A drum tablature, or tab, is a method of denoting the components necessary for a drummer to play a song. As in ordinary music, it contains instructions for the musician that will allow him to play the drums of a particular song.
Drum tabs are available on the internet and are usually created by drummers for drummers.
Reading tablature is straightforward, when you know what to do, but can be confusing for the newbie. Each tablature describes the type of shot and the measurements are well divided. The tablature will give you a good overview of the requirements of a piece.
Drummers of all skill levels use tabs to help them learn new songs, from beginners to professionals.
Steps
Step 1. Identify which drum you will use
At the beginning of each line, by means of an abbreviation, the parts of the battery that are used are denoted. It is possible to use other drums or cymbals throughout the song, but they will not be indicated on the line if they are not required in this part. Some abbreviations for instruments are:
- BD: Bass Drum / Kick
- SD: snare (snare)
- HH: hi-hat
- HT / T1 / T - High Tom / Rack 1
- LT / T2 / t - Low Tom / Rack 2
- FT - Floor
- RC - Ride Cymbal
- CC - Crash Cymbal
Step 2. An example of a tablature that has only kick, snare and Hat would be:
-
HH | -
-
SD | -
-
BD | -
Step 3. Read the rhythm
As a complement to the instruments to be played, rhythm is sometimes added on top of tablature. It is usually divided into counts of 8 or 16, depending on the complexity of the tablature. There may also be variations for ¾ and other rhythms. The rhythm does not repeat itself for subsequent lines, but the dashes or breaks do.
Step 4. Below that is a slash in the notation of 16
Since there are only hyphens, this will be a bar to do nothing.
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| 1e & a2e & a3e & a4e & a
-
HH | ----------------
-
SD | ----------------
-
BD | ----------------
Step 5. Learn to hit the drums
As there are several methods to do this, the notation has different letters to denote this. Some examples are:
- o: Strike (normal strike)
- O: Accent (hit harder)
- g: Ghost (beat more calmly)
- f: Flam
- d: Double Stroke
Step 6. Learn how to hit the cymbals
Like drums, cymbals and hi-hats can be struck in different ways. Some examples:
- x: Strike (cymbal or hi-hat)
- X: Strong Cymbal or Loose Hi-Hat
- o: Hit an open hi-hat
- #: Choke (hit the cymbal then hold it)
Step 7. Use basic examples first
Below that is a basic rhythm, 16 notes, with a hi-hat every ½ rhythm, kick drums on the 1st and 3rd and snare on the 2nd and 4th.
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| 1e & a2e & a3e & a4e & a
-
HH | x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- |
-
SD | ---- or ------- or --- |
-
BD | or ------- or ------- |
-
- The accents on the first hi-hat and the second snare can be added like this:
| 1e & a2e & a3e & a4e & a
HH | x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- |
SD | ---- or ------- or --- |
BD | or ------- or ------- |
Step 8. Increase the complexity
As you become more familiar with the notation, the tablatures become more complex, as shown below:
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| 1e & a2e & a3e & a4e & a | 1e & a2e & a3e & a4e & a | 1e & a2e & a3e & a4e & a | 1e & a2e & a3e & a4e & a |
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HH | or --- or --- or --- or --- | or --- or --- or --- or --- | -------------- - | ---------------- |
-
SD | ---------------- | ---------------- | o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- | oooooooooooooooo |
-
CC | x --------------- | ---------------- | -------------- - | ---------------- |
-
HH | --x-x-x-x-x-x-x- | x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- | x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- | x-x-x-x-x-x ----- |
-
SD | ---- or ------- or --- | ---- or - or ---- or --- | ---- or ------- or- - | ---- o --- oo-oooo |
-
BD | or ------- or ------- | or ------- oo ----- | or ------- oo ----- | o --------------- |
-
CC | ---------------- | x ----------- x --- | x ----------- x- - | x --------------- |
-
HH | x --- x --- x ------- | --x-x-x-x-x --- x- | --x-x-x-x-x --- x- | --x-x-x-x-x-x-x- |
-
SD | ---- or ------- o-oo | ---- or ------- or --- | ---- or ------- o-- - | ---- or ------- or --- |
-
BD | o ------- o - o - o- | o ------- oo ----- | o ------- oo ----- | o ------- oo ----- |
Advice
- Don't start with hard-to-read pieces. Start with simple songs with simple drums like in Seven Nation Army or The Hardest button to button… both from The White Stripes, so that you begin to understand the tablatures. Eventually the difficulty increases as your skill increases. An excellent song to start with is "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor.
- If you come across an abbreviation that you don't know, you can use different methods to find out what it means. For example, listen to the song so that you try to capture it, look it up on the internet or ask the tabber (the person who made the tablature). Either way, tablatures usually have a caption at the top of the page to help the reader.