How To Write Drum Set Notation
How to Write Drum Set Music Notation
Knowing how to write drum notation gives you an advantage as a student and a performer. You will often find it useful to write a drum rhythm or fill that you want to remember.
The note head shown above is a note ball. It is not a perfect circle; it’s slightly oval. This is what notes normally look like.
Drum notation is unique because it uses note-head symbols in addition to the regular note ball. The most common are “X” note heads which are used for cymbals. Other note heads are diamonds, triangles, and slashes.
Other Note Heads
Drum notation is also unique because the lines and spaces of the staff do not represent pitches; they represent drums. This is indicated by using a neutral clef, also called a percussion clef.
Neutral Clef
The most common clefs used in non-drum music are the treble clef and bass clef.
treble clef
bass clef
See Clef on Wikipedia for a great article.
When you use a neutral clef, the lines and spaces of the staff do not represent specific pitches. To show which line or space designates which drum or cymbal, use a legend, like this:
Drum Legend
Don’t include instruments in the legend that are not used. If your drum set has three tom-toms, but only two are played, include only two toms in the legend. When creating a drum legend, try to assign the instruments to lines or spaces that will make the drum music easy to read. In the music examples below, it’s easy to tell the difference between bass drum and snare drum because they are not on adjacent lines of the staff.
An alternative to a Legend is to identify the instruments at the beginning of the music, like this:
Use a three-line staff if only three instruments are needed.
Use a one-line staff if only one instrument is needed.
There is no standard drum set legend, but here are some general guidelines.
-
Hi-Hat with Foot
Cymbals usually go near the top line, except Hi-Hat when played with the foot, which usually goes below the bottom line.
- Bass drum usually goes on the bottom space.
- Snare drum usually goes on the third space from bottom.
- Tom-toms usually go on lines or spaces in order of their size.
This Drum Legend from above is common for a 5-piece drum set.
HiHats and cymbals can have additional notations.
When I write drum parts, I often use slashes instead of note balls to make writing faster. I don’t always draw staff lines or time signatures.
Write Drum Set Music – Staff
When writing drum set rhythms without a staff, I’ll put a ledger line through the snare drum note to make it easy to identify.
Make notes for yourself when it’s unclear which drums should be used.
When writing notation for someone else to read, the most important thing is to make it clearly understood what is to be played. If needed include notes about:
- Time Signatures
- Dynamics
- Tempo
The best way to become good at writing drum notation is to do it. A good way to begin is to try writing the notation from any page in your drum lesson books. Later, you’ll be able to listen to a song and write out the drum part the drummer is playing. You can use regular lined notebook paper if you don’t have staff paper. You can also easily find staff paper online to print off.
Drum Notation Help
Get in touch if you have any questions. -Jamison
what is the difference between appearance and functioning of a high hat and a cymbal in drum set playing. Is it only that the high hat can be played with the foot and drum stick both while the cymbal is played only with the drum stick?
Thanks for the question.
In general, hi-hat cymbals sound different than other cymbals, always come as a set mounted on top of one another, and commonly come in only a few sizes, as compared to other cymbals which come in many sizes and tonal variations and are rarely mounted in contact with other cymbals.
A hi-hat consists of a pair of cymbals on top of each other, one upsidedown, to form a clamshell shape. It is usually a 14-inch pair of cymbals, but other sizes are available. The hi-hat cymbals are held in place by a special stand which enables the top cymbal to separate upward from the bottom cymbal. This allows the foot pedal to raise and lower the top cymbal so that when the pedal is pressed, it lowers the top cymbal so that it closes against the bottom cymbal and produces a sound. We describe this sound as a “chick” sound.
Some hi-hat stands do not have a pedal and are known as fixed hi-hats. Because hi-hat cymbals can be positioned together or apart or anywhere in between using the foot pedal (or other mechanisms for fixed hi-hats), it allows a range of tonal characteristics when struck with drumsticks. Lastly, the most common position of hi-hat cymbals is in the closed position (the pedal is down and the cymbals are in contact with each other, as opposed to apart from each other), which produces a short, non-sustaining tone, similar to a “chick” sound. But the sound will vary depending how tightly the hi-hat cymbals are being held together using the foot pedal. If they are pressed tightly together, the stick strike will be very short, lasting only a few milliseconds. And if they are held less tighly together, so that they are barely touching, the stick strike will produce a “sizzle” or rattle sound which can sustain for several seconds.
The most common way for hi-hats to be played is by striking with drumsticks while in a closed posision, with the pedal being used to control how tightly or loosely the two cymbals are held together. The further apart the cymbals are, the greater the sustain, and when they are completely apart, the top cymbal will sound the most like a regular cymbal.
A regular cymbal is a single cymbal, rather than a pair, and comes in many more sizes and shape profiles than hi-hats, from about 6-inches to 26-inches, and possess a much greater variety of tonal characteristics. Regular cymbals do not have a foot pedal, but are mounted on a fixed stand. Some special effects cymbals are mounted on top of each other and can sound very similar to a hi-hat.
Hi-hats and cymbals can be used for some of the same functions, such as playing the repeated steady rhythms typically used for keeping time and playing beats.
I realized the drum clefs ( or percussion clefs ) is not the same as piano clefs.
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for the knowledge.am a learner and needs more of drum staff in a simple way I can understand
Prince Favour, is there anything I can clarify?
I’m a composer who is writing for drum kit for the first time for a theatrical work. Thank you for the helpful guide.
Hi David, thanks for the note. I would love to see what you’re working on. You can email a link if you have a site. Thanks! Jamison
jamison@sheboygandrums.com
Playing the drum would be so much fun. It’s nice to feel every beat that it produce, a beautifully patterned rhythm. I’ve played the piano, guitar, and violin. This instrument is quite different. Thank you for this post. Oh! if it would interest you, please check out this article about the treble clef:
Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Stephanie
Drum rhythms are definitely something one can feel, not just the body movements used to play the instruments, but the powerful sound waves they produce, especially with larger drums. Evelyn Glennie is a percussionist who, because of her deafness, uses other parts of her body to feel and hear the instruments she plays.
The piano also creates powerful vibrations that are part of the playing experience. The physical feeling of music is part of the listening experience for performers and listeners alike.
thanks.