Getting Started as a Drummer:

You don't need a full blown drum set to get started playing drums. The giant kits are great fun and impressive looking, but a few, well selected essentials will get you started properly.

Then, if you realize within a few days that your not ready to work at becomming the next world's greatest drummer, you havn't wasted a small fortune getting set up with a giant drum kit that gets stuffed in the closet, or sold off at far less than you paid for it.

The following minimal set-up will get you started in your quest to become a great drummer for about the same amount of money some folks spend in an average weekend night out.

• A gook pair of Drum Sticks (around $7)
  The sticks are like the wizards wand, you can perform with anything, but the right sticks make everything work better. Look for balance and feel in the hands. Roll them on a nice flat surface to make sure they are perfectly round, and as you play them on a nice firm surface listen carefully to the pitch of each stick. Try to get as close as possible to the same sound from each stick - this is pitch matching your sticks.
  
  
• Practice Pad (around $15)
  If you can't practice on a real drum, a good quality practice pad is the next best thing. With a practice pad you can learn all the basics, get your hands doing what they need to do, and keep your neighbors friendly as you get your hands up to speed.
  


• Metronome (ranging from $10 - $40)
  Drumming is all about timekeeping. The metronome is your friend in your efforts to learn to play in time. A drummer who can not keep a steady beat does not often get called back for a second gig. If you think you want to make drumming your passion, get a metronome and make playing in time second nature to you.
  


• Stick Control by George L. Stone (around $10)
  This is a really great, old book that has all the basic exercises for your hands. For drummers, this is like basic spelling and grammar. You wouldn't expect a writer to produce a great novel without understanding basic spelling and grammar, and similarly, you shouldn't expect to produce great music without understanding the basics first. This is one of the best books available to give a drummer the needed basics. Some of the greatest drum beats and fills ever recorded are simply exercises from this book played around the entire drum set instead of just between the two hands.
  

You can progress a really, really long way toward becoming a great drummer with this minimal set-up. With the wonders of the internet, you can even get amazon.com to send the whole package right to your front door for around $50. I realize that it is much more fun to bang around on a giant drum kit than it is to sit and actually practice sticking patterns on a practice pad. However, for those destined to be the next great drummers in the world, even this humble beginning should prove to be fabulously entertaining at a very reasonable price.