Drum notation is a form of writing down music specific to percussion instruments. Think of it as a language for drums. If you know how to read and write drum notation, then you know how to communicate musically with others. The Drum Sheet Music essentials is an integral part of your drumming journey. Learning how to read drum sheet music is definitely a part of this article.
To read drum notation, you need to learn the different symbols. These symbols tell you what part of the drum set to play and when. By learning how to read drum notation, you’ll be able to quickly play a rhythm or drum beat, even if you’ve never heard it before.
The Drum Notation Essentials
Drum sheet music can massively improve your timing, control, and understanding of drums. The most advanced drummers can still use drum notation to study new songs quickly and write their rhythms to remember them at any time. You will definitely learn to read drum notation after this article.
If you want to learn how to read drum tabs, you need to know that it has a lot in common with the notation for other instruments since it’s laid out on a set of five horizontal lines (called a “staff”). Each part of the drum set is written on a line – or in the space between the lines – so you can visually tell everything apart. Drum Sheet Music is hard if you don’t learn it the right way with notations.
Lower pitches like the bass drum and floor tom are towards the bottom of the staff, while the snare and toms are in the middle. Higher tones like cymbals are at the top.
This graphic – known as a ‘drum key’ – shows where the most common parts of the drum set appear on the staff. It all makes sense when you look at it!
How to Read Drum Notation
Like the English language, drum notation is read from left to right. The staff is made up of five lines and four spaces, but notes can be positioned above or below the staff as well. Notes are placed in the staff based on which part of the drum set should be played at any given time. Notice below that the bass drum is in a different position on the staff than the snare or ride cymbal.
Drums are notated by dots, while cymbals are notated with an “x.” These symbols typically have “stems” attached to them, which help explain how to count the beat that is shown. Drum Sheet Music can also help you master the notations.
There are several symbols musicians should know when starting to read drum notation
Bass: Notation for the bass drum sits in the bottom space of the staff. The bass drum is typically the biggest drum on the drum set and usually produces the lowest note. It is used with a foot pedal and is often referred to as the “kick drum.”
Floor Tom: Notation for the floor Tom sits in the third space from the top of the staff. The floor tom (or low tom) is typically the next lowest note on the drum set. It is often referred to as a floor tom because it may rest on the floor by using legs.
Tom 1 and Tom 2: Toms are notated on the first space from the top of the staff and the line below that space. Sometimes called the high tom, this drum typically produces a note higher than both the floor tom and bass drum.
Snare: The snare drum is often considered to be the main drum of the drum set. Its notation is located in the second space from the top of the staff. Many drum beats are based on the pattern between the bass drum and snare drum.
Ride: This cymbal is often the biggest on a drum kit and is used for many different purposes. The ride cymbal is often tapped with the tip of the stick to create a feeling of “riding,” but it can also be used as a crash cymbal. On the staff, it’s located on the very top line.
Open hi hat: The Open hi-hat notation sits above the top line on the staff and is often a main time-keeping tool. The hi-hat is a pair of cymbals that are used with a unique type of stand that contains a foot pedal. Drummers can control the type of note that’s produced by stepping on the hi-hat pedal and tightening the two cymbals together and then striking them, known as closed hi-hat, or letting them lightly bounce off of each other by releasing pressure with the foot, known as open hi-hat.
Crash 1 and Crash 2: A crash cymbal is a very loud, big cymbal that is often used to accent different rhythms within music. Crash cymbals vary in size and tone and contain a large number of different styles and sounds. This cymbal differs from the others on the drum set because it’s often struck with force and can help elevate the dynamic movements of a piece of music. Its notation is located above the hi-hat, above the top line on the staff. On drum sets with two crash cymbals, the second crash will be notated in the space above the first crash.
A quarter note in drum sheet music is a black, shaded note with a stem that has no flags. It’s the most basic note type and indicates the beat in most pieces of music.
Reading the music staff for drums
Music is often divided up into even (or sometimes odd) groups of space. We use “measures” in music to organize the rhythms of the song into repeated groupings to make it easier to count through a song. To communicate what grouping we should count, we use what’s called a time signature.
Reading time signatures
A time signature contains two numbers displayed as a fraction. The top number tells you how many beats to count within one measure, and the bottom number tells you what type of note gets the beat (quarter notes, eighth notes, etc). Think of the time signature as a ruler. You’re measuring time, or more accurately, the space between the notes that you’re playing.
Some of the most common drum beats are whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, and thirty-second notes. Different types of triplets can be played as well, where you play three notes in the space normally occupied by two notes.
Reading repeat signs
A repeat sign tells you to do just what it sounds like repeat a pattern. That being said, there are several different repeat signs to understand in drum notation.
Drum Accents
Drumming isn’t all about hitting drums and cymbals randomly, you’ve got to have control, panache, and flair. That’s why accents can be used in drum notation. Accents occur when you hit the drum or cymbal differently. It might be louder, quieter, higher, or lower. You might do a cymbal choke crash technique, where you grab the cymbal after hitting it, causing the crash sound to stop abruptly.
Types of Accents
There are lots of accent types in drumming that can be used for all sorts of drum music. These are four of the most common accent drum techniques:
The drag notation has small sixteenth-note symbols just before the note, with an underneath curve joining them.
Drag: The drag drum technique is created by striking the drum twice quickly with one stick followed by a single stroke with your other drum stick. It sounds like three notes played quickly together.
The flam notation is represented by a small note before a normal-sized note with a curved line underneath.
Flam: The flam drum technique is where you strike the drum with both sticks, with each strike slightly apart. It almost sounds like one note when played.
The Marcato notation has an upward-facing V symbol above it.
Marcato: Sometimes, you need to make a particular drum, cymbal, or snare loud and prominent in the song. The Marcato technique just does that.
Music Notation
Besides understanding drum notation, it is important to learn general music notation. This is because the music staff has other symbols and marks that help you read sheet music.
Measures and Bar Lines
Measures usually consist of four beats and are separated by bar lines. Most of the time, measures will be separated by a single barline, although exceptions exist for showing repeats and jumps. The barlines contain your measures and beets, which keeps your sheet music organized and easy to read.
Time Signature
The time signature in drum notation is represented by two numbers, just like on other sheet music. The top number represents the number of beats in a measure, whereas the bottom number represents the note value of one beat. The most common time signature is 4/4, which has four beats per measure, where each beat is a quarter note. A more difficult example is ⅞, where each measure has seven beats, and each beat is an eight note.
The time signature is always written at the beginning of the sheet of music and at any point where a time signature change occurs throughout the music.
Different Length Notes
A quarter note, half note, and whole note. It’s not just the quarter note that appears in the measure. You can have longer notes, such as whole notes and half notes. A quarter note, eight note, sixteenth note, and thirty-second note.
There are notes smaller than quarter notes as well, such as eighth notes, sixteenth notes, and even smaller fractions. The name indicates what fraction of a measure the length of the note is.
A triplet, where three notes are played in the duration of two.
Sometimes you can even have tuplets. These allow you to play a certain amount of notes in another timeframe. The most common type is the triplet, which tells you to play three notes in the space of two and is indicated using a small ‘3’ and a line linking the notes together.
Tempo
BPM (Beats per minute) or tempo tells you how fast you need to play the song. Having your metronome handy is crucial to get this locked in. You can check this handy video on how to play drums to a metronome. In the upper left corner, the tempo of the song is shown. In this case, 80 beats, or quarter notes, per minute.
At the beginning of the drum notation sheet, you’ll notice a note, usually a quarter note, with a number next to it. This tells you the Beats Per Minute (BPM) or Tempo. It shows you the note value, such as a quarter note, and how many times that note value gets counted in a minute.
Repeat Signs
As you well know, a lot of drumming includes the repetition of patterns and rhythms. Drumming sheet music recognizes this. So, to save space and avoid unnecessary complications, repeat signs are used. These tell you to play the same part again.
A one-bar repeat sign.
There are different repeat signs. The most commonly used is a one-bar repeat sign, indicated by two dots on either side of a diagonal line. It tells you to repeat the previous measure once.
A two-bar repeat sign and a four-bar repeat sign.
A two-bar repeat sign looks the same as a one-bar repeat sign except with two diagonal lines. It tells you to repeat the previous two measures. A flour-bar repeat sign is sometimes used, which tells you to repeat the previous four measures.
FAQs
Do professional drummers read sheet music?
Professional drummers don’t always rely on Drum Sheet Music, but they often know how to read it and use it in specific contexts. They dont always read drum notation. In high-stakes studio sessions, drummers might receive written parts, especially for complex arrangements that need to remain consistent. Jazz drummers and those in orchestras or big bands frequently use sheet music since precise timing is essential in larger ensembles.
For live performances, especially on tour, sheet music or charts can help keep complex arrangements consistent. Drummers also use sheet music for teaching, learning new rhythms, and breaking down parts of a song. The percussion sheet music and its dependance largely depends on the drummer.
Do I need to know how to read music to play drums?
You don’t need to know how to read music to play drums, or learn Drum Sheet Music as many drummers play successfully by ear and feel. However, learning to read drum notation can be a valuable skill, especially if you want to expand your versatility. Knowing how to read music can help you pick up complex rhythms faster, play with larger ensembles, or work in studio sessions where written parts are common.
What is a ghost note on drums?
The ghost accent notation has a pair of brackets around the head of the note. The ghost note drum technique lightly plays bouncy notes on a snare drum that sounds like notes played in quick rhythmic succession.
What clef do drummers use?
Drummers use a unique system of notation that doesn’t require a clef, as drum music focuses on rhythm rather than pitch. Instead of a treble or bass clef, drum notation uses a five-line staff where each line or space represents a different drum or cymbal in the kit. Symbols like “x” or “o” indicate whether a hit is on a cymbal or a drum, and each drum piece is assigned a specific place on the staff. This approach allows drummers to follow the rhythm and dynamics without needing traditional clefs.