Sticks

Vic Firth American Classic 5A drumsticks are a great option for most players starting out…

However, for young beginners with smaller hands, a pair of Vic Firth American Classic 7A drumsticks are a better choice…

Practice Pads

Below are a few good practice pads. The decision is yours as to whether you want to buy a smaller, more portable pad or a larger one that can sit on a snare drum.

Evans 12″ Real Feel Practice Pad
(Suitable for placing on top of a snare)

Evans Real Feel 6″ Practice Pad
(Portable size, has as a mounting thread in the bottom so it can screw on to a cymbal stand)

Music Stands

If you don’t own one already, another essential purchase is a music stand. They’re not expensive so it’s definitely worth buying. You can either opt for a more sturdy stand that can hold larger books more easily or a smaller, more portable stand.

Here’s a heavier, sturdy stand a lot like the one I use in my studio…

Or a lighter, more portable stand…

Lesson Journal

It’s a great idea to keep a music journal for your drum lessons and practice. You can keep a note of the things that you are working on, the tempos you are at, plus write down any additional ideas that you come up with yourself. Here’s a music practice journal that I designed for my students, available through Amazon. It features lined writing paper on the left pages with music manuscript on the right…

Metronome (iOS Apps)

There are lots of free & cheap metronome apps available on iOS, Android and web-browsers. Here are a couple which I use and feel are not too complex for beginners…