How I Write Drum Notation
Frustratingly, you’re going to come across quite a lot of variations in how drum music is written down. This is down to the drum kit being such a young instrument. And really, it’s not even one instrument. It’s a collection of instruments. We all have our preferred set up and yours is probably slightly different to that of every drummer you know.
Differences also arise in how parts are written. I write nearly all of my drum parts in one voice (all the stems point upwards). But some people use two voices, for example: cymbals = stems up, drums = stems down.
It’s not all bad though. Notation for the main parts of the kit are commonly written in the same way (bass, snare, crash etc.) And as long as the parts are written clearly it shouldn’t matter how many voices are used — you’ll be able to work it out with a bit of effort!
To ensure we’re all on the same page, this is how I write drum notation. All of my newer transcriptions (March 2021 onwards) will have a drum legend at the top of the page, which will include any extras relevant to that drum piece.
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