Drummer's Dictionary

A note played louder than those around it. Patterns of accents shape the feel of a groove or rudiment.

A pair of joined metal bells of different pitches, struck with a stick, from Brazilian and West African music.

The snare hit on beats 2 and 4, the driving feel behind most rock, pop, and funk.

A segment of music containing a set number of beats, marked off by vertical barlines. Also called a measure.

The largest drum, played with a foot pedal. It provides the low end and, with the snare, the foundation of most grooves.

The foot-operated mechanism that swings a beater into the bass drum head.

The retractable legs on the bass drum that stop it from creeping forward as you play.

The top head of a drum, the one you actually strike.

A thick horizontal line joining the stems of short notes (eighths, sixteenths) into readable groups.

The cut rim at the top of the shell where the head rests. Its shape strongly affects tone and tuning.

The part of the bass drum pedal that strikes the drumhead. Felt gives a round thud, plastic or wood a sharper click.

The raised dome at the center of a cymbal. Struck with the shoulder of the stick it gives a loud, clear, cutting tone.

A fast, aggressive pattern alternating bass drum and snare in rapid single strokes, central to extreme metal.

A feel usually built on a shuffle or slow 12/8, leaving room for the song to breathe.

A joined pair of small, high-pitched hand drums (macho and hembra), usually held between the knees.

A cymbal stand with a hinged horizontal arm, letting you position a cymbal away from its base.

A gentle Brazilian feel with a cross-stick pattern and a steady bossa bass drum ostinato.

The main playing surface of a cymbal, between the bell and the edge, where most ride and timekeeping patterns are played.

Wire or plastic fans used instead of sticks for a soft sound, swept across the snare for jazz and ballads.

A smooth, sustained roll made by pressing each stick into the head so it bounces many times.

A percussion instrument with steel-bead chains wrapped around a ridged cylinder, twisted and shaken for a rattling, scraping sound.

A box-shaped drum from Peru, played by slapping the front face while sitting on top of it.

A dark, trashy effect cymbal with an upturned edge, often mounted upside down for a quick, aggressive crash.

Grabbing a cymbal right after striking it to cut the sound short, for a sharp, stabbing accent.

A clamp (often called a multi-clamp) that grips one stand or bar onto another, so you can mount an extra cymbal, pad, or percussion off existing hardware.

A pair of short hardwood dowels struck together, carrying the clave pattern at the heart of Latin music.

A tall, narrow hand drum of Afro-Cuban origin, played in sets of two or three tuned to different pitches.

A clapper-less metal bell struck with a stick for a loud, dry, cutting tone, common in Latin music and rock.

A cymbal struck for a loud, explosive accent, most often to mark the start of a phrase or section.

A medium cymbal meant to double as both a ride and a crash, common on smaller kits.

A click made by laying the stick across the snare and tapping the butt end on the rim, common in ballads and Latin feels.

A round metal plate that rings when struck. The kit cymbals are the ride, crashes, hi-hats, and effects like china and splash.

The soft washers above and below a cymbal that let it move freely and protect it from cracking on the metal.

A tripod stand that holds a cymbal. Straight stands hold one above the kit; boom stands reach over it.

Muffling a drum or cymbal, by hand, tape, gel, or rings, to shorten its ring and control overtones.

A goblet-shaped hand drum with a sharp, ringing tone, central to Turkish and Middle Eastern music.

A rope-tuned, goblet-shaped West African hand drum with a wide range from deep bass to sharp slaps.

A note with a dot after it, which adds half of the note's value to its length.

Playing the bass drum with both feet, using a double pedal or two pedals, for fast, continuous strokes.

A six-note rudiment, R L R L R R / L R L R L L, extending the paradiddle with extra single strokes.

A bass drum pedal with two footboards linked by a shaft, so one bass drum can be played with both feet.

Two strokes per hand, R R L L, the foundation of the buzz roll and much rolled vocabulary.

A feel that puts the backbeat twice as often, making the same tempo feel twice as fast.

A stroke that starts high and stops low, controlling the rebound, used to play an accent followed by quiet notes.

A main stroke preceded by two quick grace notes (a double), giving a short rolled lead-in.

The small square wrench that turns tension rods to tune a drum. Every drummer keeps a spare.

The full set of drums and cymbals played by one drummer, typically snare, bass drum, toms, hi-hat, and cymbals.

The brain of an electronic kit: it turns pad hits into sounds and stores the kits, samples, and settings.

A frame of bars around the kit that drums and cymbals clamp onto, instead of many separate stands.

The membrane stretched over a drum that you strike. Once animal skin, now usually plastic (Mylar).

The tapered wooden (or synthetic) stick used to strike drums and cymbals. Sizes like 5A and 7A set weight and feel.

Markings for how loud to play, from pp (very soft) to ff (very loud). What turns notes into music.

The outer rim of a cymbal. Striking it with the shoulder of the stick produces the fullest crash sound.

Any cymbal made for a short, trashy, or novelty sound rather than steady timekeeping. The family includes china, splash, stack, sizzle, and swish cymbals.

Half a beat, counted "1 and 2 and". Two eighth notes fill one quarter note.

A kit of rubber or mesh pads and triggers that feed a module, producing sampled sounds through headphones or an amp.

A short break from the groove, often around the toms, used to lead into a new section.

Two doubles plus an accent, R R L L R, the most common short roll.

The tail on the stem of a single short note. One flag is an eighth, two is a sixteenth.

Two notes played almost together, a quiet grace note just before a main stroke, thickening the sound.

A three-note triplet figure that starts with a flam, alternating hands, common in solos and fills.

A flam followed immediately by a tap on the same hand, alternating between hands.

A rudiment that opens with a flam, accents the second note, and closes on another flam.

A ride cymbal with no bell, giving a dry, controlled stick sound with little wash, favored in jazz.

A steady bass drum on every beat, the pulse behind disco, house, and much dance music.

A stroke that starts high, strikes, and rebounds back up to where it began. One of the four basic strokes.

A syncopated, groove-first style full of sixteenth notes and ghost notes, where space and feel matter most.

A very quiet note, usually on the snare, played between the main accents to add groove and texture.

A large hanging metal disc struck for a deep, swelling crash, sometimes added behind a big kit.

A repeating rhythmic pattern that feels good and locks with the band. The drummer's main job.

A hollow, ridged gourd scraped with a stick for a rhythmic ratchet sound, common in Latin music.

A feel that moves the backbeat to beat 3, making the same tempo feel half as fast and heavy.

A rigid, often moulded case that protects drums or cymbals from impact during transport.

The collective metal stands, pedals, clamps, and fittings that hold the kit together and position every drum and cymbal.

A bass-drum foot technique that gets two strokes from one pedal motion by rocking from heel to toe.

A pair of cymbals on a stand worked by a foot pedal, opened and closed for time-keeping and accents.

The locking part that grips the top hi-hat cymbal onto the stand's pull rod.

The pedal-operated stand that holds the two hi-hat cymbals and opens or closes them with your foot.

The metal rim that clamps a drumhead to the shell. It is also struck deliberately for rimshots and cross-sticks.

An acoustic kit augmented with electronic pads, triggers, and a module, blending real drums with sampled sounds.

The ability to play different rhythms with each limb at the same time. A core skill behind every groove.

A style centered on a swung ride pattern, brushed or light touch, and constant interaction with the band.

A broad family of Afro-Caribbean and South American feels (son, mambo, cha-cha) built on clave and ostinatos.

The metal casing mounted on the drum shell that holds the tension rods used to tune the head.

A stick with a soft felt or yarn head, used for cymbal swells and soft tom or timpani tones.

A pair of shakers, traditionally dried gourds filled with seeds or beads, played with a wrist snap.

Holding both sticks the same way, palms down. The most common modern grip.

A high-energy style leaning on double bass, fast single strokes, and driving, aggressive cymbal work.

A whipping motion that combines accented and unaccented strokes in one arm movement, used for power and endurance.

A ring, gel, or strip of tape laid on the head to tame overtones and shorten sustain.

Four doubles plus an accent, building a longer sustained roll between accents.

How long a note lasts: whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and so on, each half the length of the last.

The round (or X-shaped) part of a note that sits on the staff and says which drum or cymbal to play.

Tall, narrow single-headed tom-like drums tuned to high pitches, played in melodic fills.

Playing the hi-hat with the left hand and the snare with the right (for a right-hander), so the arms never cross.

A short pattern repeated steadily by one or more limbs while the others play freely over it.

A rubber or mesh playing surface on an electronic kit that triggers a sound when struck.

A four-note rudiment, R L R R / L R L L, mixing singles and a double so the leading hand switches every group.

A six-note rudiment, R L R R L L, that keeps the same leading hand, great for triplet-based fills.

A shallow snare drum with a high, sharp, cutting voice, often used as an auxiliary snare.

Two contrasting rhythms played at once, like three evenly-spaced notes against two, creating tension.

A quiet rubber or gum pad used to practice strokes and rudiments without setting up a full kit.

A finger-driven technique that gets multiple notes per arm motion by pushing and then pulling the stick, for speed.

One beat in common time. The steady "1, 2, 3, 4" you count and tap your foot to.

The natural bounce of the stick off the head. Using it instead of fighting it is the heart of relaxed technique.

A laid-back Jamaican feel. In the classic "one drop", bass drum and snare land together on beat 3 and beat 1 is left open.

The dotted double barline that tells you to play a section again.

The bottom head of a drum. It is not struck but vibrates to shape the tone and sustain.

A symbol for silence. Each note value has a matching rest of the same length.

The large cymbal used to keep a steady pulse, usually played on the bow with the stick tip for a clear "ping".

A stroke that hits the head and the hoop at the same time, producing a loud, cracking accent.

A driving feel built on a strong backbeat, steady eighths on the hi-hat or ride, and a solid bass drum.

Bundles of thin dowels (also called hot rods) that sit between sticks and brushes in volume and attack.

A shell-less tom whose pitch you change on the fly by spinning the rim to tighten the head.

A fast, energetic Brazilian feel driven by a syncopated bass drum and continuous sixteenth-note motion.

Three doubles plus an accent, R R L L R R L, a staple roll for fills.

The universal-jointed linkage rod that connects the two pedals of a double pedal, driving the slave beater from the main pedal.

A small sealed tube or egg filled with beads, shaken to lay down a steady rhythmic texture.

The cylindrical body of a drum, usually wood or metal, whose size and material shape its voice.

A swung feel built on a triplet pulse with the middle note left out, common in blues and rock.

A dragged stroke followed by a single tap, alternating hands, a building block for many longer patterns.

A rudiment combining a drag with a four-note figure ending on an accent.

The most basic rudiment: alternating single strokes, R L R L, played evenly at any speed.

A roll mixing doubles and accented singles, often felt as triplets, popular in grooves and fills.

A cymbal fitted with rivets or a chain that add a hissing sustain to every strike.

The central drum of the kit, with wire snares stretched across the bottom head that give it a sharp, buzzing crack.

The basket-topped stand that holds the snare drum at playing height and angle.

The coiled wires stretched across the bottom head of the snare drum that give it its characteristic buzz.

A padded fabric bag (gig bag) for carrying drums, cymbals, or hardware; lighter than a hard case but less protective.

A small, thin cymbal with a short, quick decay, used for fast, delicate accents.

Two or more cymbals mounted on top of each other for a short, trashy, electronic-sounding "chk".

The five lines on which music is written. For drums, each line and space is assigned to a drum or cymbal.

The vertical line attached to a notehead. With flags and beams it shows the note's duration.

The R and L letters under the notes that say which hand plays each one. Good sticking makes hard parts easy.

A jazz feel where eighth notes are played long-short on the ride, giving the music its lilt.

A china-type cymbal, often with rivets, that gives a dark, trashy, sustained wash, associated with jazz drummer Mel Lewis.

A flam on the leading hand, then one tap with the same hand and one with the other, a fast triplet-feel figure.

Placing accents on the offbeats or weak parts of the bar, against the expected pulse, giving the rhythm its push and pull.

A small frame drum ringed with metal jingles, shaken or struck, and often mounted on a stand for kit use.

A low, quiet stroke that starts and ends near the head, used for soft notes and ghost notes.

The speed of the music, measured in beats per minute (BPM). A metronome keeps it steady.

The threaded rod, turned with a drum key, that pulls the hoop down to tighten or loosen the head and set its pitch.

The drummer's stool. Height and stability matter for posture, reach, and pedal control.

The lever on the side of the snare that engages or releases the snare wires.

A curved line joining two notes into one held sound, often used to carry a note across a barline.

A pair of shallow, single-headed metal drums with a bright, ringing tone, central to Latin music.

The two stacked numbers at the start of a piece that say how many beats are in a bar and which note value is the beat.

The hardware that holds rack toms above the bass drum or on a stand, setting their angle.

A drum with no snares, tuned to a clear pitch and used mainly for fills. Kits have rack toms and a larger floor tom.

Holding the left stick cradled between thumb and fingers, palm up, a grip rooted in marching and jazz.

A thin steel bar bent into a triangle, struck with a beater for a bright, sustained ring.

A sensor mounted on an acoustic drum that converts each hit into an electronic signal for a module or sampler.

Three strokes per hand, R R R L L L, used for a smoother, fuller roll than doubles.

Three notes played evenly in the time of two, a swung, rolling subdivision marked with a small "3".

A stroke that starts low, plays a quiet note, and lifts the stick high to prepare an accent.

A metal rod with a ball at one end and a box of loose pins at the other, slapped for a long rattling buzz.

The sustained, building roar produced by riding or crashing a cymbal repeatedly, letting its overtones bloom.

A small block of hardwood struck with a stick for a sharp, hollow click.