GEAR

Drumsticks

Students are required to bring their own drumsticks to drum lessons.

You may want to purchase two pairs - a pair for home and a pair for lessons.

The most popular drumstick in the world is the Vic Firth 5A. You can’t go wrong with these.

A cheaper option would be the NOVA sticks (made by Vic Firth), available in a range of sizes from smallest to largest: 7A, 5A, 5B, 2B.

An absolute must for all drummers.

New drummers can start off on the pad before committing to buying a drum kit.

Even if you have a drum kit, a lot of your practice can be done on a pad (warm ups, technical work).

Practice pads are portable, have a good rebound are and much quieter than practicing on acoustic or even electric drums.

Your family and neighbours will appreciate it too!

Metronomes are an important practice tool, especially for drummers.

They help you to keep a consistent beat as you practice, and are great for tracking your progress as your tempo increases.

The Tama rhythm watch is a great drummer’s metronome. There are also app based metronomes like Tempo or Gap Click.

We believe in the value of high quality music books, rather than just handing out photocopies.

There are 3 main books we use in our lessons for developing technique and musicianship skills.

These books are for all levels and will last you for many years. They are available in paper or ebook format.

I recommend purchasing these three as ebooks from Hudson Music (click image to purchase):

Electives

From Grade 3 onwards, students are encouraged to choose electives based on their interests and individual goals.

Here is a selection of the most popular books with links to purchase from Hudson Music.

Grade Books

Drum grade books are included as part of your lesson fees.

Grades give you a realistic view of your current skills. The Grade levels are: Premiere, Debut, Grades 1-8.

Grade books contain the repertoire and exercises required to pass each grade (exam optional).

Students have the option of Rockschool, Trinity Drum Kit, or Trinity Rock & Pop.

Acoustic drums generally come in 3 different configurations:

Rock: 22” bass drum, 14” snare, 12” and 13” toms and 16” floor tom.

Fusion: 20” or 22” bass drum, 14” snare, 10” and 12” toms and 14” floor tom.

Fusion Plus: 22” bass drum, 14” snare, 10” and 12” toms and 16” floor tom.

Pearl Export - Acoustic Drums

Roland TD-07KV - Electronic Drums

Low volume cymbals

Mesh heads

Drum and cymbal mutes