What is the #1 tool that new drummers must use for fastest development of your skill?
The Drum Practice Pad of course!
And this is the #1 practice pad in my opinion:
Drumeo P4 Practice Pad
It comes with 4 different surfaces that provides different drumstick feedback as well as tones.
The drumeo P4 practice pad allows you to build your fundamentals while keeping practice pad training sessions fun.
Most pro drummers swear that practicing on a practice pad is important, especially to the growth and development of a drummer.
Many continue to kickoff their drumming sessions with a quick warm up on their practice pads, even after they have developed a strong foundation.
PLUS!
You can carry them everywhere and make any place, your practice ground.
Ok, enough talk.
Let’s dive straight in right now:
What is a drum practice pad?
A drum practice pad features a surface that emulates the feel and bounce of the drums. It allows drummers to practice (and warm up) on it.
Drum pads are relatively cheaper and quieter compared to the actual drum kit. Hence, they are commonly used to practice drum rudiments, train stick control, arm strength and coordination.
Ideally, drummers should use drum practice pads to build up their foundations – even the pros continue use drum practice pad to improve or to practice their rudiments!
Most drum practice pads have a single surface for users to play on. Depending on the material of the practice pad, it can provide different feels and bounce to emulate different types of drum surfaces.
These pads may be mounted on a stand or placed over a snare drum during practice – although to keep things simple, we can just place the pad on a table of suitable height and start practicing anyhow.
In the recent years, manufacturers have increased the options of drum practice pads targeting different drummers too. New drummers should stick to the basics and start building their foundation before thinking about getting more complex pads. Hence, I decided to purchase the: Vic Firth 6″ Double Sided Practice Pad
Featuring 2 surfaces (1 softer with greater bounce, the other harder and louder), I think the Vic Firth practice pad will probably be sufficient to help me build up my drumming foundations for now.
There are various sizes of practice pads in the market, the common sizes being 6 inches and 12 inches. I went for the smaller one as I have limited space on my desk to place it. If you have access to a snare drum or have a bigger desk, you can opt for the 12 inches practice pad instead.
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If you are a new drummer like me, get the Vic Firth New Drummer Starter Kit and let’s start drumming together soon!
In the meantime…
What’s a new drummer gonna do to start drumming while waiting?!?!
Alternatives to a Drum Practice Pad
To kill boredom and to start some form of practice and drum training, I found some alternatives to a drum practice pad while I wait! If you are in the same, painful state as I am, here are some alternatives you can consider!!
Thick Books / A Stack of Magazines
The bounce on these is horrible. But, the wise drummers on forums argue that practice pads with less bounce helps a drummer to build arm strength while training. I guess it has it’s advantages then.
I’m using a stack of old magazines I found lying around at home. Before you start hitting these tape them together to prevent them from shifting around as you go crazy with your drum rudiments (not that I didn’t think of that before practicing…)
Get ready to change the magazine on the top depending on your strength. I left dents on mine, but I can imagine anyone who is hitting those with greater strength can actually create tears on the surface.
Pillows
These should also be readily available at home. Avoid using soft feather pillows that do not hold their shapes, it’s frustrating to have to constantly adjust them (again, not that I’d know…^^) Go for the harder pillows, but do not use the memory foam ones. Depending on your strength, any damage may be permanent.
Phone Apps
There are free phone apps with drum sets that you can play using your fingers. I have fat fingers and a phone that lags. This option sucked.
Still Waiting on my Drum Practice Pad…
Although these alternatives work for now, I would prefer to start practicing on an actual drum practice pad now. The bounce and feel that I’ve seen on different videos look so much better. (Although I guess when it comes to building muscle memory for drum rudiments, these do not really matter…)
Now I really can’t wait It has arrived! I shared my review on the Vic Firth Practice Pad here.
