Tips for Reading Drum Charts

The PDF link is a cheat sheet for common musical terms, signs, and a key for drum writing. Feel free to print it and use it as a reference.

When I took John Ramsey's reading drum charts master class at Berklee, he taught that there is an order of importance in what to look at on a chart. First, the style and tempo. If the band leader starts the song before you are ready, at least you know what kind of groove to play. Second, the road map. Look for repeats, signs, and codas. If you skip a repeat or miss a sign or coda you are lost on the chart. At that point you better have the ears to get you through or you're over. Last are the musical figures. It's great, and expected at a high level, if you can play all the hits and rhythms but if you cover the first two points you will at least get through the song.

I use the same standard drum notation as professional music publishers. As often as possible, I start new sections on a new line. That way you can read "Verse 8 bars" in the left margin and not worry about reading every bar. You can concentrate on The Music! Additionally, I use slash notation (after I write out the groove) rather than writing out everything the original drummer played on every bar.

Groove and Form Charts are not transcriptions for a couple of very important reasons. Number one, you don't want to have your nose stuck in the music stand during a gig. Secondly, the original drummer probably doesn't play EVERYTHING the same anyway. Professional drummers are original and creative. The Groove and Form system allows you complete flexibility to be yourself and still get the job done well.