How to Play & Read Snare Drum Music

Snare drummers in marching bands read music specific for snare.

While many rock drummers don't read music notation, preferring to play by ear, a lot of drummers read drum notation just like other musicians. A snare drummer in a marching band is a prime example. Snare drum music is written in similar fashion to traditional music notation, but there are also many elements of notation specific to snare drum you won't find in music notated for other instruments. Learning to read snare drum music isn't complex. Knowing how to read music for the snare can help you develop the ability to read other drum notation.

Things You'll Need

• Snare music

Instructions

1. Look at your snare drum music. It's written on a musical staff just like other music notation. There are five horizontal lines and four spaces. The snare drum music is written on the third line of this staff.

2. Play snare drum notation with basic music rhythm indications. A whole note is four beats in common time, in which each measure contains four beats. A half note is two beats. A quarter note is one beat. An eighth note is half a beat. A sixteenth note is a quarter of a beat. Always place these notes on the third line of the staff because snare drum has no varied pitch, only variations in rhythm.

3. Play cross-sticking technique when you see an x in place of the note head. This is a popular technique with snare drumming. Cross sticking is crossing your sticks to play your snare on the opposite side of the hand you're holding the stick in. This can be done on a single snare or two snares.

4. Read slashes through the note stem as rolls. A single slash drawn diagonally through the stem of a note tells you to play a roll consisting of eighth notes until you reach the value of the written note. For example, a quarter note with a slash tells you to play two eighth notes. If you have a half note with a slash through the stem, play a roll consisting of four eighth notes.

5. Play a flam or drag when you see a small note preceding the main note. The small note is attached to the main note with a curved line. This indicates that you barely strike the snare before the main beat. The strike should be almost imperceptible.

References

• DrumLessons.net: Snare Drum Independence
• Rock Drumming System: Drum Notation