BEATS - "Intermediate - How To Drum Like A Pro" Tablature

How To Drum Like A Pro Series
Copyright Stuart Thursby 2001
Intermediate Lessons


Section II: Intermediate Drumming

Part 1: Fills
I. In this part, I will show you the basic, yet much-needed, art of drum fills.
Fills take place in breaks at the end of a verse, or a chorus usually, and
consist of hitting the other drums, plus cymbals. Here, an example:
Example:

COunt |1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x |
C |----------------------------------------------------------------o
H |o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-----------------|
S |----o-------o-------o-------o-------o-------o---oooo------------|
B |o-------o-------o-------o-------o-------o-------o---o---o---o---o
t |----------------------------------------------------oooo--------|
T |--------------------------------------------------------oooo----|
F |------------------------------------------------------------oooo|

That was the most basic of all fills. Now, here is another basic-ish, yet
cool sounding fill:
Example:

Count |1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x |
C |----------------------------------------------------------------o
H |o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-----------------|
S |----o-------o-------o-------o-------o-------o---oooo----o-------|
B |o-------o-------o-------o-------o-------o-------o------o-------oo
t |----------------------------------------------------ooo------oo-|
T |-----------------------------------------------------------oo---|
F |---------------------------------------------------------oo-----|

Cool, huh? Well, here is a really complicated fill to really get your heart
pumping and your sticks pounding.
Example:

Count |1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x |
C |----------------------------------------------------o-o---------O
H |o-o-o-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o-o-O-o-O-o-O--------------O--|
S |----o-------o-------o-------o--o----o-------ooo-o-oo--------o-o-|
B |o-o-----oo-o----o--o-o-o-o-o-oo-o-oo-oo-o-o-o-------o-o-o--o---oo
t |---------------------------------------------------------o------|
T |----------------------------------------------------------o-----|
F |------------------------------------------------------------o---|

Wow! Nice work!

II. FLams

Flam? What's a flam? Well, a flam is when you hit a soft note on the snare
a mili-second before a real beat. It will be signified in this tab with a "f"
before the main beat.
Example:

Count |1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x |
H |o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-|
S |----o-------o------fo------fo-------o-------o------fo------fo---|
B |o-------o-------o-------o-------o-------o-------o-------o-------|
Hands |----R-------R------lR------lR-------R-------R------rL------rL---|

Kind of hard to tell from there, but take a look at the Rudiments section
of MXTabs.net for the sheet music version. You can implement Flams into
beats, rythms, fills, solos, whatever sounds cool!

III. Rolls

You know those marching bands they use in parades and army marches? Well, when
you hear a buzzing sound come from the snare drummer(s), you would probably
think it's a machine making the noise. Not so. It is the drummer, after a lot
of practice, utilising the bounce of the snare drum in the proper manner.
You see, if you hit the snare drum, just once, at a medium velocity and weight
on the strike, the stick will "rebound" back into your palm, and forcing it up.
Now, try pressing the stick back down as soon as it touches your palm. Don't
actually press the stick down onto the drum, just strike the snare drum again,
with the same velocity and weight as the first strike. It bounces back up. Now,
the really tricky part is doing it for a really long time. If you do not understand
what I am saying at all, go down to your nearest drum shop, with this paper in hand,
and show him or her how to show you, as I cannot show you with words.

Well, that concludes my Intermediate drumming section. Check out my Advanced section,
coming soon to the Beats and Rythms section of MXTabs.net. Add any comments below,
and keep drumming!