snare drum pieces – Page 2 – Learn Drums For Free

Group snare drum piece with 3 difficulty levels (Piece 5, Book 1)

This snare drum piece could be played by a single drummer, or as part of a group of drummers. The snare drum piece is an example of a short piece with two snare drum parts of different ability levels. There are 2 difficulty levels; beginners up to grade 1, and grade 2 level.

I run a youth snare drumline group, and regularly produce snare music for various ability levels. The piece could also be adapted to a full drumline if extra parts are written – if you run a drumline please feel free to use this and to write extra parts for it.

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

10 Bar Snare Drum Piece with Dynamics – Beginners Grade 1-2

There is a free PDF download with this post, which you may use to print out the sheet music.

Instructions

The first line contains a mixture of 16th notes, 8th notes, and quarter notes, and the dynamic is p, which means quiet.

On the second line, there is a long crescendo, which means to gradually get louder. The rhythms are the same in both bars, so focus is definitely on playing the crescendo correctly.

On the third line, the dynamics increase to mf, which means medium-loud. On the second bar, there are rim hits on the snare drum, which is achieved by hitting the rim of the snare drum with the drum stick. This is not to be confused with a cross stick snare drum, which would be hard to play in relation to the rest of the bar.

On the fourth line, there is a mini crescendo from quiet to medium loud, which is then repeated exactly the same. The second bar with the divide symbol means to ‘repeat the previous bar’.

On the last line, the dynamics carry on as medium loud. There are accents (the arrows above the notes), played on the snare rim. This means to play the rim as before, but hit them a bit harder than normal.

16 bar Snare Drum Exercise – with dynamics – Grade 1-2

This is a short snare drum piece lasting 16 bars consisting of grade 1 and grade 2 level snare drum rhythms.

The snare drum sheet music focuses on using plenty of dynamics, which are for volume changes in the music.

The dynamics include:

p (piano = soft/quiet)
mf (mezzo forte = medium loud)
f (forte = loud)
< a wide version of this shape is a ‘crescendo’ (gradually getting louder)
> these arrows above the notes are accents, which indicate that you play loud on this note only.

16 bar snare drum piece – Grade 1-2 Snare Drum Exercise – Snare Drum Sheet Music

This free 16 bar snare drum piece is for grade 1-2 drums.

In the rhythm, there is a mixture of quarter notes, 8th notes, 16th notes, 8th note rests and quarter note rests.

For the dynamics, it could be played any volume, but i would recommend mp to mf, leaving plenty of room for the accents to stand out, which are featured in the last 8 bars.

When learning, take it a bar or a line at a time to get it right, but eventually play the whole piece in one go.

For the speed, aim to get up to about 95bpm or higher, but start off at about 60bpm.

Grade 1-2 Snare Drum Sheet Music – Practice Piece

Here are 8 bars of snare drum sheet music consisting of combinations of quarter notes, 8th notes and 16th notes in a 4/4 time signature.

Related (Premium): 10 Snare Drum Pieces – Book 1 – Levels 1-3

Easy beginners snare drum piece – sight reading exercise with crotchets and quavers

There are just two note grouping patterns (if you can count the 1st one), and the whole snare drum piece uses various combinations of these.

Most beginners pick this up quite quickly, and it’s a great way for them to understand the ‘twice as fast’ speed difference between quarter notes and eigth notes (crotchets and quavers). It’s also a good idea to introduce the metronome when it’s sounding good, starting at about 60 or 70 beats per minute and going up to 110 or more.

Related (Premium): The Level 1 book included in the download is slightly harder than this sheet – 10 Snare Drum Pieces – Book 1

Snare Drum Piece with Basic Rhythms for Grade 1 Sight Reading

After having a try at the sheet slowly, try playing this snare drum piece with a metronome (play it slowly at first). Focus on getting the 2 beat notes in time with the click. Also work hard on the rests, in particular the half beat rests.

Related (Premium): 10 Snare Drum Pieces – Book 1 – Levels 1-3