Practicing On V-Drums

Practicing drums is the single biggest issue almost every drummer faces since the invention of the drum set in the early 1900s. The growth of population density in cities around the world has only aggravated it since most citizens have to live in apartments. This makes it almost impossible to practice in an apartment with an acoustic drum set. Let’s face it, drums are loud and obnoxious. Unless you’re trying to get evicted from the building you’re living in, you won’t want to bust out your acoustic drum set for a long, loud practice session. In order to solve this age-old issue, over the years many companies have developed products that allow drummers to practice at home by keeping noise levels to a minimum. The electronic drum kit (e-kit) is the latest development. In this free live drum lesson, Sean Lang shows you how to make best use of an e-kit to practice and discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of playing on one.

Although the main selling points of e-kits are their reduced noise level and footprint, manufacturers have beefed up their offerings with extremely useful and fun practice features. Nowadays, most e-kit modules come with play-along tracks. You can use them as loops, increase or decrease the tempo at what they’re played and even add in a metronome to the mix for making sure you’re playing in time. You can even connect your MP3 player to a module in order to play along to your favorite songs. Most e-kit metronomes are quite advanced, allowing you to set almost any time signature you can think of as well as different click sounds. To top things off, some of the most popular e-kit models have coach functions that have literally made the modern e-kit a full-blown teaching tool.

Now, e-kits are obviously not acoustic kits. They are very competent in simulating the feel of playing and moving around an acoustic drum set but the feel of the drum and cymbal pads is undeniably different from that of acoustic drums and cymbals. There are also some limitations in regards to sonic and texture nuances. These differences have fueled the ever lasting debate about which kits are the best, acoustic or electronic. Comparisons between both instruments are quite natural since the e-kit is mostly used as a replacement practice tool for the acoustic drum set. However natural this discussion may be, it’s ultimately unnecessary. You see, each instrument has its pros and cons. There are things you can do with e-kits that you can’t do with acoustic sets, much like the opposite. So, instead of discussing which one is better, why not use them both to your advantage?!

If you’re interested in learning more about electronic percussion, we have a very cool video on the Yamaha DTX-950K for you on DrumLessons.com. It’s filled with cool tidbits on how to use electronic drum-sets for gigging purposes, making music, and helping you enjoy your practice sessions way more.

You can use any e-kit to practice the hundreds of free drum lessons we have for you on DrumLessons.com. If you’re a beginner drummer we encourage you to start by learning how to hold the drumsticks. If you’re an intermediate drummer, check the free drum lessons that we have on the intermediate playlist. Advanced drummers can find lessons that might suite their level by checking the advanced playlist instead.