This page will help you choose a kit from among some quality cheap drum sets that will help you go from drum pad practice to the real thing, but without having to break the bank. A complete professional drum set can cost several thousands of dollars, but is not really necessary for a beginner. Many brand-name starter drum sets from manufacturers such as Sonor, Pearl, Yamaha and Ludwig can be found for well under $500.

 

Buying Cheap Drum Sets

For some quality cheap drum sets from top brand names, as well as lesser known brands, visit this page at Same Day Music .
When browsing at a store, watch for the kits that include everything you need in one package, 5 piece drum sets, cymbals, sticks, all needed hardware, and even a drum throne (seat). Those package deals make it very easy to start with a complete drum set, although they might not include the best quality accessories. But the good news is that it’s no big deal to get a good set of replacement cymbals, throne, and sticks later on, budget permitting.
Always remember that generally you get what you pay for. Expensive sets will come with more options, sound better, be sturdier, and last longer than cheap drum sets. But, all the extra quality will not necessarily make a difference to a beginner, and cheap starter sets may be particularly suitable for beginners who are not even sure if they’ll stick with it.
Additionally, some parts of cheap drum sets can be easily upgraded. You can replace the drum-heads with better ones, get new cymbals, and replace the bass drum pedal if necessary. You can do these upgrades bit by bit, and they will go a long way toward making your initially cheap drums more professional and longer lasting.

Brand Name Beginner Drum Sets

If you have more in your budget, a brand name beginner drum set, from a well trusted and established company, may be the way to go. A brand name beginner drum set will come with a better warranty, and will be easier to sell or trade if you decide to replace one with a better kit. Major brand name manufacturers who make entry level drum sets include, Ludwig, DW (Drum Workshop), Tama, Premier, Pearl, Sonor and Mapex.

Buying Cymbals for Your Set

Some drum sets do not include cymbals, or the included cymbals are just not very good. Therefore you’ll often need to buy cymbals separately. You can buy cheap 3 or 4 cymbal packages, which go for less than buying cymbals individually, and are suitable for beginners. The 3 packs, which include a hi-hat pair, and a crash-ride combination cymbal, will naturally be cheaper. But having only three cymbals for your drum set is not recommended, even if you are just starting out, because it will limit your practicing and playing.
Check out the following highly rated 4 cymbal packages:

• Zildjian ZBT Pro Cymbal Pack
• Sabian B8 Performance Cymbal Pack

And this 3 cymbal package (if you insist):

• Zildjian ZBT Starter Setup Cymbal Pack

You can grab a cymbal pack here.When comparing prices, don’t forget to take into account if the starter drum kit includes cymbals. That’s because the cost of cymbals covers a large portion of the cost of a complete kit.

Learn How to Play Drums Using the Matched Grip for Volume, Speed, and Accuracy

Hold a drumstick using the matched grip a few inches (perhaps about 5) over a drum or practice pad (Figure 1). Now you are going to hit the drum. Hit the drum by just moving your wrist in a quick motion up, down, and then back up. Your wrist should bend about 30 degrees up and down. Also, when the stick hits, let it bounce, as you lift your wrist up.
Now, remember those three curled fingers holding the drumstick from underneath, the middle finger, ring finger, and pinkie? Release those a bit. So now, when you hit the drum, the stick is going to hit those fingers as you lift your wrist up, and hit your palm as you move your wrist down.
To hit the drum harder with the same wrist motion, squeeze the curled fingers as the drumstick comes down, so that they help push the stick onto the drum. Release them as the stick goes back up. Be sure to not grab the stick too tightly, as this will interfere with the stick’s motion. Just push the stick along. Now you have your wrist and fingers share the effort required to hit the drum. The distribution of work among several muscle groups is part of the secret of how to play drums with more power and less effort. This concept is also used in all kinds of sports, like tennis, golf, and baseball.

For even more power with not much added effort, release the pinkie, index, and ring fingers some more, and let the stick rise up to vertical, or almost vertical angle, as the wrist comes up before you hit the drum (Figure 2). As the stick goes down, again push it with the curled fingers. If you make the motion fast enough, you should hear a “whoosh” as the stick moves through the air. The tip of the stick is going supersonic… only kidding, but it’s going pretty fast, and this with just the wrist and fingers. Bringing the tip high up gives the hand a longer opportunity to apply force to the stick, resulting in a greater velocity, and therefore a louder sound as you play. Furthermore, the stick will bounce high and go back up. It’s almost as if the stick is playing itself and you are just helping it along a little. This makes playing fast drum rolls much easier, and because it’s easier, the roll strokes will be more even and accurate. Try it! LRLRLRLR… As you do the roll, also use your forearms a little in an up and down motion.

For an explosive sound, we’ll now bring in the whole arm into a full drum stroke. To begin the stroke, lift your forearm up and elbow out (Figure 3), and then strike the drum by bringing your forearm down and elbow in. As you lift your arm up and bring it down, you’ll find that the wrist and stick lift up and come down in a snap, just like described in the last paragraph, but now mostly out of their own momentum. Pulling the elbow in brings the lat muscles into action. The lats are very big muscles that extend from the side to the center of the back and are responsible for bringing the arms into the body. These are the same muscles used to do a pull up at the gym. As you play the drum stroke, be careful to keep your shoulder down and relaxed. The shoulders will usually get tired very fast if you keep them raised.
To minimize the effort required to play drums with the full stroke, you will let gravity help you. After you lift your arm, let it drop with no muscle effort, just gravity. If you go through the motions described here, the sound you’ll produce will be very loud and snappy, but with no muscle power on the way down!
The main difficulty with using just gravity to be the timing of the drumstick hit. You’ll need to think ahead a bit, and lift your arm up in time for it to come down on the beat. Assisting the stroke with just a little bit of muscle power will take care of the timing problems, but try practicing on getting the timing right with just gravity.
Drum volume is largely a function of stick height. The higher the stick’s starting point, the greater its head “collision” speed, and hence the louder the sound.If you want a very loud sound, use your elbow, arm, and wrist to lift the stick high. For moderate volumes, use your forearm and wrist to lift it up. Also, remember that you can use your fingers to add power to the stroke no matter what height you start from.
The next drumming technique lesson will teach you how to apply what you’ve just learned to achieve fast speeds on the drums

Holding Drumsticks Using the Matched Grip

This discussion is centered around the matched grip method of holding drumsticks. Other grips, like the traditional grip, are out of scope here. The matched grip, in which the drumsticks are held the same way by both hands, was made vastly popular by Ringo Starr, who, of course, burst on the scene with the Beatles in the early 60′s. The matched grip is especially good for rock power playing, but otherwise a very versatile grip.

Drumsticks Tutorial

To start, lay a drumstick in front of you with the tip pointing away, and pick it up at the stick’s balance point using your index finger and thumb, with your palm facing down (Figure 1). If you haven’t read about drumsticks and balance, go drum sticks balance   lesson page.

Next, roll the stick across your index finger so that it is now between the first and second joints of the index finger but touching the first joint (Figures 2 & 3).


Now that you are holding the stick with just the, thumb and index finger, palm still facing down, curl the other fingers loosely around the stick (Figure 4). Don’t grab the drumstick tightly, since as you hit the drum, the stick should pivot around your index finger. Also don’t squeeze the stick too tightly with the thumb. Keep it loose.

Finally, tilt your hand at a slight angle to the right for the right hand, and to the left for the left hand (Figures 5 & 6). This will enable you use the 3 curled fingers to bounce the stick, and is also a more natural hand position.


For the matched grip, of course, the drumsticks are held with left hand a mirror image of the right.
The next drum technique lesson discusses how to use the matched grip with your fingers and arm to add explosive power and speed to the way you play the drums.

Learn About Drum Sticks Balance

The first thing anyone should learn about playing with drum sticks is stick bounce and balance. This is essentially drum sticks 101, and is the basis of some of the other drum stick technique discussions on this site. Therefore, we must first explore this topic here.

 

Drum playing with sticks makes much use of stick bounce. Simply put, the stick hits the drum and then bounces back up. Each stick has a specific grabbing point at which it bounces best and is most comfortable to use if held there. This point is usually a little more than a third of the length up from the base of the stick. If you hold the stick too close to the tip, the stick will feel too light and won’t want to come down onto the drum as well, if you hold it to close to the base, the stick will feel too heavy and will not want to bounce back as well.

You can determine where your drum sticks should be held, by testing where the drum sticks bounce best, as shown in the picture to the right. Put the drum stick on your index finger, lift it up with the help of your thumb, and let the stick bounce by allowing the tip to drop. You can use a table top, a practice pad, or a drum for this.
The next drum technique lesson will show you how to hold drum sticks using the matched grip and get ready to hit your drums.