On this page you will find required materials for lessons on drums & percussion here at Promethean Studios and various other resources for drums & percussion as well. The resources on this page are specifically for drums & percussion, more generic resources (metronomes, music stores, recording studios) are listed here. At the time this information was entered, all links worked and products listed were available. For information purposes only; we won't post resources when we know there might be any sort of problem with a product, business, or person listed but please checkout the reliability, appropriateness, and reputation of any resource you plan to use. If you have any additional questions, please ask your teacher or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
For Lessons:
Drums in fair condition. Snare drum or Trap set. A snare drum is required to begin lessons. Students may provisionally begin lessons with a practice pad for the 1st month in preparation of purchase of a snare drum. Students intending on learning trap set should own a 5 piece trap set or plan on purchasing a trap set within 3 to 6 months of beginning lessons. A 5 piece trap set (minimum) consists of a bass drum, snare, 2 toms, and a hi-hat. Additionally, 2 cymbals (1 ride and 1 crash) are highly recommended. Your teacher can advise you on the suitability of specific instruments.
Sound Percussion Practice Pad with Mount - @ $20.
Pearl SK-900 Snare Drum Kit with Backpack Case - $175.
Ludwig Accent 5-Piece Power Shell Pack - $500.
Pearl Vision VMX925HSP 5-Piece Fusion Shell Pack - $1100.
3 ring binder with loose-leaf paper and pockets for holding handouts.
Pencil. Musicians write with pencils because they make changes to their music and make frequent notations on the pages. Erasable, colored pencils are best.
Metronome. Korg Ma-30 (a Promethean Best Buy), Korg TM-40, Planet Waves PW-CT-08, or Boss TU-80 or better. Use the metronome for everything possible. It will develop your sense of rhythm and counting; equally important, it will show you where you should be practicing. If you follow the beat from the metronome in songs and exercises, the areas where you don’t do well will be revealed, and you’ll know where to spend extra practice time. The metronome is your drummer. A SUBSTITUTE: A little home keyboard with rhythms and metronomic markings is more fun than a metronome. Students who practice with metronomes or rhythm machines will also progress about 5 to 10 percent faster.
Recordings of 5 pieces of your choice, within these guide lines: 1) No songs where violence, drugs, cursing, or sex figure largely, 2) No songs where what you like about the song is how hard it is – for now. Just pick songs you think are cool. You'll play along with these songs as you learn basic beats and grooves, as well as work on the licks and fills that are in the song.
Be careful not to get instructional material (for songs), and TAB-only (internet) or words-with-chords should only be used only very occasionally, because there’s no way to know how long any of the notes or chords last. You will work through 1-2 songs per month, and will need to keep a steady supply of cool songs available, as we learn the old ones. If you have recordings of these songs, that’s great and very useful, but not required.
Drum play-along CDs of your choice are recommended. These will be songs you like with the drums missing. Play with the CD or listen to the original drummer.
Drum Sticks. 2B or 5B. Pro Mark, Vic Firth, and Vater are good brands. Jazz, Funk, & Latin students should purchase 5A or 7A sticks.
Tuning key or Tension Tuner. Any brand.
Recommended: Drumstick Bag, practice pad.
Harvard Brief Dictionary of Music. Recommended, but not required. Definitions for many useful musical terms are found here.
Lead students will eventually require accompaniment tapes (jam tracks) and a lick book to develop ad libbing skills.
More drum and percussion resources:
Bart Elliott's Drummer Cafe - total awesomeness
The Drummer Cafe contains drum and percussion related news, reviews, interviews, articles and lessons with audio, video and PDF downloads. Its first-class drum forum has over 2,000 active members; novice to professional drummers and percussionists. | http://www.drummercafe.com
For more information about classes and our teaching philosophy, click the buttons on the left. All the pictures on this website are of our students and teachers.
