Drum Notation
how to read music for the drumkit

Drums may be notated in several ways. Sometimes 3 lines are used to notate drums on. Often there will be a "Legend" describing which note represents which drum and these legends differ from one to the next. There is no ONE standard, however all tend to be similar.

We will use the classic 5 line "Staff".

The main disadvantage of TAB for drums is that it doesn't notate the actual timing of the beat, or doesn't notate it clearly. This can be a problem since drumming is about rhythm! TAB generally works best if we already know how the music sounds.