Friday, March 18, 2016

How to Make Drum Tabs

Step 1: Write out the rhythm of the drum beat that you want. If you do not know how to read music, this quick tutorial will help. Start a metronome and listen to the click. Each click serves as a quarter note and in music we consider this to be one beat. A half note occurs every other beat while a whole note occurs every four beats. Eighth notes occur every half beat and 16th notes occur four times per beat. Using this knowledge and a metronome you can figure out most any rhythm you need for drum notation.

Step 2: Study how to write shorthand. Using standard text you can create an abbreviation for crash cymbals (C.C,) hi-hat (H.H,) snare (S) and bass drum (B.) The C.C goes on the top line, hi-hat goes on the second line, snare goes on the third and bass drum goes on the fourth. Draw four lines across your page, or use a notation program and write in the four instruments before the line begins.

Step 3: Write out the cymbal rhythm and the hi-hat rhythm using stems coming off an "x" shaped note head. The snare and bass drum should be written with an "o" on the beats you want to strike.

Step 4: Learn how to use shorthand for other instruments in the ensemble by consulting a drum symbols chart.

Step 5: Write advanced techniques into the part, such as playing with an open or closed hi-hat by using a filled in circle instead of a hollow circle. Several other methods of indicating how to play the drums exist, you must have these available for reference to get the correct sound.

Use a word processor to write out drum notation. Place a "-" between each beat to indicate