Percussion Techniques:

Here are some examples of techniques mainly used by drummers when playing however some of these techniques can be applied to other percussion techniques (e.g. timpanis)

Flams: A flam consists of two notes played in quick succession. One hand plays a soft grace note and the other plays an accented main note after the grace note. They are used to add power and emphasis to fills / playing. They are shown as a grace note with a line through it connected to the primary note.

Drags: Drags are similar to flams but consists of two soft grace notes before the primary note. They are often heard in military drumming and in funk music to enhance grooves. A drag is written as two small semiquavers before the primary notes.

Buzz: A buzz is created by pressing the drumstick head into the snare whilst playing in order to make the stick 'bounce' multiple times. You will often hear buzzes in military drumming. It is notated as a note with bold diagonal lines through the stem of the note.

Rim shot: A rim shot involves the player hitting both the snare head and the rim simultaneously to create a sharp, cracking sound. It is used in rock and metal drumming to add impact to their drumming. It is written as a snare note (see Unit 3 Lesson 2) with a diagonal line through the note.

Cross-stick: A cross-stick is when the stick is laid across the snare and is tapped against the snare rim to create a clicking sound. It is often used to create a softer beat. It is notated as a X instead of a circle note.

Ghost note: Ghost notes are soft, quiet notes played on the drums that are used to create a more subtle rhythm underneath a groove. They are commonly heard in jazz, funk and soul drumming. A ghost note is written as a note enclosed within brackets to indicate that is played more softly.

Examples:

Know Your Enemy: The starting 4 bars of Know Your Enemy by Green Day include a flam beat. You can see how the drummer is using both sticks to play the same note on the snare creating a flam. This helps to enhance the sound of the snare. You can see that the flam is notated with an additional ghost note to show that both hands are playing.

Californication: The verse drum beat includes a drag and some ghosts notes. You can see that in the first part of the bar includes a drag which is the two ghost notes in a fast succession as a lead in to the grooves. The ghost notes are also used in the grooves to add a subtle 16th note rhythm to the groove. These are written as bracketed notes.

Fields of Gold: This song uses cross sticks. You can see the drummer laying his stick across the snare and playing the rim to create a dry and hollow sound. It's quieter than playing the actual snare so it's commonly used in more relaxed songs / grooves such as jazz. You can see it's notated as an X where the snare should be to show that it's a 'cross-stick'.

Why do we use percussion techniques?:

Due to the versatility of sounds a drummer can create around the kit, it is important that people reading drum notation are aware of these techniques as they create very different sounds. By marking these techiques a drummer can accuratly recreate the desired techniques for the piece.