Learning to play an instrument can be one of the most exciting and rewarding goals possible to achieve. However, many people don’t stick to these goals because starting out on an instrument can be very intimidating. Playing the drums can be especially difficult because of the many pieces that make up a drum set.
With this guide, you can get started with a greater chance of developing a lifelong pastime.
Buy Quality Equipment
The first step is to make sure you have the right equipment. Your equipment should include your drum throne, your sticks, and a metronome.
Your drum throne is important, because your posture and comfort while playing can greatly affect the way you learn to play and your overall technique. You can look at this drum throne review from DCP, which guides you through what you should consider when purchasing your first drum throne.
You’ll also need a good pair of drum sticks. Luckily, drumsticks are very affordable, and they come in a variety of different sizes to fit your hands and grip. The type of stick you buy will also depend on the style of drums you want to learn to play, so you should try researching the best sticks for your genre of music as well.
When you’re just starting out, you should also get a metronome. This tool has a consistent clicking noise to help you keep the beat, and it will help you develop a good sense of rhythm before you move on to trickier rhythms on a full set.
Buy the Important Pieces First
The drum set consists of:
- The snare drum
- The bass drum
- The toms
- The hi-hats
- The cymbals
We recommend that you choose your snare drum first, because it is essential for pretty much any beat you’ll learn to play. It has a loud cracking sound that you can pick out easily in any song.
The bass drum is the biggest in the set, which sits on the floor. When you’ve had practice with the snare, adding in the bass is important to keep the pulse of a song. You need to learn to kick it consistently to keep the rest of the song in line.
The hi-hat is located next to the snare with two cymbals, which crash against each other when you step on its pedal. This is also essential in basic drum patterns.
The toms and the cymbals are used as accents to the basic beats you can learn on a set. They can add a wide variety of pitches and sounds to keep your drum beats interesting. You can even mix and match your cymbals and toms to customize your set, but you shouldn’t worry about this in your early days of drumming.
When just starting out, you don’t even need to buy the full kit—just the snare, the bass drum, and the hi-hat are better to learn first. Fun accessories can come later.
Find a Teacher
Whether you start learning online or in person with a teacher, you should learn from other experienced drummers to really nail your technique. You can go to weekly lessons in person, which can easily be found at your local music store. If you don’t have the time in your schedule for this, however, there are many helpful videos, books, and guides online to help you learn your first beats and get the drum rolling.
Get Started and Go For It!
Though starting to learn on a drum kit can seem like a huge challenge once you actually press your foot to the petal, breaking the set and the equipment down into smaller, more digestible parts can help you learn the basics of any beat you need to learn.
Taking it one step at a time and making sure you’re getting yourself quality equipment from the start can really help jumpstart a passion for drumming.