If you’ve ever looked at a piece of drum sheet music and wondered “What is going on here??”, you’ve come to the right place. I have gone through the entire subject and broken down exactly How to Read Drum Music using a methodical and step by step process.
All of these sections shouldn’t take too long to get through, and hopefully by the end you’ll understand drum music inside and out.
I’ve broken things down into sections so that if you already have a bit of history with reading music, you can pick and choose which areas you would like some better clarity on.
So go ahead, click the links, and happy reading!
Section I – Basic Rhythm Reading
 | Part I - The Basics Learn the very basics of reading rhythms. Inside this chapter I explain the quarter, half, and whole notes along with their corresponding rests. We also discuss the staff, and the very foundations of reading and counting music. |
 | Part II - The Eighth Note Build upon the basics studied in Part I, and learn about the eighth note. Specifically, how to recognize, read, write, and count the 8th note. Dive into this foundational note, as you'll no doubt be needing it later. |
 | Part III - The Sixteenth Note In this section we got one step further and explore another common note called the 16th note. Learn how to recognize, read, and count sixteenth notes |
 | Part IV - Sixteenth Note Groupings In this section we look at what happens when you combine 8th notes and 16th notes together. There will also be a summary of every different grouping of 16th notes that we have looked at so far. |
Section II – Additional Reading Devices
 | What are Time Signatures? There are a ton of cool time signatures besides 4/4. Learn what a time signature is and how to understand all of those confusing numbers. |
 | What are Dotted Notes? Expand upon standard notation and learn what dotted notes are. Learn the formula to all dotted notes, how to use them, and what they do. |
 | Ties and Tied Notes In this section we look at ties and tied notes. While similar to dotted notes, ties have a few different applications that are important to know. |
 | Imaginary Bar Lines This section explores rules that allow for ease of reading and writing drum music. With a name like Imaginary Bar Lines, who wouldn't want to know what that's about?? |
