Alexandra Ramirez
1. Gammon
Best Overall Kids Drum Set
The Gammon 5-Piece comes with everything your child will likely need considering his or her current skill level. It comes with a crash cymbal, a hi-hat, a twelve-lug bass drum, a snare drum and several toms. As it turns out, this is all that is needed to play basic rock, pop or hip-hop songs without your child getting overwhelmed or frustrated at having to learn to use an unnecessarily large variety of different drum pieces. Of course, you may choose to add on to the set in the future as you and your child see fit.
What makes the Gammon 5-Piece so great is that it is a “real” drum set. It is not made entirely of plastic, nor are the cymbals toned down to spare your ears as your child plays the drums. The Gammon 5-Piece is just like any other five-piece drum set, just scaled down to fit your child. This is perfect if you suspect your child will truly pick up on the instrument and continue to grow in talent, as he or she will be able to easily adjust to larger drum sets in the future to account for an increase in skill.
– Darius Spieth
2. Mendini MJDS-5
Best Overall Kids Drum Set – Runner Up
The Mendini MJDS-5-BL is similar to the above Gammon in that it offers your child everything necessary to begin learning how to play the drums without including any pieces which may only serve to complicate things as your child begins to learn the basics before moving onto more advanced techniques and, thus, more pieces of equipment. The drum set comes with a crash cymbal, a hi-hat (with an included driven pedal), a snare, three toms, a bass drum (with a chain driven pedal which is also included), one set of drum sticks and an adjustable throne on which to play. The cymbals are all made completely of brass, as is the norm in adult drum sets.
The drum set also comes with a one-year warranty. While one year may not sound like an awfully long time, it’s important to remember that your child is still growing and this drum set is merely meant as a stepping stone to kick off the learning process. As an added bonus, the vast majority of customers who’s kids have previously used the drum set all attest that it sounds great. This can act as an encouraging incentive to keep your youngster interested in the entire learning process.
– Darius Spieth
3. Mendini MJDS-1
Best Budget Kids Drum Set
This Mendini drum set is easily one of the most simplistic kids drum sets you’ll likely every come across on the market. While most kids drums sets come with multiple toms and two or three cymbals, this is not the case here. In fact, the drum set only comes with a four-lug bass drum, an eight-inch crash cymbal a six-by-eight-inch tom and a four-by-ten-inch snare. However, simple, in this case, does not necessarily translate to low quality.
In fact, you may very well find the Mendini’s small and simple stature to offer a few benefits. The most obvious benefit here is that, even when compared to the two above drum sets, this particular set will be extremely easy to learn on. Also, if you’re unsure as to whether or not your child will stick with playing drums, you don’t have to worry about losing as much money as you would have had you bought a more extravagant set. If your child masters this set with ease, adding onto it through the purchase of separately-sold cymbals and toms is a piece of cake.
– Darius Spieth
As previously stated, the most important aspect to consider when buying your child a new drum set is how the pieces of the set in question will compliment your child’s skill. More or less, you want the drum set to be very basic in nature. And, as it turns out, all of the above drum sets fit this description perfectly. While they all have everything your child will need to begin his or her journey into the world of drums, it stops there. This keeps things easy on your child and your wallet.However, you may have noticed that while each of the above drum sets are rather basic, the degree to which this is true varies from model to model. At this point, it is truly all up to you as to how basic you want to go. Do you need a hi-hat? Will one tom suffice or should you have three or four laying about? What about the sound quality? Is a four-lug bass drum enough or will you need something a bit more heavy-duty? The answers to these questions depend both on how much you’re willing to spend and how likely you feel your child is to keep at the drums, as opposed to get bored of them after a few tries. Remember; you can always add more drums to a set.
Amazon.com 
Kids Drum Set Buying Guide
What is a Kids Drum Set?
Believe it or not, buying a drum set for your child has a few more requirements and considerations which should be made outside of merely buying them a smaller set than what you might otherwise buy for yourself. Being that your child is likely to have a different learning curve and initial skill set that you have (or would have, depending on your own musical interest), the proper drum set for your child must be made in a way that not only allows them to hit all of the drums and cymbals with ease, but allows them to learn how to play in the first place without getting overwhelmed.
Such an effect is primarily achieved through a careful selection of pieces within the drum set, wherein the manufacturer in question will decide which pieces promote your child’s ability to progress in knowledge and skill and which pieces may only serve to hinder him or her for the time being. With that said, let’s find out exactly what makes a drum set good for your child in the first place and look at a few examples of such sets.
Up until this point, we’ve looked at several examples of just what it is that makes a good kids drum set good. Whether you’d like to do some more shopping outside of the above list or simply cannot decide which set to pick, the following considerations should help you in your decision. Here are a few things to think about before buying your child a drum set.
Where do your child’s abilities currently lie?
Just because your child has never played drums doesn’t mean he or she doesn’t already have a natural ability to play. If you’ve noticed your kid is good at keeping a rhythm (whether through singing, clapping or through the tapping of feet) you may be able to get away with getting a drum set with more pieces.
How strong is your child?
Unlike the guitar or the bass, drums are meant to be hit as hard as you can. As such, stronger children will need a drum set with more lugs, as such a drum set is more likely to allow you child to play to his or her fullest potential without getting damaged. On the other hand, those with smaller children can likely get away with a drum set with less lugs.
Has your child already expressed interest in learning the drums?
If so, it’s probably a good idea to get a full, five-piece drum set. If you’re unsure, you can always get something simple like the Mendini MJDS-1-BL. If you go this route, you can always add more pieces to the drum set later as you see fit.
Kids Drum Sets Variables
As with drum sets made for adults, each kids drum set comes with a different amount of pieces (“pieces” referring to the amount of cymbals and toms in the set). They also come with their own sound and level of sound quality, distinguishing one from the other. Here are some of the ways kids drum sets may vary.
- Lugs – Simply put, drum lugs allow your child to bang on their drums without them falling apart. A larger, stronger child may be better off with more lugs on his or her drums so as to keep them intact.
- cymbals – The only cymbal that could be considered as being “standard” in a kids drum set is the crash cymbal. This is because it is the only truly necessary cymbal from a beginner’s standpoint. After this, the hi-hat is the next most common cymbal you might expect to find in a set.
- Toms – You’ll usually see at least two of these in the vast majority of sets. Still, you may find some with less than that. Toms are usually the last thing you’ll use to expand your kid’s drum set with, as they are used the least and are often more complicated to use in the first place. While they are certainly still important, you might want to focus on grabbing an extra cymbal or two before purchasing extra toms.
Common Kids Drum Set Features
Despite certain features’ usefulness being dependent on your child and his or her skill set (among a few other variables), there are two important features which could always be considered as being inherently good in any kids drum set. Here are those features.
-
- Lots of Lugs – You can have too few lugs, though you can never have too many. More lugs will give you a higher degree of durability. It’s obvious why this is a characteristic which should be sought after.
- “Real” Drums – Playing fake drums is to playing real drums what Guitar Hero is to guitar. Outside of electronic drum sets, nothing can replace real acoustic drums. Spending the extra few bucks to get a quality set is always worth your money.
Conclusion
The most important thing to consider when you’re buying a new drum set for your child is how the drum set will impact their ability to learn, whether positively or negatively. As such, it is generally a good idea to get a drum set which is no larger than a five-piece (such as the three mentioned above). Of course, everything outside of this golden rule is up to you. Smaller drum sets than the five-piece exist. Whether any drum set’s size is right for your child all comes down to whether or not your child finds said set easy to learn on. While smaller sets are always easier, they tend to be less versatile, possibly requiring you to constantly add on new pieces as your child progresses. It’s up to you to decide where your priorities lie in this regard.
Outside of its size, the only other rule really written in stone is that “real” drums are always better than pretend drums. To be sure you’re getting real drums; you can’t go wrong buying from a brand which makes both child and adult-sized drum sets, as this is a surefire way to always get a quality set of drums. Remember, outside of an electronic drum set, nothing can replace real drums. Not even for a child.
