Tag: time signatures

Drum beats and drum fills in different time signatures – Sheet 4 – 40 Beats and Fills Book 2

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Here is Exercise Sheet 4 from 40 Beats and Fills Exercises Book 2.

The drum beats and drum fills are played in different time signatures (3/4, 5/4 and 2/4), as well as changing to and from the usual 4/4 bar length.

Time Signature Changes: “Do not panic – they’re quite easy”, as I say in the video!

The time signatures are not too hard And sometimes you don’t even need to worry about counting them. There are situations where you might need to count them and they might be harder depending on what is contained in the bars, but thes have been written for newcomers to time signatures in mind, so there are no real suprises – it’s meant to be a straightforward introduction.

On exercise 3, I have taken away the stepped hi hat so it’s 3 way coordination. The stepped hi hat is included on exercise 3 with the 5/4 bar, so there’s an added challenge there.

Video Demonstration

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How To Read The Notation – Inside the book: 40 Beats and Fills Exercises Book 2

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Here is part 1 of inside the book of “40 Beats and Fills Exercises Book 2“.

As you can see in the featured image, this post is showing you how to read the drum notation in the book. This is going to to be quite hard to understand without any prior knowledge or tuition, but I have made a video (see below) that shows you which drums are which and how to read and play the swing, rests, basic notes, and time signatures.

Here are all of the drum voices and notation markings on the sheet: crash cymbal, open hi hat, accent, ride cymbal, closed hi hat, tom 1 (small tom), tom 2 (medium tom), snare drum, floor tom, bass drum, stepped hi hat, cross stick snare drum, triplet swing, 3/4 bar, 5/4 bar, 6/8 bar, 4/4 bar, crotchet rest, quaver rest, quaver, crotchet.

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Page 21 from ‘Grades 1-2 Beats & Fills Drum Book – Rock Pop Soul Funk’

Here is a free PDF of page 21 from the drum book ‘Grades 1-2 Beats & Fills Drum Book – Unit 1 – Rock Pop Soul Funk’.

The sheet music drum exercises are 2 bar loops containing drum beats with open hi hats that could fit into the styles of rock, pop, soul or funk, in a 6/8 time signature.

Once you are comfortable reading the drum beats in their repeating loops, try memorising the loop and continuing without reading it.

When teaching pupils that can cope with it, I also sometimes ask them to put emphasis on beats 1 and 4 to give it a blues feel.

Practice sheet for learning to play drum beats in 6/8 time

Here is a selection of beginner drum grooves in a 6/8 time signature. After practicing through the sheet at least once, try and work on playing with a metronome at various speeds. You may need to work on one bar or one line at a time if you need to practice some parts more than others, or if you would struggle to play the whole sheet in one go.