We’re gearing up for Christmas here at the Clark household, and we're super excited for our 5-month-old daughter's first Christmas! :)

If you’re blessed this Christmas with cash gifts you’d like to use on quality gear investments, I’ll give you some good ideas today.

Whether you’re new to the drums or a few decades into the instrument, make sure you own these 7 important tools for success. Of course, this is isn’t an exhaustive list because I could just as easily send you another email next week with 7 more things. But these are the most essential, most important physical items that will contribute most directly to your personal growth on the drums. Here we go!

[1] Metronome

Seems pretty obvious. However, plenty of players fail to regularly practice with a metronome either because they’re lazy (I’ve been guilty too!) - or they feel it might damage their “natural, organic feel” on the drums. The latter is false, by the way,...

There are way too many kinds of sticks out there. How in the world are we supposed to know which size is best? Let me offer a few guidelines that might help you out, and I’ll tell you what my favorite sticks are.

Here’s what I have in my stick bag:

• 7A hickory sticks
  
• 5A hickory sticks
  
• 5A maple sticks (lighter weight)
  
• 5B hickory sticks
  
• 5B “barrel tip” hickory sticks

Yeah, I have other stuff besides these exact sticks in my bag, but this list sums up my essentials that I actually use regularly. Let me explain what I use each pair for.

7A

These are my least used pair of sticks, but I’m including them because I used to use them very often. These are great jazz sticks, especially if you’re playing light jazz (jazz combo, jazz trio, etc.). I did a lot of that in college, and this was my stick of choice. I don’t play as much jazz now, but whenever the occasion arises I still reach for these.

5A

These are the quintessential average,...