An accent is positioned over a note to highlight that the note should be played with more emphasis. It is generally accepted that an accented note is played louder than unaccented notes.
Music played by other members of the ensemble to support the principal performance being played by another member.
To play along with other musicians, but normally in a lesser (support) role.
This is the term used for describing the effect an odd numbered subdivision has on a single stroke roll, where the hand falling on the beat alternates every beat.
Alternate picking is the technique used by bass players to develop greater fluency. When playing eighth notes the first finger picks on the beats and the second finger is used for the ‘+’ of each beat, effectively alternating the picking.
Arpeggio is a chord spread out with one note being played one note after another, usually from the bottom of the chord to the top.
A scale starting on the root note and played up to the octave note.
A loud and persistent beat on the second and fourth beats in a bar played on the snare drum. The back beat clearly distinguishes rock music from it’s origins of rhythm, blues and jazz.
A barre is when a finger (usually 1st finger) is extended across more than one string at a time.
Music is ordered into bars (or ‘measures’). Bars divide the music into a given number of beats. For example, there may be 4 beats or 3 beats in a bar. In common time there are 4 beats in a bar. A bar is the space between two vertical lines on the stave and these lines are called bar lines.
Bar lines (or barlines) are vertical lines drawn on the stave at the end of each bar.
The bass clef is used for low pitch instruments and is the musical stave used to display notation for the bass guitar. For the keyboard, notes below Middle C are usually played with the left hand.
The deepest/lowest sounding drum in the modern drum kit. The bass drum lies on the floor and is operated by a foot pedal.
The music the bassist is asked to follow when playing a piece of music. The original score has the entire bands parts on it and from that the arranger creates a part for each member of the band. Also known as bass guitar guide.
See bass guitar chart.
We use beams to join notes together into groups. Often used in the joining of 4 sixteenth notes and / or 2 eighth notes into one beat of common time. Beams are only used with notes that have tails. Quarter notes and half notes cannot be beamed.
A beat is the measurement of the ‘pulse’ felt in music. We can both feel and count the beats in a bar. Different beats affect the feel and tempo of the tune. A metronome helps the musician play to the beat.
Originally an African American style of musical composition. It was generally sung as an unhappy lament of a love affair. In more recent times it has become used to describe a mood of song rather than style.
Brushes are a set of bristles (metal or plastic) connected to a handle so that the bristles make a fan shape. The handles are commonly made of wood or aluminum, and are often coated with rubber. Some brushes are telescoping, so that the bristles can be pulled inside a hollow handle and the fan made by the bristles can be of variable length, width and density. Retracting the bristles also protects the brush when it is not being used.
Brushes add texture and sound not possible with sticks. For instance, silky swish sounds on coated heads and the delicate ‘ting’ sound on cymbals are only possible with thin wire or nylon brushes.
In contemporary songs tends to denote the main theme of the tune (often referred to as the ’hook’) and contrasts from the verse in terms of melody and dynamics.
A combination of notes, used as the basis of creating harmony. A chord is made up of at least two notes.
A chord box is a diagram of the fingerboard, used to demonstrate the position of the fingers of the fretting hand on the fingerboard in forming chords.
Songs often contain several chords linked together to form a chord progression, which becomes the basis of a song.
These are often used when playing in a studio to help keep the band in time. The clicks give the tempo to the drummer, often the beats in the bar. The click sound is produced by either a sequencer or drum machine and is listened to through headphones or a click monitor.
The coda was originally intended to be the final and clinching part of the tune, in that it did not develop the composition any further. Although not always the case, it is often the final part of a tune, taken after a number of repetitions of verses and chorus.
Is a musical sign, generally accepted to signify that the musician jumps from the coda sign in the music to the section denoted as coda, usually after a D.S al coda instruction.
Music is ordered into bars, and each bar has a defined number of beats within it, providing the pulse of the music. The most commonly used pulse in rock music is that of 4 beats. So, music that has 4 beats in a bar is often described as being written in ’common time’.
A composer is a person who writes music.
Where there is a mixture of simple time and triplet notes, creating a mixture of rhythm.
The crash cymbal is mostly used for punctuating accents. The sound is one of a slow attack and long decay and is best used with the punch and cushion of a bass drum underneath it, giving it depth. When used with soft mallets they produce a long shimmering sound, which is a perfect percussive sound effect.
The top rim of the drum can be struck as well as the drumhead to create a ’chipping sound’ when the stick is laid across the drum. Often used in quieter passages of songs.
Cymbals are an important part of the modern drum kit and percussion family of instruments. They are plate shaped discs, made of bronze and other metals. Cymbals are often positioned around a drum kit on stands and are struck either with sticks, mallets or brushes. Cymbals have no definite pitch, but may have higher and lower sounds.
Damping is a technique for preventing strings or a drum skin from vibrating. A guitarist might rest his palm against the strings and a drummer might leave the stick on the drum skin, or actually place material on the drum head to reduce vibrations. Guitarists use damping a lot in palm muting.
A scale where you start on the octave note and play down to the root note.
Disco is a style of music that became part of popular music in the mid to late 1970’s. Typical exponents of Disco music were the Bee Gees who wrote the soundtrack for the famous Saturday Night Fever Film in 1977 that epitomised Disco Dance culture of that time.
These are marks in music that follow a note to indicate that the note should be increased in length by half of its value.
This is an eighth note that has a dot after it, increasing its value from half of a beat to three quarters of a beat.
This is an eighth note rest that has a dot after it, increasing its value from half of a beat to three quarters of a beat.
This is a quarter note that has a dot after it, increasing its value from 1 beat to 1 and a half beats.
This is a quarter note rest that has a dot after it, increasing its value from 1 beat to 1 and a half beats.
Often referred to as ’tram lines’, this denotes the end, or beginning of a new section in a song/tune
Strumming a guitar involves the use of both down and up strokes. The down strokes are played by strumming from the bottom E string up to the top E string - string 6 to string 1.
Drum fills are where the drummer plays a pattern or rhythm which is a break from the groove of the song. Often used to highlight changes in the song structure to create a change in dynamic intensity in the music.
The music the drummer is asked to follow when playing a piece of music. The original score has the entire band’s parts on it and from that the arranger creates a part for each member of the band.
See drum chart.
A drum map describes which drum is represented by which note on the musical stave. For example, notes in the bottom space of the stave are bass drum notes. The middle space is where the snare drum note is placed. See Classroom Resources for example of a drum map.
Is a musical instruction meaning to ‘Go to the Sign, then take the Coda’.
In standard music notation, the duration (time length) of a particular note is defined by how long it lasts compared to a whole note.
The technique used to identify common notes in chord progressions that make only small hand movements necessary to change chords. Used often by guitarists, bass players and keyboard players.
An eighth note lasts for ½ a beat and derives its name from the fact that it divides a bar of common time into eight equal parts. It is worth an eighth of a whole note.
These are the group of 3 notes that occupy the same space as two eighth notes, when grouped as triplets.
A group of musicians playing together (assembled). This can be any type of group, classical or pop.
See drum fills
Fine is Italian for finish and is found at the end of a piece of music.
Also known as the fretboard. The neck of the guitar is where the guitarist places his fingers on the strings of the guitar to form chords and play notes.
This bar is played at the end of a repeated section the first time the section is played.
Also known as power chords, technically they are known as 5 chords as they have only two notes in the chord —the root and the 5th. They are called power chords as they are often used to provide a powerful sound and are used a lot in rock music.
This (b) is the sign that when placed before a note reduces its pitch by a semitone.
By taking a major scale and then flattening the pitch of the 3rd note in the scale by a semitone this has the effect of changing a chord from major to minor. This is called a flattened 3rd.
See lo-tom.
Is a time signature, often referred to as common time, but meaning 4 beats of quarter notes in a bar.
Also known as the fingerboard. The neck of the guitar (and bass guitar) is where guitarists place their fingers on the strings of the guitar (and bass guitar) to play notes.
A fretted string occurs when the note is played by placing the fretting hand finger on the fretboard on the note required.
The frets are the spaces on the fretboard between the fret markers (fret wires). The nearer the fret is to the body of the guitar the higher the note.
The fretting hand is the one used to play the fretboard on the guitar.
These are notes that are played very quietly to add to the rhythm of a drum groove. Often these are played on the snare drum.
See rock groove.
The music the guitarist is asked to follow when playing a piece of music. The original score has the entire bands parts on it and from that the arranger creates a part for each member of the band.
Guitar frames are diagrams of the fretboard, used to demonstrate the position of the fingers of the fretting hand in the formation of chords.
See guitar chart.
A half note is worth 2 beats and looks like is a clear circle with a stem. It is worth half a whole note.
The head stock is at the top of the guitar at the end of the fretboard, neck, where the machine heads are.
The Hi-hat (or hihat) is made up of two cymbals, with one on top of the other. They both sit together on a stand that is operated by a foot pedal. The Hi-hats are played by striking them with a stick, normally with the foot pressing down on the pedal and the cymbals close together. The Hi-hats can also played by closing the cymbals together, using the foot on the pedal.
The hi-tom, is a drum with skins on both sides of the drum. You play the top head, known as the ‘batter head’. It will be the tom drum with the highest relative sound (pitch).
The sound from a tom is generally rounded as the shape of the drum is such that the two skins resonate together to produce the same tone. Tuning is very important. In the majority of instances the bottom head should be the same tension as the top head. You can vary the tensions between skins, but this will affect the decay of the sound, after the drum has been struck. If the bottom head is looser the sound will drop, if tighter it will rise.
House is a musical style of popular dance music that became part of the 90s popular club scene.
To improvise music is to take a performance created in the moment without use of memory or from a prepared or written score and produce a melodic and rhythmic melody.
In literal terms this means to turn a chord upside down. In musical terms it is a chord that does not have its root at the bottom of the chord.
A style of music largely associated with the African American community that mixed rhythms from West Africa, harmony from Europe and gospel singing.
A short tune with a theme used to accompany an advertisement used often on radio or television, but in any form of broadcast medium such as the internet or cinema.
In the concept of music composition the use of a key indicates an adherence, in a passage of music, to the notes of a specified major scale or minor scale.
Found on a keyboard, these are depressed by the keyboard player to play the required note, or groups of notes. By holding them down for varying lengths of time, a keyboard player generates rhythm as well as pitch.
The music the keyboardist is asked to follow when playing a piece of music. The original score has the entire bands parts on it and from that the arranger creates a part for each member of the band. Also sometimes referred to as keyboard guide.
The key signature indicates the key in which the passage of music should be played in.
Lead guitar refers to the part played by a guitarist that is both significant in its position within the music and plays a prominent role in the band. The lead guitar part can be the main tune or theme within the music, but may also be a solo.
A drummer has a preferred hand that they invariably lead with. In most cases this is the right hand. Accordingly, that hand is called the lead hand and the other hand the non-lead hand. So a right handed drummer’s lead hand is their right and their non-lead is their left. A left handed drummer’s lead hand is their left and their non-lead hand is their right.
Ledger lines are short lines above and below the stave which accommodate notes that are too high or too low for the stave.
Normally refers to a public performance by a band.
The lo-tom, is a drum with skins on both sides of the drum. You play the top head, known as the ‘batter head’. It is the tom drum with lowest relative sound (pitch) and is often referred to as a floor tom, as it sometimes rests on a standard that sits on the floor.
The machine heads can be tightened or loosened to tune the guitar strings. Tightening the strings sharpens the sound and loosening them flattens the sound.
A major scale is a series of single notes progressing upwards and downwards within an octave. Specifically a major scale has intervals of a tone between each note, with the exception of the intervals between 3-4 and 7-8 notes, which are semitones.
Mallets are drum sticks used by percussionists to play a variety of instruments. They are made up of a stick with a soft felt end which provides a more cushioned percussive strike to the standard wooden or plastic bead generally used for playing the drum kit.
A melody is a succession of notes which have an organised and recognisable pattern or shape.
A metronome is a music device that provides a steady beat, to help the player establish the correct tempo of the piece of music. Metronomes can play at all tempos and once set at the desired tempo they play the beat continually.
The mid-tom, is a drum with skins on both sides of the drum. You play the top head, known as the ’batter head’. It will be the tom drum with relative sound (pitch) being in the middle of the three standard toms.
A minor scale is a series of single notes progressing upwards and downwards within an octave. Specifically a minor scale has intervals of a tone between each note, with the exception of the interval between 2-3 and 5-6, which are semitones.
A minor triad is a chord with the 3rd note being flattened by a semitone.
Muscles learn motions so that they develop an ability to recognise a previously performed movement. The more often a movement is repeated the better the performance of the muscles in response, as they develop greater familiarity with the motion.
A natural note is one that is neither sharpened nor flattened.
A drummer has a preferred hand that they invariably lead with. In most cases this is the right hand. Accordingly, that hand is called the lead hand and the other hand the non-lead hand. So for right handed drummers the lead hand is their right and their non-lead is their left. A left handed drummer’s lead hand is their left and their non-lead hand is their right.
The marks in written music that are used to represent notes, rests, expression, timing, dynamics, etc.
A note is a symbol on the stave which represents the pitch and duration of a sound.
The note head is the circle on the stave that represents the position of the note within the bar. There are different note heads for different note values and voices of the drum kit. For instance, whole notes and half notes are clear circles, whereas all other notes values are black circles. For drums, we use traditional note heads as described, but for cymbals we use a cross (x), so that we can distinguish between cymbals and drums.
An octave is an interval of 8 notes (including the top note and the bottom note). The note name of the top note is the same as that at the bottom.
An open string is when the guitarist (or bassist) plays the string with their right hand, but does not use the fretboard. Accordingly, the string is not closed by the left hand. You can play the following open strings with just your right hand.
| Guitar | Bass |
|---|---|
| 6th (bottom) string E | 4th (bottom) string E |
| 5th string A | 3rd string A |
| 4th string D | 2nd string D |
| 3rd string G | 1st (top) string G |
| 2nd string B | — |
| 1st (top) string E | — |
Palm muting is the technique of damping the strings with the plectrum hand when striking the strings, hence creating a tight and clipped sound. Used a lot in rock music when playing rhythm guitar.
A short musical passage contained within a composition, of in determined length but normally between a beat and four bars of length that creates either a recognisable harmonic and or rhythmic pattern.
Phrasing is the playing of harmonic figures by the drummer using a system that enables the drummer to catch the rhythm whilst playing a drum roll. Generally, using a single stroke roll, but can be played in any sticking.
See plectrum.
See alternate picking.
The term ‘pitch of a note’ refers to how high, or how low, the note sounds. The pitch is determined by the speed of the vibration of the sound. Faster vibrations create higher pitched notes than slower moving vibrations. On a guitar, the thickness and length of the string determine the pitch of the note when the string is struck.
Playing in position means that you can play all the notes you need to without moving your fretting hand. Ordinarily, this means that you are able to use different fingers on your fretting hand to play the different notes within your pattern.
Also known as a pick, this is the piece of plastic held in the right (strumming) hand that is used to strike the strings with. They come in varying degrees of stiffness.
See 5 chords.
A practice pad is normally made of rubber and simulates the feel of a drum. It is quiet to play and often used to for practice when noise is a problem.
A term used to indicate that the rhythm seems to push early into the next beat.
A quarter note lasts for 1 beat. Its name comes from the fact that it divides a bar of common time into 4 quarters. It is worth a quarter of a whole note.
This is a period of time allotted for music to be recorded. Generally, a recording session is 3 hours long and takes place in a recording studio with other musicians. Sessions can be longer, depending upon the amount of musical material to be recorded.
Two horizontal lines, one which is thick, the other that is thin, followed by two dots, one above the other represent a section of music, collection of bars that should be repeated. If the dots are on the right of the lines this denotes the beginning of the repeated section. Dots to the left denote where the repeat ends and from this point you return to the beginning of the repeated section. See Essential Drum Skills - Lesson 6.
These are marks in music notation which show where there should be silence and how long the silence should last.
Rhythm is technically everything in music other than pitch that contributes to the pulse, emphasis and forward movement of time.
Rhythm guitar refers to the part played by a guitarist that is generally a rhythmic accompaniment and usually involves playing of chords.
The rim is the metal or wooden ring that is used to secure the drum skin to the drum. The rim has holes to enable the tension rods to be screwed into the tension boxes. The rim can be struck as well as the drumhead to create a ‘chipping sound’ when the stick is laid across the drum. A ‘rim shot’ occurs when both rim and the centre of the drum head are struck at the same time.
A ‘Rim Shot’ occurs when both rim and the centre of the drum head are struck at the same time with the same drum stick.
The term ‘rock groove’ describes the strong beat played by the drummer emphasising the 4 beats in the bar typical of rock music. It is generally accepted that the snare drum plays a loud and persistent beat on the second and fourth beats in a bar (which is often referred to as the ‘backbeat’). The back beat clearly distinguishes rock music from it’s origins of rhythm, blues and jazz.
Rock music has evolved from the late 1940’s rhythm recordings and the 1950s rock-and-roll style of music. It is difficult to be precise about when rock music began. However, in the period of rapid social change after the Second World War, the music of African Americans began to seep into white American teenage culture giving rise to this new type (genre) of music. Modern day examples of rock bands would be: 1960’s Led Zeppelin; 1970’s Deep Purple; 1980’s Whitesnake; 1990’s Guns ’n’ Roses; and 2000s Alien Ant Farm.
The root is the first note in a chord and comes from the name of the chord. For instance A is made up of A, C# and E. The A is the name of the chord and the first note. Accordingly it is called the root as it is at the bottom of the chord. The C# is the 3rd and the E is the 5th.
On a bass guitar, the root and fifth is played by playing the root note and then playing the fifth which is found across one string (towards higher pitched string) and up two frets.
On a guitar this root and fifth pattern is commonly used to create a power chord(s) formed by playing just two strings, the root and the fifth and usually rooted on the 6th or the 5th string. On a guitar the same pattern applies for notes rooted on stings 6, 5, 4 and 2. In the case of notes rooted on the 3rd (G) string, the 5th is found by moving from the root across one string and up three frets. In the case of the 1st string the fifth will be found 7 frets above the root.
On keyboards the 5th is the fifth note in the scale counting the root as the 1st. It is 7 semitones above the root. The 5th is the same note in both the major and minor scale. E.g.
In the scale of C major: C(root), D, E ,F , G(5th), A, B, C.
In the scale of C minor: C(root), D, Eb, F, G(5th), Ab, Bb, C.
The root bass note is the note from which a chord originates, or the lowest note when the chord is in its basic position.
This is when the chord is played in its most basic form with the note from which the chord originates being played at the bottom of the chord.
A run is used to link up notes by playing a series of chords or notes that connect. A run is usually short in length, typically lasting between a beat and a bar.
A scale is a series of single notes progressing upwards and downwards within an octave. See major scale, minor scale, ascending scale and descending scale.
This bar is played instead of the first time bar when the repeat section is played for the second time.
This is the smallest interval between notes (in western music). It is the interval between each note up or down.
These are musicians who play music professionally and are hired to play music for a specific purpose such as the recording of music for recording artists, television and radio shows etc. They are generally well trained musicians with an ability to read music very well and play in a large variety of styles and musical situations.
This is where the drummer precedes an accent or phrase with a fill, which is intended to create an anticipation of the accent/phrase that follows.
When this sign (#) is placed before a note it raises its pitch by a semitone.
Shuffle describes a feel of music associated with blues and jazz, which uses tuplets.
This sign is similar to a dollar sign and denotes the point to return to when instructed with the term ’DS (Del Segno)’ which means ’Go to the Sign’.
There are no triplets in simple time, all the notes can be divided evenly in 2, such as whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, sixteenth notes etc.
A drum roll is the playing of a series of even notes on a drum. A single stroke roll is played with a single hit (stroke) per hand, alternating between the right and left hand.
A sixteenth note lasts for 1/4 of a beat and derives its name from the fact that it divides a bar of common time into 16. It is worth a sixteenth of a whole note.
The drum skin is a circular plastic film that is spread across the top and bottom of a drum. Striking the skin sounds a drum. The tension and tuning of the skins plays a major part in the sound of the drum. The skin is a temporary but essential part of the drum, like strings on a guitar, and is easily replaced when worn through use.
The snare is the collection of metal wires that are suspended beneath a snare drum to make a rattling sound. The addition of a snare to a drum brightens the drums tone and produces its unique sound.
The snare drum has a number of strands of metal wires across the bottom skin, which resonates against the skin when struck. The strand of wires are called a snare, hence the name of the drum. The snare drum is used a lot in rock music to produce the backbeat.
These are the 5 horizontal lines and four spaces that music is written on. Each space and line represents the position of particular note or voice of the drum kit. See drum map.
The stem is the vertical line attached to the note head that helps to identify the note’s value or duration. Half notes and quarter notes have just a stem. Eighth notes and sixteenth notes have tails as well.
Shaped wooden object used to strike drums to produce sound. Usually made of hickory, oak or hard maple.
See cross stick.
This is where you simply have to change from one string to another to play the desired notes.
Strumming is the technique of playing the guitar strings by striking across the strings on the body of the neck using up strokes and down strokes.
When referred to in music, subdividing is used to divide the beat into smaller parts so as to enable a wide variety of notes to be played of different lengths. By having a variety of notes of different lengths (whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, etc.) more interesting rhythmic patterns can be created.
A style of jazz playing which originated in the 1930’s predominantly for dancing. It is associated with big band music from artists such as Glen Miller, Art Shaw and Gene Krupa.
Syncopation is where the emphasis of the pulse of the music is off the beat.
These are the short lines that are attached to the stem of a note that helps to identify the duration of the note. If a note has one tail it is an eighth note. If it has two tails it is a sixteenth note. When a group of tailed notes are joined together, they are connected by ’beaming’ the tails. See beams.
Tempo is the speed at which a piece of music is performed. Tempo is measured in beats per minute.
The third is the third note in a scale. A triad chord for example is made up of the root, third and fifth notes in a scale.
Playing the drum kit requires good co-ordination between both hands and both feet. When a groove uses 3 drums/cymbals then three limbs need to be used in a co-ordinated manner, hence the term ’three way co-ordination’.
The bass drum, snare drum and hi-hat work together in rock and pop music at the centre of grooves. The control of these three voices is a large part of developing three way co-ordination.
Where the thumb is used to reposition the fingering on the keyboard when playing scales, or runs of more than 5 notes.
A tie increases the length of a note by attaching the value of the following note to it. A curved line between two notes signifies a tie.
The time signature indicates the meter of the piece of music. In rock music it normally comprises of the letter ‘C’ to represent common time. It can also be made up of 2 numbers, the top one referring to the number of beats in a bar, the bottom number indicating what type of notes the beats represent. For example, 3/4 means 3 beats of quarter notes; 5/8 means 5 beats of eighth notes.
Shortened version of ’tom-tom’. On a standard drum kit you will find a hi-tom, mid-tom and a lo-tom (sometimes called a floor tom). These provide additional changes of pitch to add to the sounds of the drum kit. A tom is normally mounted on the bass drum, or sits on the floor (floor tom/lo-tom) and does not have a snare.
A tone is an interval of a major 2nd. For example C to D and E to F#.
This is where a concept or principle can be reapplied to another part of the keyboard, or neck of the guitar to simply transfer a pattern, therefore enabling the student to learn the concept once and apply it in a multiple of situations.
The treble clef is used to display notation for higher pitched instruments. The treble clef represents the notes above Middle C on the modern keyboard. On the keyboard, notes in the treble clef are usually played with the right hand.
A triad is a chord made up of three notes. Usually the triad is made up of the root, third and fifth.
A group of 3 notes, or rests written where a group of 2 notes is suggested by the time signature; i.e., where it would appear to have two eighth notes, there are 3 eighth notes triplets.
Any group of notes that uses a 3 feel and where time is divided by 3.
Is a time signature meaning 12 beats of eighth notes in a bar.
Playing the drum kit requires good co-ordination between both hands and both feet. When a groove uses 2 drums/cymbals, then two limbs need to be used in a co-ordinated manner, hence the term ’two way co-ordination’. Two-way co-ordination is often used in developing co-ordination rather than in general playing.
This tends to refer to notes that are muted with the palm muting technique.
Up and down strokes are used when strumming with a plectrum. When playing eighth notes, the down stroke is on the beat and the up stroke is played on the ‘+’.
The up strokes are when the guitar is strummed from the top E string to the bottom E string — string 1 to string 6.
A section of a song that provides a contrast to the chorus.
Different sounds are produced by the different drums and cymbals that make up a drum kit. Each drum or cymbal has a unique sound or ’voice’. The drums and cymbals that make up the kit are often referred to as ’voices’.
A whole note is worth 4 beats. The note head looks like a clear circle, and does not have a stem.