Should I practise on a pad or on the kit?

Both, but in a fixed order. Learn the pattern on a pad where a wrong stroke is audible, then move it to the kit the same day so the hands learn the pattern rather than the pad. Patterns learned only on a pad tend to fall apart the first time the hands have to travel between drums.

How fast should I move the metronome up?

Four BPM at a time on rudiments and eight on grooves, and never past the tempo where the pattern still sounds even. A jump of ten or twenty BPM hides the fault you were fixing, which means you pay for the speed twice.

What stick size should a beginner start with?

A 5A in the wood tip, in a matched pair. It is heavy enough for rock volume without forcing a tight grip and light enough that quiet playing stays possible. Move to 5B if your hands tire at loud volumes and to 7A if you play mostly jazz or acoustic music.

Do I need a practice pad with a stand?

A stand is worth it. A pad on a table forces the forearms into a different angle than a snare does, and every hour on the wrong angle is an hour spent learning a grip you will have to unlearn. Set the pad so your forearms sit level.

How do I practise with a metronome without it becoming a crutch?

Alternate: eight bars with the click, then eight bars without, then bring the click back in and hear where it lands. Playing only with the click teaches you to follow it; playing only without teaches drift. The alternation is what builds internal time.

Choosing Cymbals by Weight and Alloy, Not by Brand Rules

Cymbals are the most expensive part of a kit and the easiest to buy badly, because weight and alloy decide how a cymbal behaves in a band long before brand or s

setupBench notes

Derived from the meter, one pin per beat

Published: 2026-10-07 · By The Percussion Desk

Cymbals are the most expensive part of a kit and the easiest to buy badly, because weight and alloy decide how a cymbal behaves in a band long before brand or series names matter. Two practical questions do most of the work: how much high-frequency energy does the cymbal produce, and how long does it ring after you hit it?

Weight decides volume and decay

Thin cymbals (roughly under 1,600 g for a 20-inch ride) open up quickly and decay fast; heavy ones (over 2,400 g) need more force, produce more high-frequency content and ring longer. In a quiet jazz trio you want thin so the cymbal responds at low stick height; in a loud rock band you need enough weight that the cymbal is not drowned out and does not distort the microphones.

A practical guide: for hi-hats, 14-inch medium (about 800 g top and 1,100 g bottom) covers most pop and rock; 15-inch thin for jazz. For rides, 20–22 inch medium-thin for general use. Crash cymbals from 16 to 19 inches, thin to medium-thin for most music.

Alloy and the 'ping'

B20 (80 percent copper, 20 percent tin) is the standard professional alloy: musical, complex, with a warm wash. B8 (92 percent copper, 8 percent tin) is brighter, cheaper and more consistent; it is what most entry-level cymbals use. B10 and B12 sit in between. For a beginner set, B8 is fine; for anything where the cymbal is a featured sound, B20 is the difference you can hear.

The stick definition on a ride — the 'ping' — comes from the profile and the hammering as much as the alloy. A heavy, flat-profiled ride with a large bell gives a clean ping with little wash, which is what a lot of amplified music needs. A thin, lathed ride washes out under a loud band.

Mounting and care

Cymbals should move freely. Use a felt on top and bottom of the stand's seat, and a wing nut tight enough to keep the cymbal in place — not clamped down. Clamping kills the cymbal's ability to swing and transfers the stick's energy into the bell, which is how cymbals crack at the centre hole.

Cracks almost always start at the hole (from clamping) or at the edge (from hitting straight down rather than glancing across). Play across the edge, not into it. Do not stack cymbals flat on a hard surface; store them vertically on a stand or in a bag with separators.

For cleaning: most professional cymbals have a protective coating and should be wiped with a dry cloth only. Abrasive cleaners remove the coating, take the logo off, and expose raw bronze that darkens unevenly. Clean the fingerprints, leave the patina.

Matching cymbals to the kit and the room

A common mistake is buying each cymbal separately over time, then finding the crash does not sit with the ride. Buy hats and ride first — those two define the sound — and add crashes that are within about 20 percent of the ride's weight for a coherent set.

Room matters as much as cymbal: a bright cymbal in a hardwood room with a plaster ceiling will sound twice as loud as the same cymbal in a carpeted room with acoustic tiles. If you practise in the loud room and play in the quiet one, choose a slightly heavier, drier cymbal so the feel is not wildly different.

What to hold on to

Weight sets responsiveness: 16–19 inch thin crashes for most music, 20–22 inch medium-thin rides
B20 alloy is the professional standard; B8 is bright, cheaper and consistent
Never clamp a cymbal — cracks start at the centre hole from clamping and at the edge from straight-down hits
Buy hats and ride first, then add crashes within ~20% of the ride's weight