I’m thinking about learning to play drums for some time now and I have a question. If I’m a complete beginner should I still get a full drum set? I know you can buy a cheap electric set for like $300 but can I start with something smaller and simpler? Are there some kind of electric pads that would work for taking first steps and that would later let me progress to full drum set? It’s not that I don’t have space, I’m just not sure I will stick with it and I don’t want to be stack a big set I don’t use later. Or full set is actually the best way to start?
I love my electric drum set. Playing acoustic drums are LOUD. Like so loud that if anyone is in the house, they can’t watch TV or even have a conversation. And if you live in an apartment, forget about it. Electric drums get really expensive, but just being able to plug headphones in is invaluable.
How I learned to play drums was actually by playing Rock Band and Guitar hero (the later ones had drums, too). It sounds silly, but it teaches you to move your limbs independently and some basic patterns that lots of drummers use. I haven’t tried this, but you might be able to connect a Rock Band drum set to your computer, and get a program to make it act like an electric drum set. It might be a decent starter kit. I think the Guitar Hero drums might be a little better for this, as they have dedicated cymbals and 6 total pads, compared to Rock Band’s 5 pads (including the bass pedal in both). Neither one has a hi-hat pedal, which is a shame. But it might be good enough for a beginner.
If Guitar hero set worked for you than for example this:
https://www.thomann.de/es/millenium_md_90_mobile_drum.htm
should also be fine, right? It even has two pedals. Would that be a reasonable starting point what would later let me move to full drums?
You’ll need a kit like the following link, where the drums are placed more realistically. It’s only slightly more expensive, but you can better transfer from this to a real kit. If you need it even cheaper look up something used. Plenty of people buy stuff like this and resell when they quit or upgrade. I myself got mine used for less than €70 and while admittedly it’s not something I’d use professionally it’s good enough for practice.
Thanks, I’ll see what can I find second hand but yes, if it’s significantly easier to transfer I will just get a full set.
One should always start cheap with hobbies until you know it’s gonna stick
Go full set. Look at something like the Alesis Niro or Alesis Surge - I used to play acoustic drums, but when we moved, I had to have e-drums due to the neighbors.
That’s 400-600 Euro. Bit much to just try it out. Maybe I could find something second hand… What’s the benefits compared with starting with mobile drum pad?
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Hey, I’ve been a drummer for over 30 years. When I started I got a practice pad. That was really the only option outside of a full set and it worked well. You’ll need to build your fundamentals with rudiments that you can apply on a full kit. This takes some time. That’s not to say you can’t jump into a drum set right away, but I can be a frustrating starting point and as you point out, expensive.
As a work around you can set up other objects around your pad and tap your feet to get a feel for coordination on a full set. Once you’ve made some progress and reach the level of uncontrollable tapping on random objects and air drumming day and night, it’s probably a good indicator you’re in deep and probably need to invest in something.
I will add that buying an electronic kit was the best decision I made, and I wish I had done it earlier, and not been such a purist. The main reason being, I can practice more often, and it provides a more drum like experience.
For a first pad there’s lots of options, gum rubber is a favorite, there are some multi surface pads that you may also want to try, if you want to pretend you’re playing on the worlds tiniest kit. For sticks, start with marching drum sticks or “corps” sticks and get a pair of 5A or 5Bs. Work with the corps sticks for a few months and bring in the smaller sticks to get used to those too. The larger sticks will help you build strength and are over all easier to work with. All this should be obtainable for under $100 USD.
Good luck and hope you enjoy drumming!
