Learn to play the Drums | Stepnote.co.uk - your destination for music education

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+ Difficulty Rating + About the Drums + Equipment Cost + Accessories + Genres played on the Drums + Famous players + Famous songs & albums + History + Type of Drums + Related instruments + Audio Samples Difficulty Rating: 5/10

About the Drums:

A drum kit (or drum set or trap set) is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments arranged for convenience playing by a single drummer. Differing music styles implement the components of a drum kit in different manners. For example, in most forms of rock music, the bass drum and snare drum are the primary instruments used to create a drum beat. In jazz, however, the ride cymbal and hi hats (or brushed snare drum and hi hats) usually fill this role.

Equipment costs:

Low end Drums: £100
High end Drums: £1.400

Accessories:

Drum Cases
Drum Heads
Drum Skins
Drum Sticks
Metronomes

Genres played on the Drums:

Rock
Pop
Jazz
Heavy Metal
Blues
R’n’B

Famous players:

Dave Abbruzzese (Pearl Jam)
Alex Acuña (Weather Report)
Carter Beauford (Dave Matthews Band)
Art Blakey (Jazz drummer)
John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)
Ian Paice (Deep Purple)

Famous songs & albums:

Album: Love Supreme - Drummer: Elvin Jones
The Who Sings My Generation - Keith Moon
Aja - Drummer: Steve Gadd
Make a Jazz Noise Here - Terry Bozzio
Led Zeppelin II - Drummer: John Bonham

History:

The very earliest drum kits were developed in the late 1800s and were literally just collections of drums assembled together in such a way that they could be played by one musician, the drummer.

In the 1920s and 1930s the drum kit, which was a central part of jazz music, developed further as cymbals from China were produced in the United States and added to drum kits see section below, although the sizes were often altered to allow for ease of play using drumsticks. In the developing rock and roll era of the 1950s, as the style of music changed the demand upon drummers changed also, leading to drummers altering the way their kits were set up and making additions to their drum kits.

The period when rock music developed into a heavier style in the 1970s and early 1980s saw a general increase in the size of drum kits in use by famous bands and musicians. This was the era when it was very common to see large drum kits with many tom-toms and double bass-drums along with many cymbals being used.