Acoustic drums for beginners

Acoustic drums for beginners are complete drum kits with hardware: a bass drum pedal, hi-hat stand, snare stand and cymbal stands. They suit your first rhythms, learning to coordinate hands and feet, and your first rehearsals with a band. You can choose from the Mapex Comet and Venus, Gretsch Drums Renegade and Energy, Tama Stagestar, Pearl Midtown and Roadshow or PDP by DW CENTERstage ranges. Unlike electronic drums, the heads and cymbals sound at full volume directly in the room, so you immediately learn to work with the real sound and the strength of your strokes.

What's in a complete kit and what do you need to buy separately?

A complete kit always includes drums and hardware, but the contents vary in three areas: cymbals, a stool and sticks. More than half the kits include cymbals; for the remaining kits, allow for buying cymbals separately. Most kits have a stool, and only some include sticks. A kit without cymbals makes sense if you want to choose your own cymbals by their sound, while a kit with cymbals is a quick route to an instrument you can start playing straight away.

20 or 22-inch bass drum: which drum kit size should you choose?

You'll most often choose between a 20 × 16 and a 22 × 16-inch bass drum, where the first number is the diameter and the second is the depth. A kit with a 20-inch bass drum, often called a fusion kit, is more compact, has lower tom positions and suits a smaller room or a smaller player. A 22-inch bass drum sounds deeper and fuller, which you'll appreciate for rock and playing with a loud band. There are also compact kits with a 16 or 18-inch bass drum that take up little space and are easy to carry.

The shells are almost always made from poplar, which gives a warm, balanced sound. For example, the plastic NUVO Zip-Kit is an exception.

Can you practise acoustic drums at home?

You can practise acoustic drums at home if you have a room where their volume won't disturb your neighbours; a snare hit is loud even when you play gently. Mute pads for the heads and cymbals reduce the volume when you fit them for quiet practice. A rug under the kit is useful to stop the bass drum and stands moving and to partly reduce transmission into the floor. If you need to practise with headphones, compare electronic drums for beginners too; you'll find the full beginner selection on the drums for beginners page.