UNDERSTANDING REPEATS, AND HOW TO NAVIGATE YOUR WAY THROUGH A DRUM CHART
Drum charts tend to have more repetition than most other instruments, so it’s important to understand all the different ways that repeats are notated in musical charts. These can make the chart more complicated to read at first, but allows the drum chart to be compressed into less pages.
REPEAT BRACKETS
Repeat brackets are notated with a double bar line and two dots in the middle two spaces on the stave.
THE OPENING BRACKET MARKS THE START OF THE REPEAT PHRASE, And the closing bracket marks the end. When you reach the closing bracket, you simply return to the opening bracket and play the whole phrase again.
THE REPEAT PHRASE IS USUALLY A GROUPING IN MULTIPLES OF 4, AS THIS IS THE MOST COMMON SECTION PHRASING FOR POPULAR MUSIC.
HOWEVER IT CAN BE ANY NUMBER OF BARS, SO WHEN TAKING YOUR FIRST LOOK AT A CHART, HAVE A SCAN THROUGH TO FIND BOTH THE OPENING AND CLOSING SET OF REPEAT BRACKETS.
SOMETIMES THERE WILL BE NO OPENING REPEAT BRACKET.
IN THIS CASE, ONCE YOU REACH THE CLOSING BRACKET, YOU RETURN TO THE START OF THE CHART.
WHEN THE REPEATED SECTIONS NEED TO CONTINUE LONGER THAN USUAL, YOU’LL SEE THESE INSTRUCTIONS IN ADDITION TO THE STANDARD REPEAT BRACKET.
FOR VERY REPETITIVE PARTS, YOU COULD BE INSTRUCTED TO REPEAT THE WHOLE PHRASE 3 OR MORE TIMES.
SOME SONGS ALSO HAVE FADE OUTS, RATHER THAN A CLEARLY DEFINED ENDING, SO WILL BE REPEATED UNTIL THE SONG FADES OUT.
LEARN 5 ESSENTIAL DRUM GROOVES FOR BEGINNERS
5 DRUM GROOVES THAT CAN BE USED FOR MULTIPLE GENRES
1st, 2nd and 3rd time ENDINGS
IF THE REPEATED SECTION IS ALMOST THE SAME, THEN IT WILL SOMETIMES BE WRITTEN WITH 1ST, 2ND, 3RD, OR MORE ENDINGS.
IN DRUM MUSIC THIS IS A GOOD WAY TO SAVE WRITING THE WHOLE PHRASE TWICE, IF FOR EXAMPLE; THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THE FILL ON THE LAST BAR.
IN THE FIRST EXAMPLE, YOU PLAY THROUGH TO THE CLOSING SET OF REPEAT BRACKETS AS NORMAL. BUT THEN ON THE SECOND PLAY THROUGH, YOU SKIP THE BAR WITH THE NUMBER ONE BRACKET OVER IT (THE FIRST TIME BAR/ENDING), AND GO TO THE BAR WITH THE NUMBER TWO BRACKET OVER IT (THE SECOND TIME BAR/ENDING).
IN THE SECOND EXAMPLE, WE ALSO HAVE A THIRD TIME BAR. HERE YOU WILL PLAY THE PHRASE MARKED IN THE REPEAT BRACKETS TWICE IN ITS ENTIRETY, AND THEN ON THE THIRD PLAY THROUGH, SKIP THE 1ST AND SECOND TIME BAR AND GO TO THE THIRD TIME BAR.
THIS SAME THEORY CAN BE APPLIED TO LONGER REPEAT SECTIONS, THAT HAVE FOUR OR MORE ENDINGS.
WHOLE BAR REPEATS
WHEN WHOLE BARS ARE REPEATED, THESE SYMBOLS CAN BE USED TO FIT MORE BARS INTO A PAGE, WHICH SAVES ATTEMPTING IMPOSSIBLE PAGE TURNS!
IT ALSO MAKES IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER TO READ AS YOU CAN SEE THAT THE COMING BARS WILL BE EXACTLY THE SAME AS BEFORE.
THE SYMBOL IN THE TOP EXAMPLE TELLS YOU TO REPEAT THE PREVIOUS BAR.
THERE WILL USUALLY ALSO BE A NUMBER ABOVE EVERY FOURTH BAR (4,8,12,16 etc) TO HELP YOU KEEP TRACK OF HOW MANY BARS ARE TO BE PLAYED THE SAME.
THE SECOND EXAMPLE IS SIMILAR, HOWEVER YOU WILL REPEAT THE PREVIOUS TWO BAR PHRASE RATHER THAN JUST THE PREVIOUS BAR.
SLASH NOTATION
SLASH NOTATION CAN BE USED IN FEW DIFFERENT WAYS. TO THE RIGHT ARE SOME EXAMPLES IN THE CONTEXT OF REPEATS.
WHEN SOME OF THE BAR IS THE SAME AS THE PREVIOUS BAR, YOU CAN SEE SLASH NOTATION WRITTEN TO REPRESENT THE BEATS OF THE BAR THAT STAY THE SAME.
IN THE FIRST EXAMPLE, EACH SLASH REPRESENTS ONE BEAT OF THE BAR, WHICH IS TO BE PLAYED THE SAME AS THE PREVIOUS BAR, WITH THE REMAINING BEATS NOTATED FULLY.
IN THE BOXED EXAMPLE, THE 'CONT. SIM.’ TELLS YOU TO CONTINUE PLAYING A SIMILAR GROOVE IN THE SAME STYLE.
D.C. (Da Capo - “From THE HEAD”)
WHEN LARGE CHUNKS OF THE SONG ARE REPEATED, THE INSTRUCTIONS “D.C.” AND “D.S.” ARE USED, USUALLY (BUT NOT ALWAYS!) FOLLOWED BY EITHER “AL FINE” OR “AL CODA”.
“D.C.” IS short for “Da CAPO”, which literally translated means “from the head (Start)”. So when you reach the D.C. YOU GO ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE START OF THE SONG.
WHEN D.C. IS FOLLOWED BY “AL FINE”, IT IS INSTRUCTING YOU TO GO BACK TO THE START OF THE SONG, THEN PLAY THROUGH UNTIL THE “FINE” (END) MARKING, at which point the song finishes.
WHEN D.C. IS FOLLOWED BY “AL CODA”, GO BACK TO THE START OF THE SONG, THEN PLAY THROUGH UNTIL THE “TO CODA” MARKING, WHERE YOU THEN JUMP TO THE CODA (TAIL) SECTION .
D.S. (Da SEGNO - “From THE sign”)
“D.S.” IS short for “Da SEGNO”, which literally translated means “from the SIGN”. So when you reach the D.S. YOU GO BACK TO THE “SIGN”.
WHEN D.s. IS FOLLOWED BY “AL FINE”, YOU GO BACK TO “THE Sign”. THEN PLAY THROUGH UNTIL THE “FINE” (END) MARKING, at which point the song finishes.
WHEN D.s IS FOLLOWED BY “AL CODA”, GO BACK TO “THE SIGN”, THEN PLAY THROUGH UNTIL THE “TO CODA” MARKING, WHERE YOU THEN JUMP TO THE CODA (TAIL) SECTION .
HANDY REFERENCE POINTS WHEN LEARNING A SONG
CHARTS WILL HAVE BAR NUMBER REMINDERS WRITTEN NEXT TO THE FIRST BAR OF EACH LINE.
ALTHOUGH BAR NUMBERS DOn’T HELP YOU MUCH IF YOU’RE PERFORMING A SONG, THEY’rE USEFUL REFERENCE POINTS WHEN LEARNING THE SONG IN AN EDUCATIONAL OR GROUP SCENARIO.
IF YOU LOSE YOUR PLACE WHEN PLAYING THROUGH A SONG, THE SONG SECTION NAMES CAN BE A GOOD WAY TO FIND WHERE YOU ARE AGAIN.
FOR EXAMPLE, IT’S USUALLY VERY OBVIOUS WHEN YOU GET TO THE CHORUS OF A SONG, SO YOU’LL INSTANTLY BE ABLE TO PICK IT BACK UP AGAIN FROM THERE ONCE YOU HEAR THE START OF THE CHORUS.
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BOOK A One to one ONLINE DRUM LESSON
HERE ARE SOME MORE BEGINNER GUIDES YOU MAY FIND HELPFUL.
HOW TO READ DRUM NOTATION
LEARN THE ESSENTIALS YOU’LL NEED TO TO UNDERSTAND WHEN READING A DRUM CHART FOR THE FIRST TIME.
AND FIND OUT HOW EACH DRUM AND CYMBAL IS REPRESENTED ON THE STAVE.
DYNAMICS
THIS GUIDE TAKES YOU THROUGH THE ENTIRE RANGE OF DYNAMICS THAT YOU WILL FIND ON A DRUM CHART.
FROM PIANISSIMO TO FORTISSIMO, ACCENTS TO GHOST NOTES.
TRIPLETS
LEARN HOW TO READ AND COUNT DIFFERENT TRIPLET NOTE VALUES AND THIER EQUIVALENT RESTS.
THIS GUIDE SHOWS TRIPLETS IN COMPARISON TO STANDARD NOTE VALUES.
REPEATS AND NAVIGATING YOUR WAY THROUGH A COMPLICATED CHART.
REPEATS COME IN SEVERAL SHAPES AND FORMS AND ARE FOUND IN MOST DRUM CHARTS.
LEARN HOW TO NAVIGATE YOUR WAY THROUGH ANY DRUM CHART.
