Drumming Notation Lesson 3 So far, using the Western notation method, we have only used notes to fill up our measure. But, what if we want to play this rhythm? 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a djembe1 B
B
T
T
Using the table, we can easily see that we play on note 1, rest until we play on note 3, and play on 4 &. Rests have their own notation as follows. They have the same time values as the notes of the same name.
Here is how the above rhythm looks in Western notation.
You may have noticed that I have only used 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16 notes in my examples up till this point. I hope this explanation helps.
Suppose I'm playing a clarinet. And suppose we are playing at 60 bpm. In the above measure, I would play two different notes. For the 1/4 notes, I would continue to blow on the clarinet for 1 second each. I would also rest for 1 second on the 1/4 rest. For the 1/8 notes, I would continue to blow for a 1/2 of a second. Remember from lesson 1, quarter notes have the value of one beat. At 60 bpm, each beat (each 1/4 note) has a time value of one second. If I had put a half note in the above measure, I would continue to blow into the clarinet for two seconds since a half note is equal to 2 quarter notes. If I had put a whole note in the above measure, I would continue to blow into the clarinet for the whole 4 beats (seconds). When we play the drum, we hit the drum once for each note. It doesn't matter if it's a 1/4 note or a 1/16 note. At least at the beginner level of drum music notation, it doesn't make any sense to use a note with a value greater than the number on the bottom of the time signature. In this case it is a 4. Since a 1/4 note is equal to one beat, it would be confusing to put a half note or a whole note in a bar. Note that this logic doesn't hold true for rests. In 4/4 time a half rest means to stop playing (rest) for two seconds. If it was a whole rest, you wouldn't play anything that measure. There is one more symbol at the beginning of most musical arrangements. It is called a clef. A treble clef tells the musician what notes are assigned on each line and the space between the lines for an instrument like a clarinet. The note on the bottom line of a treble clef is an "E". The note on the bottom line of a bass clef is a "G". It is used for instruments like a tuba. Since these clefs are not used for drums, I won't go into them any further. The drum (percussion) clef is used for drum music notation. It is typically the first thing on each line. I'm sure you noticed I placed the notes for playing bass, tone, and slap techniques at different places in the measure. It has nothing to do with the notes being a "G", "C" or whatever. I just used the three places of my choice to separate the different techniques and then added a note so that you would know which was which. This concept is typical in drum notation. There are two different styles of drum clefs you may encounter.
This ends lesson 3