The Elements of the Drumset in Different Types of Music By: Chris Siak

During this presentation…  You will learn what role the drumset plays in music such as rock, jazz, certain types of Latin, and more.  You will learn about famous drummers and what they play (via website).  You will learn about the history of the drumset (via website).

Diagram of the Drumset

Drum Vocab  Fill- When a drummer breaks off from a normal beat and plays a series of notes mainly on the toms, followed by a crash cymbal hit.  Splash- The opening of the Hi-hat to add decoration to a beat.  Ghost Note- Random Notes played at random times.  Bell- The center of a cymbal, where there is a small rise to put it on the hardware.

Time Signatures  Example:

Drum Sheet Music  Drum Sheet Music is different from other types of sheet music; the lines stand for different things.

Rock Music  Rock music is played with two main components: the bass drum and the snare drum.  The drumset plays a main role in this type of music and can be heard in any part of any song; they even break of from the song and play solos.  Fills are Hard and include all drums  Hi-Hat beats are normally eighth notes ranging from all kinds of pressure. The beat can also be played on the Ride.  The Snare drum is normally played on beats two and four but ghost notes are played often  In a basic rock beat, the bass drum is played on all four beats, but once again, notes can be played all over.  Main time signature: 4/4 time  In addition to the normal 5-Piece kit, rock drummers also have an abundance of cymbals.  These types of beats can be found in music from Journey to Black Sabbath.

Basic Rock Beat

Advanced Rock Beat

Jazz Music  The two main components in jazz are the ride cymbal and the Hi- hats.  The main beat on the ride cymbal can also be played on the hi-hat with certain timed splashes  Fills are light and gentle and are easy to listen to- they involve the snare and high tom.  The drumset is very quiet in jazz and the only things that be heard are the quick hi-hat closes and the triplet ride cymbal beats.  In old jazz music (1920’s) the bass drum was played on all four beats.  Nowadays, the bass drum is played in sync with what the bass guitarist is playing.

Basic Jazz Beat

Advanced Jazz Beat

Types of Latin Music  There are billions of different types of drum beats that can fall under the category of Latin, including the Cha-Cha, Bossa Nova, Mambo, Samba, Rumba, and the Calypso. If you watch Dancing with the Stars, you are familiar with these terms. There are so many that during this presentation, I will only have time to explain three: the Cha-Cha. Bossa Nova, and the Mambo.  Latin music mostly consists of two main components: the cross-stick and the cowbell. The cross-stick is a certain way to play the snare drum. It sounds like this. The cowbell can be added to a drumset either on top of the bass drum (like mine) or on the side of the ride cymbal. If you don’t have a cowbell, you would substitute it with bell of the ride. The hi-hat is closed on beats two and four (most of the time) and the bass drum can be played anywhere, depending on the beat. AGAIN, IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU ARE ACTUALLY PLAYING.  The drumset is a huge part of Latin music, but it is not played so hard that you will break a tom head. It is played soft but audible in a very upbeat manner.

The Cha-Cha  The Cha-Cha is played with the cowbell, cross-stick, and the two mounted toms within a two measure beat.  Cowbell- (First) 1, 2, 3, 4 (Second) 1, 2, 3 & 4  Cross-stick-Beat two  Toms- (First Measure) 4 and the & of 4 (Second) & of 3, 4, & of 4  Bass- & of 2, 4  Hi-hat- 2,4  So many things happen in Latin that you are probably confused right now. Just watch the video.

The Bossa Nova  The Bossa Nova is a slow, Brazilian beat consisting of no cowbell, but instead, a light bass drum, the ride, a cross-stick, and a hi-hat. Fills can be played here, but normally, they are only played with your cross-stick (left) hand. The rest of the limbs must continue to play their assigned beats. The reason explaining why you can’t play fast is because that if you do play fast, you will change it into a poor man’s Samba (a really bad one). Watch el video.

The Mambo  The Mambo is personally my favorite Latin beat. You can play it as fast as you can, from real slow to excruciatingly fast. It consists of the cowbell, cross-stick, bass, and hi-hat.  Bass- 1,3  Hi-hat-2,4  The Cross-stick and cowbell intervene, just like a guitar battle between a cowbell and a snare drum. It sounds nifty!

Hip Hop  There is mainly no drumset use in hip- hop music. Instead, Hip-Hop “drummers” use either a control/performance pad or an electronic drum kit. A control/performance pad is a machine of around eight pads that can be programmed to make different sounds when you hit them. An electronic drum kit is basically one of these, only in the shape of a drumset.

Hip Hop Beat

THE END  In conclusion, over the past slide show, you have learned about what element the drumset plays in rock, jazz, Latin, and hip-hop. You have also learned about certain drum terms and how to read drum music. Thank you, one and all, for viewing this wonderful project, almost like you were forced. Now, to the website!

Credits  The following thank-yous go out to:  My private drum teacher, Mr. Pat DiIanni  Guitar Center  Mr. Pontiere  Me  My Dad, for his BEAST camera work.