Drum Set

The standard drum kit in jazz and other contemporary music genres. Usually consists of a bass (or kick) drum, snare drum, toms, hi-hat, ride and 2 cymbals although many different configurations exist. The drum kit as a whole is not considered a pitched instrument (even though the individual drums can be pitched) and is notated only in the rhythm clef.

The most common configuration of a drum kit in jazz and most contemporary genres. Sizes of each kick, snare and tom can vary with larger drums generally giving fatter, deeper tones and smaller ones having a tighter, higher-pitched overall tonal quality.

In standard drum kit notation the kick drum is placed on the first space of the rhythm staff. If an additional kick drum is needed it is placed on the first line of the staff (this is rare but possible).

The snare drum should be placed on the second highest space of the rhythm clef. A rim shot is notated in the same space but with a line through it (second in the example) and a cross-stick with a circle around the head.

The hi-hat is placed just above the rhythm staff (G on the treble clef). Articulations can be added to specify if the hat should be closed (no symbol) half or fully open as per the example.

The hi-hat is placed just above the rhythm staff (G on the treble clef). Articulations can be added to specify if the hat should be closed (no symbol) half or fully open as per the example.

Playing the hi-hat with the foot is notated below the staff with its stem (usually) pointing up. This can be notated at the same time as the kick as they are played with different feet most of the time.

Toms should be placed on the rhythm staff according to their pitch, the higher tom placed higher in the staff and the others placed in order accordingly. More toms can be added to other parts of the staff or notated in the score legend.

Cymbals are placed above the rhythm staff on the first and second ledger line (depending on the cymbal). The crash is placed on the first ledger line, the splash just above the first and the china on the second line.

When notating multiple drums in a bar of music keep the hands and feet separated with different stem directions; hi-hat, cymbals and toms having stems pointed upwards and kick and hi-hat pedal pointing downwards. This is done in slightly different ways depending on your notation software, either by setting instrument stems separately (as in MuseScore) or by using layers (as in Finale).

Play accented or harder than normal and for the full duration of the note.

As with jazz arranging in general the marcato articulation usually results in an accented note with a shorter value than a standard accent. Marcato articulations on the cymbals can be used in contrast to an accent, cutting the cymbal off shorter than its full value. A choke (below) should be used for very short, cut off cymbals shots.

Use when a cymbal shot should be extremely short, cut off right after being struck.

For drum rolls a single slash through the note represents an 8th note roll, a double slash a 16th note roll and a triple slash a 32nd note roll. A number placed on top of the roll indicates a triplet roll of that amount.

Notated by a single grace note before the main note.

Notated as a pair of grace notes before the main note, usually played by a different stick than the full note.

Often used instead of a staccato marking to indicate a shortened hit on a cymbal or drum.