Monday, November 21, 2011

How to Read Drum Notations

By Joe Maldonado


Amateur drummers fail to understand the importance of reading drum notation and counting time signatures while learning how to play the drums. The ability to read drum notations is a plus point for any drummer. This helps the drummer to learn quickly and efficiently. The drummer with that ability can get more concerts and gigs to showcase his or her talent.

Sheet music carries all the drum notations in it. The drum notations represent beats and patterns. A different drum voice is represented by each space and line. This different space and lines represent different drum voices. However, they differ depending on the writer of that music sheet. Usually the bottom line represents bass drum but some people use the middle line to represent the bass drum. It is easier to figure out which line represents which drum voice. If you are still unable to figure it out look for a legend somewhere. A bar or a measure is any single section in the sheet.

Time signature is stated in the beginning of music piece. It is a fraction that, in a measure, determines the amount and type of notes. If the time signature is 4/4 in rock music, it means that the beat will repeat after 4 counts or that there are 4 quarter notes per measure. In 8th notes, "&'s" are also counted. If the time signature is 7/8, it means that you have to count it like: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 &. Whenever you see an odd time signature then feel the momentum of the song. You should try to determine repetition of the pattern. For example, A time signature is 6/8 or 3/4 when the pattern repeats itself in 6 counts.

You need to know about the types of drum notations to learn how to play the drums from a music sheet. Drum notation has two main notes. A regular note looks like a black oval and the second note resembles an X shape. The regular note is used for all drum voices except hi-hat and cymbals, for which the X shape note is used. The lines above these notes are known as stem. Stems tell you whether the note is a quarter note, eighth note, 16th note or any other note. This can be identified by the number of tails of a note. The horizontal line at the top of stem is called tail. A quarter is represented by no tail, an 8th note is represented by 2 tails and a 16th note is represented by 3 tails, and so on.

You want to know what note it is, at which count it is played and how to combine it with the drum voice. Be patient and count out aloud while playing from the sheet music. This helps you to manage your timing and go with the flow of things while learning how to play the drums. The time signatures on the other hand helps you to follow along with the music. Odd time beats and jazz beats require you to know count time and know about counting triplets. You need to practice this by listening to a few unique songs and then figuring out their time signatures yourself.




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