..just plug in a pair of headphones and drum away, without bothering the other people in the house or neighbours. They are laid out like a regular drumset, with pads for snare, toms and cymbals, and silent pedals for bass drum and hihat. This layout means that you are basically playing an industry standard 5 piece kit and have all that you need for a good few years worth of lessons. Even if you start to work towards drum exam grades, these kits have all the pads etc that you will need so you dont have to worry about out growing them and needing to upgrade for some time.

We'll cover a few more models as well as acoustic drumkits next time.....

---