Hey everyone, I'm 13 and looking to start playing drums. Won't be able to take lessons because of my busy hockey schedule so I will try to teach myself. If this is a terrible idea tell me now before I waste money. Looking for info on good starter kits, good "teach yourself drums" books, and any tips or ideas in general.

I think you will be ok, my brother has a drum and I sometimes play on it and I never took any lessons and I can play some beats, but if you read books about it and all, I'm sure you can be as good as anyother drum player.

Looking for good (but cheap) entry level drum sets.

If you were living in Quebec, my brother is looking to sell his drum for 150$, but as you're not, you should go to a place where they teach music and they're is always a board with people selling their instruments and most of the time, it is especially for beginners and they are cheap, you can also look in the newspaper for a used one, but even if it's second-handed, some are expensive. I don't know a lot about drums so I can't tell you what to buy.

at www.musiciansfriend.com they have a pretty cheap tama swingstar for under 500 dollars, comes with a 5 piece kit, one crash ride and hi hats with all stands, not a bad deal, just check it out...

All I can say is practice makes perfect. I grew up watchin' my Dad play drums, but he never taught me anything. I taught myself. When I went to take drum lessons I was bored. I was almost better than my teacher, and reading music isn't interesting unless you're planning to be in a Symphony.
I played along to Zeppelin with headphones, so if you like Zeppelin, I suggest you start with that. Bohnam is an excellent timekeeper, and his fills are extra nice cuz he's creative and solid. Just practice keepin' a nice beat, and go from there.......
I'd reccomend you save some serious dough cuz you'll want good gear to be happy. To be comfortable and successful on the kit you need 4 solid things. The actual drums and cymbals aren't as important as these 4 things:

1. A very nice bass drum pedal.
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This is essential. You'll be on this thing the most, and it all starts here. If you have a crappy pedal, it'll throw you off big-time.....
(I reccomend DW 5000, and if you want a good double bass, get the dual chain drive DW 5000, but it's not cheap...)

2. A solid snare stand
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Oh man, you'll want a good snare stand also. You'll be movin' i around alot, and you'll probably change your preference on angles and stuff, so get a good one......It's very important.....

3. An awesome and very very heavy and solid hi-hat stand
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This is almost the most important part of the drumkit. You don't ever want your hi-hats to move around on ya. Your timing hand keeps all your other limbs up to speed, once you start thinkin' about the hi-hats sliding away while you're tryin' to keep time, you'll lose it......
Go to an open mic night somewhere and sit in with them. You gotta start somewhere. Play a crappy drumset, and you'll see what I mean. I'd say, start out with a bass drum, snare, hi-hats and chair......just build it up from there....It's the heart of the drumset, and if you're just starting to learn, you'll need alot of practice before you can take it to the stage, so don't get caught up in the whole "image" of your kit......
Remember....
After you learn how to play drums, you'll hafta learn how to be in a band and play good songs. And after that, you gotta take it to the stage.......

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/...se_pid/445806/

check that out, a bit more, but worth it...

Thanks Equinox for the site and Homeless Cop for the tips. Cop this may be a dumb question but, I should buy some sort of "Learn to play drums" book right? Or does listening to beats work just as well??

Edit: Cop do you have any ideas on good entry level drum kits?? I'm not made of money so looking for something cheap. I guess under $500 is the ideal price, not sure what i can get for that.

Edit #2: What about practicing? it sounds like it can be a bitch to find time to practice without disturbing anyone else.

before you go buy a kit, buy yourself a pair of sticks and hit stuff. if you have no rythm whatsoever, then drums arent for you. if you start to take off. move on to a practice pad, or find some drums at friends houses or school or something. the hardest thing about kit drumming is coordination, and if you don't have it naturally, then it'll be hard to learn. get a book - it's best to have some rudaments in your pocket before you get good.

i bought a premier cabria fusion kit, and its incredible...nothing to complain about. its hard to find premier dealers in north america though (they're made in England). the absolute worst mistake you can possibly make would be buying a low-quality drum set. stay away from ANYTHING under 500 bucks, unless its used. the only way to make a cheap set sound decent is to replace all heads, snares...everything, and thats enough money to make it worth it to buy better drums.

i have to disagree with homeless cop. a bass drum pedal is very, very important, but all hardware should be solid - not just the snare and hi hat stands - but its easy to waste money on hardware. as long as it reliably holds your stuff up, it's good. dont bother with double braces stands unless you plan to put some serious weight on them (i.e. multiple cymbals). also, its extremely important to get good heads. the nicest drums in the world will sound bad without good heads. also, make sure you get good cymbals. i'd reccomend sabian b8s...they sound pretty good, and they're inexpensive. if you're starting out, dont buy zildjians...they're good, but they dont make lower-quality cymbals for beginners.

i agree with canadiandrummer