How To Read Drum Music
Good beginner drum lessons should start with a basic overview of how to read drum music. Before you can start practicing your exercises, there are a few basics that you should know. Below are a few simple charts that will help breakdown drum sheet music for you.
Drum Clef: Simply lets you know that the drum sheet music is for drums. Other times you may read a bass or treble clef.
Time Signature: Displayed as a fraction, in this case 4/4. The top number tells you the number of beats per measure. The bottom one tells you the size of the note that represents one beat. Learn more about Time Signatures.
Measure: Each measure is divided by vertical lines. Each measure will contain the same number of beats as you read in the time signature.
Note Symbols and Values
We will assume the 4/4 time (most commonly used in music) when giving value to these notes. You basically start with the whole note and each following note is simply dividing the previous one in half. See my free lesson on Reading Drum Music to learn more about note values.
The picture above shows the various notes you'll find. The first measure shows you how to count quarter notes, the second teaches eighth notes, and the last demonstrates sixteenth. You may also want to check out these Online Drum Lessons for free quarter note, eighth note and sixteenth note exercises.
Rest Values
Rests are shown in a few different ways. Whole rests will be a rectangular bar hanging down from a line of the staff. Half rests extend up from the staff. The rest can be easily read in the picture above.
From time to time, you'll see repeat signs as shown above. The first repeat sign is there as a reference point for when you get to the end of the piece. The final sign points you back to the beginning where you will repeat all the measures. The division sign is a symbol that indicates you should repeat only the previous measure.
More Free Music Reading Lessons
Reading Drum Sheet Music:Learn how staff symbols, such as X's, O's, and Diamonds represent different parts of the drumset.
How To Read Drum Music:Learn where the various pieces of the drumset fall on the musical staff. Snare, bass, toms and cymbals all have their place in notation. This lesson will show you where they are.
Bongo Music:Learn how to read bongo drum notation and how to differentiate between various tones and striking techniques.
Now that you know how to read drum music, you can learn How To Play The Drums with these free Beginner Drum Lessons.
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