Indie Part Two: Introduction to Eighth Notes

In this lesson, we're going to introduce eighth notes.

Understanding Eighth Notes

Eighth notes can be played on:

• The snare drum
• The bass drum

These notes will be really helpful for adding an extra element to our drumming. This way, we have more vocabulary when we choose the kinds of grooves we want to play.

Clarifying Eighth Notes

• Eighth notes are sometimes called quavers.
• I prefer the term eighth notes because:
  • One eighth note takes up the eighth part of a bar in 4/4 time.

It’s a very logical approach, similar to quarter notes:

• One quarter note takes up a quarter of the bar.

Counting Eighth Notes

If we play a full bar of eighth notes, there will be eight of them. I might count them as:

“One and two and three and four.”

You can use your eighth note counting to help with your timing. Whichever part of the kit you're playing the eighth notes on, remember to keep counting:

“1 and 2 and 3 and 4.”

Lesson Examples

In the upcoming examples, we'll explore some variations, including:

• Playing bass drums
• Playing snares
• A little snare fill that goes between quarter notes and eighth notes

Finally, we will work towards playing Big Mouth, which is the indie piece we'll be tackling soon.