The Back of the Band Room
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Newbies
Congratulations! You've recently joined band and picked the coolest instrument. I'm proud of you for choosing so wisely!
Before you can start though, you'll need to pick up a few things! Here's what I recommend a beginner percussionist having by the end of their first year of playing.
Feel free to find used mallets, stick bags, pads, and music stands! Buying drumsticks new is advised, unless you want some pre-chipped sticks
1 Pair of
Concert Band Sticks
1 Pair of
5A drum set sticks
1 Pair of
"General" Timpani Mallets
Practice Pad
*Music Stand
1 pair of
"Medium" marimba mallets
Stick Bag
Developing Players
After the first year or two so, you'll need a few more items. At this point, you'll hopefully be getting some sort of exposure to 4 mallet grips, playing some timpani in band, and possibly even playing in your schools jazz program or getting some drum set opportunities elsewhere.
Some things you might want to add to your collection are:
1. A second pair of marimba mallets that match the first pair you bought, making a set of 4 medium mallets.
2. A pair of stacatto timpani mallets
4. A pair of xylophone mallets
Serious Players
If at this point, you're near the end of high school or about to start college as a music major, here's a few things you might want to have for auditions or gigs
Multiple pairs of each level of hardness of timpani mallet, ranging from very soft to very hard
Triangle
Tambourine
Triangle Clip/Beaters
Multiple pairs of each hardness of marimba mallet, ranging from very soft to very hard.
2+ pairs of each level of hardness of vibraphone mallet
"General" drum set sticks
"Heavy" drum set sticks
"Light" drum set sticks
Brushes
"Rods"
Timpani mallets
Swizzles