Choose The Right Configuration Junior Drum Set For Your Child

If you are buying for your child's first drum set, you might have discovered that a junior drum set is the optimal choice. The junior drum sets and other starter drum sets available today offer parents the opportunity to buy their kids a quality drum kit at a much lower cost than a full size drum set. This also allows your new drummer time to ensure they like drumming before you invest in a high priced drum kit that is going to only go unused. This is also a wise strategy for teens and beginning drummers.
But once you decide on a junior set, there are still decisions to make, including the size and configuration of your child's first set. When searching for a starter drum set, you'll mainly find 2 configurations: 3-piece junior drum sets and 5-piece junior drum sets. Both are equally popular and likely excellent for your child, but how do you choose?
First, let's explain the difference between the 3-piece junior drum set and 5-piece set (you will find a 4-piece set, but they are much less common). A 3-piece set refers to the main 3 pieces of the set: base drum, snare drum, and single mounted tom-tom drum. A 5-piece drum set includes 2 additional drums: a second mounted tom-tom drum and a floor tom-tom drum.
Either drum configuration is fine for your starting drummer, as the 3-piece and 5-piece configurations mirror the same sizes of many full size drum sets. Many experienced drummers play on full sets that have the same pieces as described for the 3-piece and 5-piece set. Once you get into full size drum sets, there are a ton more drum set configurations and drummers tend to customize their sets even more by adding specific piece to their liking.
The biggest advantages of a 3-piece child drum set for your child is that it will be smaller and simpler to play and learn on. Less drums likely means less number of drum cadences to master and the faster they'll become comfortable playing on their set. These 3-piece sets are also generally cheaper than 5-piece sets.
The advantage of a 5-piece child drum set is that it is closer to the configuration of the majority of full drum sets. The 5-piece configuration is the closest thing to a standard in drum kit configurations, so buying your child a 5-piece child drum set means they'll be practicing on a kit closer to an actual set, and also something they'll likely not grow out of as fast. It will probably cost you more, take up more space, and be slightly more advanced to learn on.
Choosing between the 3-piece set and 5-piece set should not be a big deal when choosing a junior drum set. Both are good choices and make great sense for your child, and most experts would recommend you let your drummer choose, and your pocket book as well.