How to Make Your Own Drum Sheet Music
While many drummers play by ear and never even consider written music for drums, there is another segment of drummers who read and write drum music right along with musicians who play other instruments. Written music for drums is like written music for other instruments, minus the pitch notation.
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Instructions
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Purchase blank music-notation paper. You can find it at a music store or online free of charge. Music-notation paper has five lines and four spaces. Each of these lines and spaces represents a specific drum. Use traditional note values to indicate rhythmic structure. These include whole, half, quarter and eighth note beats, which tell you when to hit each note. You can purchase a book on reading music rhythms at a book or music store. You can also find basic music and rhythm instruction and practice guides online, free of charge (see Resources).
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Notate the bass drum on the first line of the music staff and the high hat on the space below the bass drum. The first line above the music staff is for cymbals. Snares are on the third line of the music staff, toms are the fourth space, and the the hi-hat cymbals are notated on the first space above the music staff.
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Handwrite your musical notation as you work out the rhythm you want. Do this in pencil so you can easily erase if you change something. You can also use music-notation software if you'd rather have a professional quality computer-generated copy of your sheet music. You don't need to be behind a set of drums to write drum music. You can use a pair of drum sticks and tap out your rhythms, then make the notations using your music notation software. Finale is the leading music-notation software (see Resources). It lets you create professionally arranged drum sheet music and even play your piece before you print it.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit talieson: morguefile.com, hisham_hm: flicr.com
