How to Read Piano Sheet Music

How to Read Piano Sheet Music
By Duane Shinn

When it comes to reading piano sheet music, the first place to start is with the individual elements of the composition itself. Before you can tackle an entire piece, you must be familiar with that particular composition's language.

The following are steps to consider in reading piano sheet music. These will help you grasp the intent and nuances of the piece quickly.

* Look over the entire composition to get a feel for its length and structure. This first run through is just to have a quick overview of the composer's work.

* Go through the piece a second time. This second run through is more deliberate. You want to locate any unfamiliar things: notes, chords, articulations and tempo indications. Highlight any of these that you know will require research. Use a music dictionary or other resource to understand these elements.

* Next, consider the time signature of the piece. Are you familiar with it? If not, read up on the specific time signature, as it is a primary characteristic of the song.

* Consider the key signature of the composition. Are you familiar with this key or is it new? If it's new to you, learn the key's scale with its attendant sharps or flats to better understand the piece.

* Look for key changes within the song. Does the song remain in the same key throughout? If not, how many times does the key change and what are those new keys? Knowing the changes ahead of time makes playing the piece easier.

* Look for tempo changes in the song and highlight them. Again, familiarizing yourself with tempo changes ahead of time allows you to glide from one section to the next easier.

* Look for common passages. Does a phrase or motif repeat itself further along in the piece? Is there a variation of a basic motif somewhere else in the composition? When you familiarize yourself with the basic one, the variations will be that much easier to understand.

* Next, break the composition up into sections. Highlight difficult passages that will require more practice time.

* Write your own notes at specific places on the sheet music. Write these notes using your own unique markings. The only rule to abide by is "whatever makes the piece easier for you to read."

* Play through the piece once, as best you can, without stopping. Even if you have trouble at a certain point, finish the piece. This once over will give you a visual and aural snapshot of the composition.

* Play through the piece again. Stop as needed to make any additional markings in difficult areas.

* Concentrate on just the difficult passages. Look them over again a few times so their structure remains in your mind. Do this before playing them again. This sets the structure in your mind so you can concentrate on the eye-hand coordination. With your eyes familiar with the section, you can now work on your hand movements.

Playing a complete composition with piano sheet music need not be an arduous task. When you tackle its component parts one at a time, the process is much easier. When you learn the individual components and then put them all together, the result is a satisfying musical experience.

Duane Shinn is the author of the popular online newsletter on piano chords, available free at "Exciting Piano Chords & Chord Progressions!"

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Choosing the Right Snare Drums for your Music

Choosing the Right Snare Drums for your Music
By Ilse Hagen

In choosing the right snare drums for your drum kit, first, you have to determine what genre of music you will be playing to. There are different types of snare drums that produce different types of sounds. The right sound will depend on your taste and preference, and mostly, in the style of music that you are playing; there’s jazz snare drums, rock snare drums, metal snare drums, punk snare drums, and funk snare drums.

• Jazz snare drums

  Jazz snare drums are made of wood or brass and are usually played with brushes, not sticks. They have light to moderate drumhead texture that reduce muffling, and measure six inches deep and 14 inches wide.

• Rock snare drums
  
  Rock snare drums are typically made of stainless steel to produce louder sound that can be heard over electric guitars. They measure 14 inches wide and 5.5 to eight inches deep. They have drumheads that are heavy coated that for slight muffling.

• Metal snare drums

  Metal snare drums are usually made of brass, bronze, aluminum, or synthetic material such as carbon fiber and acrylic. They produce a higher volume and a brighter timbre than the other snare drums. They measure 13 to 15 inches wide, with a depth of eight inches. Smaller versions are also available, and are usually termed as power piccolos.

• Punk snare drums

  Punk snare drums are as loud as hi-hat cymbals. They are available in different tuning types and drumheads, and can often be easily configured. They measure 15 inches wide and 5.5 to six inches deep.

• Funk snare drums

  Funk snare drums have a distinctive stressed and highly accented sound. They are tightly tuned to produce a high crack while maintaining a full-bodied sound. Funk snare drums measure 13 to 14 inches wide and are available in various depths.

BUYING TIPS

A complete GUIDE TO SNARE DRUMS is available in Picky Guide, one of the fastest growing online magazines giving free consumer advice and product information.

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Drum Circle: A Guide To World Percussion - Book Review

Drum Circle: A Guide To World Percussion - Book Review
By Lillian Brummet

Alfred Publishing has published a number of world percussion books. What sets Drum Circle: A Guide To World Percussion aside from others is that the book or CD can be purchased separately or together. This aspect alone could be very appealing for educators.

Drum Circle: A Guide To World Percussion appears to be written for music and social studies teachers and drum enthusiasts looking to bring new ideas into their playing. The authors cover 28 different instruments, grouping similar instruments together in single chapters. The format for each chapter is consistent, beginning with interesting historical and origin factoids. Tuning and playing position are then discussed prior to demonstrating the performance technique. Close to 90 black-and-white photographs aptly demonstrate playing position and technique.

Drum Circle: A Guide To World Percussion truly is a fantastic introduction to a large number of percussion instruments from around the globe. Here, players will be introduced to Brazilian, Arabic, Cuban, Malian, Guinean, Irish, Syrian and Egyptian (among others) instruments and rhythms. The book’s Introduction chapter encourages readers to try other instruments with the traditional songs, which is a great way to grow as a musician. We have found this is a very interesting approach to drum set playing as well.

Pages 53-65 list traditional Middle Eastern, African, Cuban and Brazilian songs. Pages 65-72 offer modern use of world rhythms in 8 or more ensembles. Both traditional and modern notations are included.

The book states that the stereo enhanced CD is interactive with audio and visual tutorials for windows compatible computers.
I was slightly disappointed to learn that though the CD did indeed have an audio track available for computer use, it was only a QuickTime recording – rather than audio/videos, which is what I was hoping for.

One other negative aspect of the CD is at the very end it makes an irritating electronic grinding or static sound that had us running for the stop button. However, my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the book and look forward to playing the larger ensembles with our drumming friends.

Publisher: Alfred Publishing
Author: Chalo Eduardo & Frank Kumar
ISBN #’s: 0-7390-2309-8 (book and CD)

0-7390-2319-5 (CD only)

0-7390-2309-X (book only)

~ Book Reviewer: Lillian Brummet – co-author of Trash Talk, a guide for anyone concerned about his or her impact on the environment – author of Towards Understanding, a collection of poetry. (http://www.sunshinecable.com/~drumit) *A Special Note of Appreciation: for Dave Brummet’s valued input during the writing of this book review article.

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Choosing The Right Drum Practice Pad

Are you a new drummer or an experienced drummer? How do you know which type of drum equipment to choose, or which brand to you choose? If you are in a high school band, drum corps international (e.g. Blue Devils, Phantom, Santa Clara Vanguard, Cavaliers, Madison Scouts), or just a guy who works in a drum shop, this article is for you! We want you do know how to pick the right drum accessory, or better yet, the right practice pad.

With so many practice pads out there, how do buy drum pads? To answer this, you need to know the type of drum music you will be playing, the environment you will be playing in, the precise drum equipment you will be playing, and your budget for buying drum a percussion pad.So what type of practice pads are out there? Well, what do you want the percussion pad to feel like? Do you want it to feel like a bass drum practice pad, snare drum head, tenor practice pad, or just a plain drum practice pad. Is there specific brand that appeals to you like a Remo practice pad (Remo drum pad. Would you play with a Vic Firth drum stick? Danmark? Don’t just look for the average drum for sale. Choose best for your situation. If you can’t be serious about that, then join the woodwind and brasswind section. Most people know of Reel Feel by HQ. Other styles are single sided, double sided where one side has a soft rubber and the other is a hard rubber made of neoprene. Drum pads are made different sizes too such 6” and 12.”

Other types of drum pads are mutes, which are made for drum kits (drum sets) for the drum heads and cymbals. Mutes are made in many different sizes and they make quite practicing on option on the drum set.

What type of drum music do you play? Do you play Jazz? Are you a Drum Corp guy? Or, are you just learning how to play drum music? You need to know this so that your choice in a drum shop will be intelligent. Don’t get a used drum pad. Buy drum pads that are best for you condition of playing.

How about your environment? Where are you practicing? Are you in a garage? Do you play in bedroom? How about a school? Here is an funny one, if you are in a high school band, are you learning how to play drums in class? Sometimes drummers tap on their legs while in class. That's a detention time my friend. Either way, anywhere, depending on your surroundings, you need to choose a drum pad that best suits your ears, feeling and the one that does not annoy others, or another drum bum. As most drummers know, there are many types of musical instruments accessory. When it comes to drum pads, there are also many types of drum practice pads.

Finally, what is your budget? Are you willing to spend $10 or $150? Most drum shops who sell single side and double side drum pads offer drum pads at an average of $45.00. You can expect shipping to be around $5-$10 depending on the drum shop. Don’t buy used drum pads. In addition to drum pads, these drum bum drum shops sell mallet bags, drum videos, drum books, many drum accessory and other drum equipment.

Choose wisely and happy hunting for your favorite drum practice pad.

Welcome to DrumEx.com

Welcome to DrumEx.com! You have stumbled upon one of the few drum sites that encourage you to GET THE FACTS before you start drumming, buy your first drum set or get drum lessons and other music instruction. Start here to get a quick overview of what is involved when deciding to take on a musical instrument.

The owner DrumEx.com, Darren Tunstall, Drummer, has been drumming and providing drum instruction for years. Since the start, he has gained quite a bit of knowledge, and he wants to share that drumming information with you.

Many other sites only want to sell you a music instrument or provide you with drum lessons. This website does the same, and does not just sell you drum kits. We will provide all sorts of information including online drum lessons, how to play drums, drum teachers and other music instructors.

You can also submit to us information or drum videos or anything you want to see on this site. We will review and post if applicable. Be sure to look at our drum video instruction pages for free online drum lessons. We will update as the site as much as possible.

Make sure you read all information about drum instructors, drum teachers, guitar, teachers, piano teacher, violin teachers, etc. Remember though, our primary focus is drumming.

We wish you luck and thank you for visiting DrumEx.com.

Check out our DrumEx.com Blog

Teaching Your First Drum Lesson

When you pick up a new student, the first thing to do is learn the persons natural drumming ability. Your music instruction and drumming technique should be geared around what you learn about the student. First, see if the student can move his/her stick right to left. As easy as it may sound, most new students are unable to do so. They end playing double stops, which is hitting both hands together and an accent height.

Learning the drum students natural ability will allow for you to tailor your teaching style to the students learning style. What a concept, huh?

The whole first lesson should be based on many different exercises, speed, accuracy. Try eight (8) on a hand, eighth notes back and forth. Play both exercises at different speeds. Don't even think about using a metronome. It will just confuse your drum student and make you aggravated. Be sure to have your student or a a practice drum pad and sticks before leaving the first lesson.

Contact if you need help.

First Blog Ever For DrumEx

This is our first blog ever for DrumEx. This is a place for New Ex-drummers to come and find information about new drumming and old school drumming. Will show videos, have great sources to product and even book or two (e.g. Stick Control by George Lawrence Stone). Hopefully someday, Tom Float of the Concord Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corp will stop by. Most importantly, tell all your drumming friends.

Again, thank you for visiting DrumEx.