Learning to play the drums is not easy. It all starts with having a decent drum set. However, if you’re a beginner, choosing and buying one can be challenging once you see how many options are available. So, this article reviews five of the top contenders for the best beginner drum sets on the market. Let’s get to it.
Comparison Chart
Alesis Drums Debut Kit – Kids Drum Set With 4 Quiet Mesh Electric Drum Pads, 120 Sounds, Drum Stool, Drum Sticks, Headphones and 60 Melodics Lessons
Drum Set Eastar 22 inch for Adults, 5 Piece Full Size Drum Kit Junior Beginner with Pedal Cymbals Stands Stool and Sticks, Mirror Black
Best Beginner Drum Set: Reviews
Yamaha Stage Custom Birch 5pc Drum Shell Pack
Suppose you’re looking for nothing more than a beginner shell pack. If so, this is an excellent kit from Yamaha. Yamaha makes some really nice hardware, and they haven’t failed to do so here.
Review
If you are looking for a drum kit with a loud and snappy sound, these birch drums are fantastic. Birch is an excellent material to use for any drum because of the great sound it produces. It’s also highly durable. As Yamaha notes, these drums are “built round and designed to stay round.”
You get a 20 x 17” kick, a 10 x 7” rack tom, a larger 12 x 8” rack tom, a 14 x 13” floor tom, and a 14 x 5.5” snare With your purchase. As you can see, this is just a shell kit, and the primary option does not include any hardware. However, there is also a package with the hardware that costs more.
The staggered diagonal seam provides a very thin build with exceptional quality. In addition, the low-mass lugs allow the drum shells to vibrate a lot for fantastic tone and sustain.
Yamaha uses a unique air seal system for all their drums. As a result, all their drums have a uniform thickness and are perfectly round to provide excellent tonal quality and durability of all components.
In addition, this drum kit looks super due to the high gloss lacquer finish, but if this doesn’t appeal to you, there are a few different colors to choose from.
Pros
- Fantastic price
- Everything you would expect from a shell kit
- High-quality birch
- Air seal system
- Absolute style lugs
- A few colors to choose from
Cons
- Hardware not included
- No cymbals, throne, or kick pedal
Alesis Drums Debut Kit
This electronic drum set is ideal for kids and beginners. It comes loaded with features you might really like. Once again, these are electronic drums.
Review
An electronic drum set has many benefits, although it’s not a genuine drum kit per se. For one, they’re smaller and more portable than actual drums. Moreover, this drum kit will teach you or your kids how to play drums.
The electronic control panel can be hooked up to a tablet or PC. As a result, you can access over 60 different drumming lessons, something ideal for beginners. It also comes with 30 tracks that you can play along to.
In addition, there are over 100 different sounds that these drums can make that can be accessed via a sound module control panel. This panel features intuitive controls that are easy to master; you can adjust each pad to make specific sounds.
Although these are electronic drums, they sound authentic. They feature intelligent dynamic articulation technology for very accurate sound reproduction. If you didn’t see them, you wouldn’t know that they are electronic. This electronic drum kit can be hooked up to an amplifier using the 1/4” stereo outputs.
There are quite a few components included besides the sound module, including four 6” drum pads, three cymbal poles, three 10” cymbal pads, two floor pedals (kick and hi-hat), headphones, a drum throne, and drum sticks. Moreover, all components are made with pretty durable materials.
Pros
- Great for beginners
- 60 lessons and 30 play-along tracks
- Fairly accurate sound reproduction
- Set with all necessary components
- Can be hooked up to a PC or tablet
- Can be hooked up to an amplifier
- Fairly durable components
Cons
Just not quite like the real thing
Music Alley 3 Piece Kids Drum Set
This scaled-down drum kit is excellent for children to learn. It’s called a three-piece kit, but it has more components than that.
Review
This beginner drum set is for kids between the ages of three and eight. Although you might expect it to be more of a toy, it’s really not. However, these drums may not be constructed out of the best materials (metal, wood, and plastic), but the set is ideal for kids. In addition, it comes at a very reasonable price.
These drums feature natural wooden shells with a metallic finish that offer an authentic drumming experience. In addition, the skins are tunable, which is not something you find too often on a children’s drum set.
One of the main components is the 14” bass drum with lugs for stability and the pedal to play it. There’s also an 8” snare drum, a 10” cymbal, and an 8” tom drum. The drumsticks and the drum throne are also included.
Pros
- Great set for kids
- Comes with all basic components
- Real drums made out of pretty high-quality materials
- Includes a throne
- Reasonable price
- Skins are tunable
Cons
- Finish scratches easily
- Difficult assembly
Eastar Full Size Drum Kit for Beginners
This kit from Eastar is a full-scale and fully functional drum kit to learn on. It comes with many components and has an excellent quality, yet is reasonably priced.
Review
Let’s look at what this drum kit includes. You get a 22 x 16” bass drum, a 12 x 8” mounted tom, a 10 x 7” mounted tom, a 14 x 5.5” mounted snare, a 16 x 16” floor drum” a 16” straight cymbal, and a 14” hi-hat cymbal. You also get drum sticks, a bass pedal, and an adjustable drum throne; it’s a fully functional drum kit.
As drums often do, all components are durably built and designed to take some serious punishment.
For instance, the bass drum has an 8 drum lug structure with iron and electroplated materials. The drum base also has a double plate structure that can hold up to 330 pounds.
In addition, the bass drum has a thick and resonant premium drum head. Its shape is perfectly designed for loud, snappy, and vibrant sound. The skins are tunable and have excellent vibration, and they’re durable.
Moreover, all drum bodies, heads, and skins are made with high-quality components. As a result, they’re durable, tunable, resonant, and have great sustain. And finally, the Eastar drum kit comes with a 12-month warranty.
Pros
- All-around fantastic sound
- Fairly durable components
- Reasonable price for a complete kit
- Comes with everything you need
- Ideal for adults and beginners
Cons
Assembly is exceedingly difficult
Mendini By Cecilio 3-Piece Kids Drum Set
This is a small and affordable beginner drum set for kids. It might have only a few components, but they are durable and sound great.
Review
Although this is a children’s kit, all components are made with high-quality materials. For instance, all drum shells are made out of high-quality hardwood. They also come with triple-flanged hoops and tunable skins. As a result, these drums are durable enough to take a serious beating from an enthusiastic child.
Moreover, the drum skins provide an authentic playing experience. As mentioned, they are tunable and, moreover, quite strong. The build allows for outstanding resonance and sustain and a loud and snappy sound. This might be a drum set for children, but they sound pretty decent.
The assembly is relatively easy, unlike other drum kits we have looked at. It comes unassembled, but there aren’t too many components, and the instructions are clear.
This set comprises an 11 x 16” bass drum, a 5 x 10” mounted tom drum, and a 5 x 10” mounted snare. You also get a 9.5” cymbal and the cymbal arm. All drums come with lugs and hardware.
Pros
- Great price
- Fantastic for kids to learn on
- High-quality components
- Fairly durable build (the drums)
- Easy assembly
- Sounds pretty good
- Tunable skins
Cons
The hardware could be of a better quality
Buyer’s Guide
Before shopping for a beginner drum set, there are a few essential factors to keep in mind.
Types of Drum Kits
There are two categories: full drum set and shell drum set. Shell drum sets come with only a few components, usually the bass drum and the toms. On the other hand, full drum sets will include the bass drum, the toms, snares, symbols, hardware, etc.
In addition, you also want to look at the difference between acoustic and electronic drum kits. Electronic drum kits are fantastic for kids and beginners because each drum pad can usually be programmed to make various sounds.
These usually come with learning programs to play along with. However, getting the same acoustic drum sound quality from electronic drums is highly unlikely.
Drum Sizes
Drums come in different sizes. For instance, bass drums come in four regular sizes, including 20″ x 14″, 20″ x 16″, 22″ x 16″, and 22″ x 18″. Snare drums are usually about 14” in diameter.
Floor toms can be 14”, 16”, or 18”, while mounted or rack toms are 8”, 10”, 12”, 13”, or 14”. If you’re shopping for kids, go for the smaller varieties, and for adults, go for the larger ones. However, if you want significant volume and sound quality, the larger ones usually perform better.
Drum Rug
Getting a drum rug is recommended if you want your drum kit to stay in place and not slide around. Drum rugs also help dampen the vibrations created by the drums, particularly by the bass drum.
Although none of the beginner drum kits we reviewed come with drum rugs, this is something you should consider investing in. This is crucial if you get an acoustic drum kit that is bound to make some vibrations.
Sound Dampening and Muffling
A drum rug is one good way to dampen some of that sound. Drum dampening and muffling are designed to make the drums quieter. However, it may also produce less tone, less sustain, less ringing, and fewer high-pitched frequencies.
There are a few different types of drum dampening, so we recommend doing some more research on that front. You want some dampening if you’re playing at home with other people around or even in an apartment. You can’t really play drums at full volume when there are people all around.
Cymbal Quality
Another important factor is the quality of the cymbals. First, any good cymbal should be copper alloy due to its sonic and tonal qualities.
In addition, the thicker the cymbal, the higher the pitch will be. Therefore, thick cymbals are ideal for loud crashes, whereas thinner cymbals have more flexibility.
Setup
A drum kit should be easy to set up. This means getting a set that comes with very clear instructions. Also, you need the proper hardware to get everything up and running. Ensure that your kit comes with arms, stands, lugs, etc.
FAQ
What Comprises a Typical Drum Set?
A typical drum set will include the bass or kick, a rack or mounted tom, a floor tom, a snare, a hi-hat cymbal, a crash cymbal, and a ride cymbal. You will also need the mounting hardware, lugs, a drum throne (the stool), and drum sticks.
Do I Need To Wear Ear Protection When Playing The Drums?
Drums can be as loud as 130 decibels, and yes, it can damage your hearing. Therefore, it is recommended that ear protection be worn when playing the drums.
How Many Toms are Enough?
Most people would recommend having one or two floor toms and up to three rack toms.
Final Thoughts
We recommend the Eastar Full Size Drum Kit for Beginners if you’re looking for a great beginner drum set. It comes with everything an adult needs to get started with drums.
