Basics of 16th Notes on Drums

Series Summary

The drum is the oldest known musical instrument in the history of man and its basic design has not changed in thousands of years. Far from today’s uses as a percussive foundation for pop music or for fueling marching band excitement, drumming has a more profound history as a method of communication, and the drum as an implement of religious symbolism. The drum was perhaps first created from the primal idea of mimicking the human heartbeat, yet today its music has developed into a technical, complex arrangement of beats and grooves. Different sized drums and cymbals are arranged into kits, where a drummer can pick from a variety of sounds to lead or accompany a particular song. Kit sizes vary from the simple to the outrageous.

The modern approach to drumming is to try and master the fundamentals of beat and time signature, and then to create fresh, innovative patterns and fills for each song. In this free instructional video series you will learn how to orchestrate 16th note fills. Our expert Peter Van Dyck shares techniques for creating a basic drum beat, adding fills, and offers tips and advice on how to begin the process and walks you through some great informational steps to becoming a more advanced drummer.

Video Transcript

"In this session, we're going to be talking about sixteenth note fills. Sixteenth notes which we'll be playing alternating sticking, left, right, left, right, are a sixteenth of a beat. And usually played fast. They sound like this. So if we were to count that out, we would say one-e and ah, two-e and ah, three-e and ah, four-e and ah. Let me demonstrate a little bit what you will someday be able to do with sixteenth note fills. "