My first drum set was a toy with paper heads. The heads were broken in a couple of weeks, so my dad bought me two drums at a Sears overstock store. Those drums took me a little further until my older cousin gave me a Slingerland kit that had been shelved for years. I took care of it, taking me a couple more years into middle school when I got a Pearl Export. My parents did their best, but I would do it all differently for my beginner drum set player.
Today, we have so many more options, and the prices haven’t changed much in 30 years. If I were to buy my 4- to 10-year-old a beginner drum set, it would be the Ludwig Pocket Kit. It’s the best quality and most complete for the price. A beginner drum set needs to last a few years, not like my first kit, so it’s worth the small investment for quality.
Putting all drum sets aside, the biggest question is whether or not your child will want to play the drum set after the novelty wears off. This is probably the hardest question and most dangerous to answer because s/he may not play the drums two weeks later. The drums may sit for weeks or months before the real inspiration kicks in. Be patient and encouraging. Remind them how good things come with hard work and persistence.
1. Size
The size of the drummer is an important consideration. It may seem obvious, but you’ll need to account for your drummer growing over the next year or two. If s/he grows out of a small cheap kit too fast, you’ll be left with a frustrated young artist and a drum set no one wants.
These starter drum sets come in a variety of sizes. The kick drum is the drum that most dictates the size of the drum set because all of the other pieces are built around it. Beginner kits can range from 14” to 20” kick drums.
Sizing a drum set for kids requires the following considerations:
- Age – Will your drummer grow quickly in the next year?
- Height – If you buy a 20” kick drum, will s/he reach the rack toms?
- Pieces – How much space do you have for the amount of drums and cymbal stands?
Mendini makes a junior kit with a 13” kick drum. This is a beginner drum set for a small player. It’s three drums and a cymbal. The price is just below $100, and the next level up kit is just over $150. The next level up from the same manufacturer includes two more toms and a hi hat. This kit is for ages 4 to 6.
If your beginner drummer is bigger and likely to sustain interest in playing, go with the larger kick drum and a more solid design. The Ludwig Pocket Kit (around $250) is a great choice for a young yet dedicated drummer.
The Ludwig Breakbeats kit is a compact and portable drum kit designed in collaboration with Questlove, featuring a distinctive sound and versatile setup tailored for breakbeats, small venues, and urban environments.
Let’s say your beginner drummer is almost finished with elementary school and you want to buy something that will last several years, go with the PDP Player. It’s just over $300 and has plenty of room to grow through early adolescence.
PDP Player 5-piece is a drum set known for its versatile and high-quality design, featuring a 22-inch kick drum, snare drum, and a trio of toms, providing drummers with a reliable and dynamic instrument for various musical styles
2. Durability
How long your child will play this drum set helps determine how durable it needs to be. If they aren’t likely to grow out of it in the next couple of years, a more durable drum set might make more sense.
Transporting drums is also something to consider when it comes to durability. You don’t need to get highly durable or top-of-the-line drums, but the child’s toy like drum sets won’t transport well into vehicles or in and out of the closet. Drums that are transported tend to get dropped more or slammed into walls.
The Ludwig Pocket Kit is the most durable beginner drum set for the money. Sure, you could go with a Sound Percussion Lab kit and not feel much of a difference, but Ludwig drums will always maintain a better resale value (see “Resale” below). Other brands that are known for durability include Ddrum, PDP, and Pearl, which can get a little pricey on certain models. If you aren’t sure about a brand or model, ask me in the comments below.
3. Price
The price of a beginner drum set ranges from $150 to just under $500. It all depends on how many drums, the quality of the drums, and whether or not it’s made by a brand with a good reputation.
Price is third on this list because you have to consider the durability and the size of the drums before looking at the price. Like I mentioned above, you also have to consider the size of your child so that you make a choice that makes sense for their age and likelihood of continuing to play into the future.
If you buy a drum set that doesn’t have enough pieces, you may find yourself spending more money on add-ons. On the other hand, if you buy a drum set that’s too big or too much quality, you may find yourself having spent too much money for your child’s interest in drumming.
The Ludwig Pocket Kit is the kind you buy and resell when it’s time to grow. Some of these other kits, like the PDP or Pearl, offer models between $400 and $500. The Pearl Roadshow series, for example, has a variety of sizes. The downside is that you’ll have to buy a hardware package and a cymbal package, which is highly recommended. But you’ll have a drum set that could last the average hobbyist a lifetime. I’ve played professional gigs in Manhattan on much worse.
4. Cymbals
The beginner drum set may come with cymbals. These cymbals are generally not good quality and likely won’t stand up to some of the abuse that young drummers can impose. But this is not to say that decent cymbals won’t come with a beginner drum set. The cymbals that come with the Ludwig Pocket Kit are enough to get started.
You can spend as much on cymbals as you do on drums. That’s why it’s important to know which cymbals are crucial for a beginner drum set. This is where knowing enough to balance the needs versus the wants could save you money as you support your beginner drum set player.
The ride, high hats, and crash are the basic cymbals for a beginner drum set. You may even see professional drummers with just these three cymbals. But make no mistake about the quality of the professional cymbals. The ride cymbal itself on a professional’s drum set could cost as much as a good quality beginner drum set.
If the beginner drum set you purchase does not come with cymbals, consider one of the many cymbal pre-packs. The pre-pack price is usually less than buying the cymbals individually.
The Zildjian I Series Essentials Cymbal Set is a comprehensive collection of high-quality bronze cymbals, including 14-inch hi-hats and an 18-inch ride, offering a balanced and professional sound for drummers across diverse musical genres.
5. Hardware quality
The hardware you’ll want to look closely at for quality include the rack tom mount(s), floor tom legs, kick drum spurs, snare stand, hi hat stand, and cymbal stand(s). These pieces may have cheap construction that will loosen up over time. I try to find stuff that’s solid, especially when your beginner drum set player becomes stronger and lays into the instrument a bit more.
Single-braced hardware can be sturdy. It’s my preference these days because it’s light enough to bring to weekly gigs. Double-braced hardware is usually heavier and therefore sturdier, but it doesn’t always mean it’s better. You want hardware that will be just strong enough for a beginner drum set player. Luckily there are more options than when I was piecing together my drum set at 11 years old.
The Ludwig 400 Series hardware pack is the best pack for under $200. It comes with a snare stand, hi hat stand, a straight stand, and a boom stand. If you purchase the Zildjian ZBT cymbal pack, this hardware pack is perfect. Remember, the Ludwig Pocket Kit comes with basic hardware like snare and hi hat stand. This pack is better for those who choose to purchase a drum set that does not come with hardware.
The Ludwig 400 Series Hardware Package is a durable and reliable drum hardware set, known for its sturdy construction and essential features, offering drummers stability and ease of use during performances.
6. Replacement heads
The ultimate question is whether or not the heads can be replaced. Are the drums able to receive professional quality drum heads from manufacturers like REMO, Aquarian, or Evans? Will the drum shells, rims, lugs, and tension rods handle the strength of replacement?
If your young drum set player is drumming regularly for months, it’s going to need new heads. This is not always an easy indicator to predict in advance. That’s why it’s so important to be able to gauge how committed your child is to playing drums.
The drum head packs are often your best price, unless you only need one head. Drum heads are usually a couple bucks more than the diameter you need. Pre-packs range from a little more than $50 to just under $70, depending on the sizes you need. Some pre-packs come with a kick drum batter head (striking side) and may cost closer to $100.
Common Drum Head Pre-Pack Sizes
- 10”, 12”, 14” toms
- 10”, 12”, 16” toms
- 12”, 13”, 16” toms
The Remo Pinstripe Drumhead Pro Pack comprises a set of high-quality drumheads known for their clear and focused sound, featuring dual-ply construction with a built-in overtone control ring, making them ideal for achieving a well-defined and controlled tone across various drum sizes.
7. Mute Packs
This one will save everyone. It’s awesome to hear the full-on drums, but it’s also cool to not annoy the whole household, or worse – the neighborhood. Learning play as a beginner drum set player comes with a necessary respect for gradual progress. One day, the sounds will start to come together, and it will all be worth it.
Until that day, or when that day wears off, use drum mutes. The mute packs are inexpensive and don’t take away from developing strength and good technique on the instrument. With mutes on the drums, your beginner drum set player will have the ability to practice with more force, less holding back, and hopefully more relaxation than if the volume had to be controlled.
You can expect to pay between $30 and $90, depending on how many mutes you want to buy. If you buy the mute pack for just the toms and snare, the cost is on the lower end of this wide price range. The kick drum itself is a little under $30.
I recommend the Vic Firth Drum Set Mute Pre-Pack. It’s about $80 and comes with all of the mutes, including the mutes for the kick and cymbals. The Sound Percussion Lab full drum set pack is also a good deal and comparable in quality and price.
The Vic Firth Drum Set Mute Pre-Pack is a versatile and customizable drum muting solution designed to reduce volume and maintain a natural feel, offering drummers a convenient way to practice quietly without compromising the playability of their kit.
8. Resale
Either your beginner drum set player will continue playing and grow out of the first kit or quit and let the drums collect dust. It doesn’t matter which direction this journey takes. You still may want to sell the drums at some point, so resale value is something I always consider.
The Walmart beginner drum set or even the Mendini kit won’t have the resale value of a more established brand like Ludwig or Pearl. Questlove’s endorsement of the Ludwig Pocket Kit will help, for sure. It’s resale will hold up more than other kits at the same price point and free up some investment to buy new drums or go a different direction with expressive activities.
9. Expandable
Maybe this is not the first drums that you bought. The first drum set could’ve been something you found on craigslist or a drum set that a relative gave to your young drummer. This time you’re purchasing a new drum set and it’s time to buy a drum set that has some room to grow.
I would try to consider some of the ideas on this list such as replacement drum heads, hardware, drums sizes. One of the biggest issues is the hardware. Will you be able to add another tom? Is that tom a floor tom or a rack tom? Will you be able to add a tom arm clamp to your cymbal stand?
Other add-ons can be simpler than tom’s. You may be thinking of adding a splash cymbal, which is less expensive if you’re able to clamp a cymbal arm to a sturdy cymbal stand that you already have.
As you can see, it’s as much about the hardware as it is about the drums. When the hardware starts to break down, will you be able to buy replacement parts for the cymbal stands or the clamps? It’s not something that many people think about when they buy drums or spend a lot of money on hardware, but the ability to repair the stuff that you’ve purchased is very important, especially if you’re going to spend so much money on it.
Here are some of the hardware manufacturers that have excellent replacement parts and hardware add-ons to accommodate more cymbals and drums.
- Pearl
- Ludwig
- Tama
- Yamaha
- PDP by DW
- Sound Percussion Lab