I recently picked up a used Yamaha DD-20 Digital Drum machine for my two daughters ages 4 and 6. This week I found them drumming on some cardboard boxes with paper towel tubes as drum sticks. When I saw the Yamaha DD-20 in the used music shop, I thought why not. It had to be much better than the boxes and so far the kids are having a blast with it. They both play the piano with my six year old playing pretty good right now. I thought the Yamaha DD-20, although a toy, might help them in various ways musically with their timing while exposing them to different styles of beats.
Right now I can say the Yamaha DD-20 is fantastic for kids in the following ways.
1. The kids use real drum sticks and can practice striking the the four pads which gives a digital drum sound. It’s quite fun for them to drum away.
2. There are speakers that actually are quite loud. It’s great that the kids can listen to the drum beats and even use head phones if necessary.
3 There are different drum kits from standard to electronic. Plus there are some special percussive sounds that allow the kids to experiment with different sounds in a drum kit.
4. Many different drum beats from rock, hip-hop, rap, pop, etc. allow the kids to be exposed to different genres of music. They can dance listening to the output via the speakers and even drum along with the beat adding additional percussive sounds to the groove.
5. Finally, the Yamaha DD20 Drum Station is very portable. You can use batteries and take it on trips with you to give the kids something to bang on if you can stand the noise. Note again it does have a headphone jack if you need them to tone it down a bit.
6. The Yamaha DD20 also has a built in Metronome that my daughter can use to play along with when playing her keyboard or piano. Of course you can use any of the drum beats as well. The speaker is loud enough to hear over the piano.
7. Gets the kids used to using real drums sticks away from the drums too. They like to hit pillows or the carpet in front of the TV. It’s interesting to watch them keep the beat and mix things up a bit. Kids catch on rather quickly.
Of course for kids older than mine you might want to go with an actual drum set or snare. However, for youngsters in the 4-6 range like mine, it’s a great musical tool to help them experience different types of sounds and beats, while at the same time give them an opportunity to vent and pound away. The Yamaha DD-20 gets their feet wet in the world of drumming. It also exposes them to all sorts of music they can dance to or play along with. I bought it used for $25 bucks and I consider it money well spent and an excellent upgrade from hitting cardboard boxes with paper towel tubes.
4 touch-sensitive drum pads, 4 effects pads
10 assignable percussion sets
3 types of auto roll
Tempo control and tap start
Numerous Drum Styles for playback
Includes built-in speakers, drumsticks, and headphone jack
Yamaha 4 Pad Digital Drum Machine Model: dd-20 4-touch sensitive drum pads, 4-sound effect pads, 54- assignable PCM voices (34- percussion and 20- sound effects), 100- PCM rhythm patterns, tempo control, tap start, 3- types auto-roll, built in speaker, 1 demo song, 2-digit LED readout. Also includes 10-percussion sets 9- pre-programmed and one user assignable, drum sticks included, headphone jack for private practice, Dim: 17.4″ (W) x 9.4″ (D) x 6.4″ (H) Yamaha PA-3 Power Adaptor a $20 Value is Included.