How to Read Drum Chart Music

Basic drum kit

Music for drums is written in much the same way as music for other instruments. A drum chart consists of music notes of various values written on a music staff. Rather than indicate pitch, the lines and spaces on the drum staff indicate particular pieces of percussion, from the bass drum to cymbals. Though many drummers don't read music at all and prefer to play by ear, learning to read drum charts can improve your skills as a drummer and open opportunities for you where reading music is essential.

Instructions

1. Examine the lines and spaces of a drum staff. The lines are horizontal. There are five lines and four spaces, just like a traditional music staff. Each of these lines and spaces represents a type of drum or cymbal. Snare drums appear on the third line of the staff; bass drums are notated on the first space. A second bass drum will appear on a line drawn below the staff; the fourth space, third space and second space indicate high, mid and low toms, in that order.

2. Read rhythm for a drum chart the same as you would standard sheet music. Play one whole note per measure of music, two half notes per measure, four quarter notes per measure, eight eighth notes, etc. Diagonal lines slanted upward across a note stem indicate rolls. One diagonal line represents eighth notes, two lines represent 16th notes and three lines represent 32nd notes. If there are two lines through a quarter note, for instance, your roll will be eighth notes equal to the value of a quarter note (2). If the diagonal line is on a half note, you will play four eighth notes. A diagonal line through a note simply tells you to play the indicated note values for the duration of the note value where the line appears.

3. Play accented beats when you encounter a right-facing caret (>) over a note. If you have four quarter notes, each quarter note is one beat. If every other quarter note in the pattern has a caret over it, play every other quarter note harder than the quarter notes without the caret.

4. Read hi-hat notation on the space above the last line of the staff. Hi-hats use a small x instead of a note head. If you encounter a small circle above the notation, play the hi-hat open. If you encounter a plus sign, play the hi-hat closed. A hi-hat played with your foot will be notated on the bass drum space, but with an x in place of the note head to distinguish it from the bass drum. Ride cymbals and crash cymbals use the x in place of a note head and are notated on the first line above the staff (ride cymbal) and the space above that line (crash cymbal).

References

• Free Drum Lessons: Reading Drum Notation
• MIT: Audio Graffiti