If your child is curious about drumming, the word “drums” covers far more ground than the kit you picture on a concert stage. Drums appear in nearly every musical culture on earth, in shapes and sounds that run from a booming orchestral timpani to a small hand drum played in the lap. Most of them sort into a handful of families, and once you can see those groups, it gets much easier to picture where a young beginner might start.
What You’ll Find in This Guide
- How Many Types of Drums Are There?
- Acoustic and Electronic Drum Kits
- Hand Drums
- Frame Drums
- Orchestral Drums
- Marching Drums
- Drums Around the World
- Where Did Drums Come From?
- Which Type of Drum Should a Beginner Start With?
- Frequently Asked Questions About Types of Drums
How Many Types of Drums Are There?
The main types of drums are the acoustic drum kit, the electronic drum kit, hand drums, frame drums, orchestral drums, and marching drums, along with a large family of regional drums played around the world. Drummers group the hundreds of individual instruments into these broader categories based on how each drum is built and how it is played. Nearly all of them share the same basic design, a membrane called a drumhead stretched over a hollow shell and struck by a hand or a beater to make sound.
| Drum family | Common examples | How it’s played | Where you’ll hear it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drum kit (acoustic & electronic) | Snare, bass/kick, toms, floor tom, cymbals | Sticks and foot pedals, seated | Rock, pop, jazz, worship |
| Hand drums | Conga, bongo, djembe, cajon, darbuka | Hands and fingers | Latin, African, folk |
| Frame drums | Tambourine, bodhrán, pandeiro | Struck, shaken, or with a beater | Folk, Celtic, world music |
| Orchestral drums | Timpani, concert bass, concert snare | Mallets and sticks | Classical, film scores |
| Marching drums | Marching snare, tenors, bass, cymbals | Sticks, worn with a harness | Marching band, drumline |
| World & regional drums | Taiko, tabla, surdo, udu, talking drum | Varies by tradition | Regional and world music |
Acoustic and Electronic Drum Kits
When most people picture drums, they picture a drum kit, a seated setup one player controls with both hands and both feet. An acoustic kit is built around a few core pieces: a snare drum for the sharp backbeat, a bass drum (also called the kick) played with a foot pedal for the low pulse, and a set of tom-toms plus a floor tom that fill in higher and lower tones. Cymbals like the hi-hat, ride, and crash usually round out the kit, though cymbals are technically idiophones rather than drums, since the whole metal disc vibrates to make the sound.
The core five-piece layout has stayed consistent enough that makers like Yamaha have documented it for decades.
Electronic drum kits recreate those same pieces with rubber or mesh pads and a sound module. They can shift between hundreds of sounds, plug into headphones for quiet practice, and take up less room, which makes them a common choice for families who need to keep the volume down at home.
| Acoustic kit | Electronic kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Sound | Natural, resonant tone | Sampled, adjustable |
| Volume | Loud, hard to dampen | Quiet with headphones |
| Space | Needs a dedicated area | Compact footprint |
| Best for | Bands, live playing, big sound | Apartments, shared homes, late practice |
For a child who wants to play along to rock, pop, or worship music, the kit is usually the starting point, and structured drum lessons help a beginner build coordination across all four limbs from the very first week.
Hand Drums
Hand drums are played with the fingers, palms, and heels of the hand instead of sticks, and they developed across many cultures with their own techniques and sounds. Congas are the tall, single-headed drums that came out of Cuba and usually appear in sets of two or three tuned to different pitches. Bongos are their smaller, higher-pitched cousins, a joined pair often played resting between the knees. The djembe, a goblet-shaped drum from West Africa, is played with bare hands and can jump from deep bass tones to sharp slaps. The cajon, a box-shaped drum from Peru, is played by sitting on it and striking the front face, and its portability and lower volume make it a favorite for acoustic and folk settings. Many hand drums are approachable for young children because they answer back the instant you tap them, with no sticks or pedals to coordinate yet.
Frame Drums
A frame drum is any drum where the head is stretched over a shallow frame rather than a deep shell, which makes it one of the oldest and most widespread drum designs. The tambourine is the most familiar example, with small metal jingles called zils set into the frame so it can be shaken as well as struck. The bodhrán is an Irish frame drum played with a small double-ended beater called a tipper, and it sits at the heart of Celtic folk music. The pandeiro, a Brazilian relative of the tambourine, is central to samba and known for the range of tones a skilled player can pull from one instrument.
Orchestral Drums
Orchestral drums are the percussion instruments written into classical and film music, played with mallets and sticks to color and accent the ensemble. Timpani, also called kettle drums, are the large bowl-shaped drums a player tunes to specific pitches with a foot pedal, and they carry some of the most dramatic moments in an orchestra. The concert bass drum adds deep, booming punctuation, while the concert snare handles crisp rolls and rhythmic detail. A percussionist reading for an orchestra or concert band often learns several of these instruments, which is part of what makes band and orchestra lessons such a broad musical foundation.
Marching Drums
Marching drums are built to be played while moving, so they are made larger and tougher and are worn with a harness. The marching snare drives the beat with a bright, cutting tone, while multi-tenor drums, a curved set of two to six drums played by one person, add melodic runs across different pitches. Marching bass drums, carried sideways and split across several players, lay down the low foundation, and the front ensemble, a stationary group of mallet and auxiliary percussion, fills out the sound. Students who enjoy the team side of music often gravitate toward the drumline, where every part locks into one moving rhythm section.
Drums Around the World
Beyond the Western kit and the concert hall, nearly every culture has developed its own drums, and many now turn up in music worldwide. The tabla, a tuned pair of hand drums, is central to Indian classical music, and the mridangam is one of the oldest drums still in regular use. From Japan, taiko drums are large barrel-shaped instruments played in choreographed ensembles known as kumi-daiko. West Africa gives us the talking drum, an hourglass-shaped drum whose pitch bends when the player squeezes its cords to imitate speech, along with the clay udu from Nigeria. Brazil’s surdo anchors the low pulse of samba, and Latin timbales bring bright, cutting accents to salsa and Afro-Cuban jazz.
Where Did Drums Come From?
Drums are among the oldest instruments humans have made, with evidence of drums and percussion reaching back to around 3000 BC in China and 1000 BC in Africa. Early drums were built from materials like gourds and animal skins, and many served purposes beyond music, from religious ceremonies to long-distance signaling between villages. Artwork from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome shows drums in both worship and celebration. The instruments changed over thousands of years, yet the core idea, a skin stretched over a hollow body and struck to make rhythm, has stayed remarkably constant.
Which Type of Drum Should a Beginner Start With?
The best first drum depends on the music a child wants to play, how much space and quiet you have at home, and how old the beginner is. A young child who mainly wants to explore rhythm often does well starting on a hand drum or a practice pad, where a single tap makes a satisfying sound and there is nothing to coordinate yet. A child set on playing in a rock or pop band will usually want an acoustic kit, or an electronic kit if noise is a concern in a shared home. A student drawn to orchestra or concert band typically starts on snare and grows into timpani and mallet instruments over time.
| If your child wants to… | A good place to start |
|---|---|
| Play along to rock or pop | Acoustic drum kit |
| Practice quietly in a shared home | Electronic kit or cajon |
| Explore rhythm as a young beginner | Hand drum or practice pad |
| Join orchestra or concert band | Concert snare, then timpani and mallets |
| March or join a drumline | Marching snare or tenors |
No single answer fits every family, and part of a good teacher’s job is reading what actually motivates a student before settling on an instrument. Our guide to exploring instruments with your child walks through that decision in more depth, and a drum teacher who comes to your home can help match the instrument to your child’s goals, your space, and your family’s tolerance for volume.
Helping Your Child Find the Right Drum
The huge range of drums is part of what makes percussion such a welcoming place to start, because there is almost always an instrument that fits a particular child, home, and goal. We believe the best drum for a beginner is the one that keeps them curious and coming back, which is why our teachers pay as much attention to what excites a student as they do to technique. Lessons In Your Home matches your child with a drum teacher who comes to you, works around your schedule, and helps choose an instrument that fits your family’s space and sound. If you would like a hand getting started, tell us a little about your child and we will help you take the first step toward lessons.
Frequently Asked Questions About Types of Drums
How many types of drums are there?
There are hundreds of individual drums, but they group into a handful of main families: the acoustic and electronic drum kit, hand drums, frame drums, orchestral drums, marching drums, and the many regional drums played around the world. Grouping them this way makes the variety far easier to navigate.
What are the drums in a standard drum kit called?
A standard kit is built around the snare drum, the bass (or kick) drum, one or two mounted tom-toms, and a floor tom. Most kits also include cymbals such as the hi-hat, ride, and crash, which add accents even though they are not technically drums.
Are cymbals considered drums?
No. Cymbals are idiophones, meaning the entire metal instrument vibrates to create sound, rather than a drumhead stretched over a shell. They are a standard part of a drum kit, so they get grouped with drums even though they belong to a different branch of the percussion family.
What are drums made of?
Most drums are made from a shell and a drumhead. The shell is usually wood, though metal, acrylic, and fiberglass are common too, and the material shapes the drum’s tone and volume. The drumhead, the surface that gets struck, was traditionally animal skin and is now most often a plastic composite like Mylar. Hand drums and world drums use a wider range of materials, from a single carved log to clay or a wooden box.
What is the easiest drum for a beginner to learn?
Hand drums like the djembe, cajon, or a simple frame drum are among the friendliest starting points, since a beginner can make a good sound on the first try without managing sticks and pedals. For a child aiming at a full kit, starting on a snare or practice pad builds the core technique first.
Are drums hard to learn?
Drums are one of the more approachable instruments to begin, because a beginner can make a satisfying sound early on, though building coordination and steady timing takes regular practice like any instrument. Younger children often start on a hand drum or practice pad to develop rhythm before moving to a full kit. Short, consistent practice sessions and a patient teacher make the early stage much smoother.
What is the difference between drums and percussion?
All drums are percussion, but not all percussion instruments are drums. Percussion covers anything struck, shaken, or scraped, including cymbals, xylophones, and shakers, while a drum specifically has a head stretched over a shell. Our breakdown of drums versus percussion goes deeper on where the line falls.
What drums are used in a marching band?
A marching band’s drumline usually includes marching snares, multi-tenor drums, marching bass drums split across several players, and a front ensemble of stationary mallet and auxiliary percussion. Each part has a distinct role in driving and coloring the beat.
What is a good first drum for a young child at home?
For a young child practicing at home, a hand drum, a practice pad, or an electronic kit with headphones keeps the volume manageable while still building real rhythm skills. The right choice depends on your space and how your child likes to play, which a teacher can help you sort out.
