Reading Drum Notation
With
Sophie Alloway
What's in the course
114 lessons (3h 47m) · 1 free
01. Rock Drumming Introduction
7:55
02. Example 1 - Single Strokes
2:44
03. Example 2 - Double Strokes
1:28
04. Example 3 - Paradiddles
2:37
05. Bonus - Combining Singles, Doubles, and Paradiddles
2:22
06. Rock Lesson 2 - Adding Rests
1:48
07. Example 1 - Rest on Beat 4
1:56
08. Example 2 - Rest on Beat 2
1:36
09. Example 3 - Moving Rests
1:05
10. Example 4 - Piston Bars 12-16
1:56
11. Bonus Exercise 1
1:49
12. Bonus Exercise 2
1:02
13. Rock Section Summary
1:50
01. Pop - Adding the Hi-Hat
1:31
02. Example 1 - Quarter Notes on Hi-Hat
1:40
03. Example 2 - Resting on Beat 1
1:42
04. Example 3 - Two Consecutive Quarter Note Rests
1:28
05. Bonus Exercise 1
1:11
06. Bonus Exercise 2
1:10
07. Pop Lesson 2 Example 1 - Combining the Hi-Hat & Snare
1:11
08. Example 2 - Moving Quickly Between Drum Voices
1:17
09. Example 3 - Two Drum Voices in One Bar
0:59
10. Example 4 - Take It to the Top Bars 1-4
1:10
11. Bonus Exercise 1
1:08
12. Bonus Exercise 2
1:04
13. Pop Music Section Summary
0:51
01. Introduction to Country Music
4:13
02. Skills Checkpoint
1:54
03. Example 1 - Half-Note Rest
1:18
04. Example 2 - Placing of the Half-Note Rest
1:31
05. Example 3 - Bass Drum Phrases
1:29
06. Bonus Exercise 1
1:27
07. Bonus Exercise 2
1:10
08. Country Lesson 2 - Combining Bass Drum, Snare, and Hi-Hat
3:07
09. Example 1 - Combining the Bass Drum & Hi-Hat
1:40
10. Example 2 - Adding the Half-Note Rest in Various Positions
1:10
11. Example 3 - Moving Quickly Between Drum Voices
1:10
12. Example 4 - Borderlands Bars 1-4
1:06
13. Bonus Exercise 1
1:30
14. Bonus Exercise 2
0:56
15. Country Music Section Summary
0:26
01. Metal Introduction - Playing Two Drum Voices
3:35
02. Example 1 - Focusing on Coordination
2:19
03. Example 2 - Bass Drum Variations
1:16
04. Example 3 - Coordinating the Hands
1:09
05. Bonus Exercise 1
1:05
06. Bonus Exercise 2
0:50
07. Metal Lesson 1 Summary
0:25
08. Metal Lesson 2 - Playing Your First Full Beat
1:56
09. Example 1 - Basic Rock Beat Hi-Hat Pattern
1:08
10. Example 2 - Adding the Back Beat
0:58
11. Example 3 - Adding the Bass Drum
0:59
12. Example 4 - Power Trip Bars 13-14
1:32
13. Bonus Exercise 1
1:10
14. Bonus Exercise 2
0:53
15. Metal Section Summary
1:05
01. Indie - Introduction to the Style
1:26
02. Example 1 - Resting on Beat Three
1:01
03. Example 2 - More Variations
1:00
04. Example 3 - Coordinating the Limbs
2:16
05. Bonus Exercise 1
1:10
06. Bonus Exercise 2
0:50
07. Indie Lesson 1 Summary
0:25
08. Indie Checkpoint - Mallets
2:46
09. Indie Lesson 2 - Introducing 8th Note Bass Drum and Snare
1:25
10. Example 1 - Eighth-Note Snare
1:36
11. Example 2 - Eighth-Note Bass Drum
1:04
12. Example 3 - Eighth Note Phrase
0:59
13. Example 4 - 'Big Mouth' Bars 1-4
1:48
14. Bonus Exercise 1
0:38
15. Bonus Exercise 2
0:59
16. Indie Section Summary
0:34
01. Hip-Hop Introduction - Basic Beats and Fills
1:33
02. Example 1 - Snare & Bass Drum Fill
1:10
03. Example 2 - Snare & Hi-Hat Fill
1:08
04. Example 3 - Fill Using Snare, Hi-Hat & Bass Drum
1:09
05. Bonus Exercise 1
1:38
06. Bonus Exercise 2
0:47
07. Hip-Hop Lesson 1 Summary
0:32
08. Hip Hop Lesson 2 - Introduction to Eighth Note Beats
3:53
09. Example 1 - The Basic Eighth-Note Beat
1:19
10. Example 2 - Snare Drum Variations
1:28
11. Example 3 - Bass Drum Variations
1:09
12. Example 4 - 'The Dogg' Bars 13-16
1:56
13. Bonus Exercise 1
1:04
14. Bonus Exercise 2
1:09
15. Hip-Hop Section Summary
0:32
01. Introduction to the Pieces
1:04
02. Piston (Rock) - Walkthrough
4:57
03. Piston (Rock) - Performance
0:46
04. Take it to the Top (Pop) - Walkthrough
3:58
05. Take it to the Top (Pop) - Performance
0:50
06. Borderlands (Country) - Walkthrough
3:49
07. Borderlands (Country) - Performance
0:48
08. Power Trip - Walkthrough
5:04
09. Power Trip (Metal) - Performance
0:51
10. Big Mouth (Indie) - Walkthrough
5:26
11. Big Mouth (Indie) - Performance
0:52
12. The Dogg (Hip Hop) - Walkthrough
6:14
13. The Dogg (Hip Hop) - Performance
0:51
14. Overload (Rock) - Walkthrough
5:23
15. Overload (Rock) - Performance
0:50
16. Slam (Metal) - Walkthrough
4:28
17. Slam (Metal) - Performance
0:51
18. Under the Radar (Indie) - Walkthrough
5:02
19. Under the Radar (Indie) - Performance
0:50
Lesson transcript
Reading Drum Music
Introduction
Okay, so reading drum music: drum notation. Now, just a personal aside — I basically taught myself to play the drums for a few years by listening to recordings that I liked. So, a lot of Stevie Wonder, maybe the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix — lots of stuff.
I was lucky enough to have access to some kind of drum kit, and I was able to make some sounds and try to work out how Stevie Wonder was creating that feeling in the song I was listening to. It was experimentation, but when I started reading drum notation a few years later, I really realized the importance of it.
Not everyone who can play drums reads music, and it's not essential, but I can tell you from my experience, it is very, very useful. I'm really glad that I'm able to do that. I got into it later on; it was just a slightly different order for doing things in my world.
But, you know, maybe some of you are coming to it that way as well. You might want to learn the basics, but you've been listening to music for a while and maybe trying to play it, or you might be total beginners. Everything's fine. We're all in this together.
Drum Notation Basics
In this course, we'll be dealing with the hi-hat, the snare, and the bass drum.
Hi-Hat and Snare Drum Notation
- Hi-Hats: Written as crosses on the top line, sitting right at the top of the stave.
- Bass Drum: Located at the bottom line of the stave, which may appear on beat one under the hi-hat.
There's a logic to it:
- Bass drums are down on the floor.
- Snare drums are in the middle (third line up on the stave).
- Hi-hats are at the top.
If you ever get confused about drum notation, remember that it follows a fairly logical arrangement.
Toms and Cymbals
- Toms: Not covered in this lesson, but they are written slightly higher than the snare under the hi-hats and cymbals.
Key Elements of Drum Music
When you see a piece of music for the first time, look out for:
-
Tempo: This is the beats per minute (BPM), often written as "crotchet equals" or "quarter note equals."
- In this book, it's 80 — sometimes 85, sometimes 90.
-
Time Signature: All our pieces are in 4/4.
- This means there are 4 quarter notes in a bar.
- You can subdivide a quarter note into two eighth notes (1 and 2 and 3 and 4), but it's still in 4/4 time.
Understanding Time Signatures
- Top number (in 4/4): Indicates four beats in a bar.
- Bottom number: If it’s four, there are quarter notes in a bar; if it's eight, there are eighth notes.
For example, I play music that is in 7/8, which means seven eighth notes in a bar. Don’t worry; we're not doing that today. All our pieces are 4/4 (four notes in a bar).
Bar Length and Counting
- There are four beats in a bar, and a vertical line tells you when that bar has ended and when the next bar begins — those are the bar lines.
- A double bar line often appears at the end of a whole piece or a long song, perhaps at the end of an eight-bar verse, to indicate a transition.
Importance of Counting
I really recommend counting as part of developing your timekeeping. If you're using a metronome (which hopefully you will be), it's important for keeping track of your timing:
- It helps prevent speeding up when anxious about an upcoming drum fill.
- It also prevents slowing down when struggling with a passage.
Playing with a metronome offers reassurance that you're doing okay and playing more or less in time. We all fluctuate a little — we’re human, not machines — but you want to try and stay as close to the beat as possible.
Conclusion
When we start looking at the pieces and some of the exercises within those pieces, I'll talk a little more about the specifics of what we're seeing and how to interpret that.
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Sophie Alloway is a session and touring drummer at the heart of the London jazz scene. She has performed with Jason Rebello, Yazz Ahmed, Laurence Cottle and Tony Allen, and notably played for Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace shortly before he became King.
Touring credits include Roots Manuva, the Thriller musical and Paul Stacey (Oasis / The Black Crowes). She is also the drummer in original fusion band Lydian Collective, with over six million Spotify streams.
Sophie has recorded sessions at Abbey Road, AIR and Angel studios, and her television appearances include Later… with Jools Holland, Glastonbury and two series of Adrian Dunbar’s drama Ridley. She is featured on Abbey Road Masters: The Drum Sessions and performed for the BBC Young Jazz Musician 2024 finalists, broadcast on BBC TV and Radio. Jon Newey of Jazz FM dubbed her the “goddess of groove”.
