Percussion notation is a type of musical notation indicating notes to be played by percussion instruments. As with other forms of musical notation, sounds are represented by symbols which are usually written onto a musical staff (or stave).

Notation Playback 2.2 is a Windows program designed to file and play back your notation of djembe, bass and bell parts. The program is based on the graphic Djembe font - but also allows you to write as well as print user defined ASCII character. This music notation software supports a wide range of drum notes definitions and a special map for describing the conversion of the display of drum notes into MIDI sounds. A general system map is copied to every created file, which makes it possible to configure each map individually, if necessary.

Percussion instruments are generally grouped into two categories: pitched and non-pitched. The notation of non-pitched percussion instruments is less standardized, and is discussed here.

Cymbals are usually notated with 'x' note heads, drums with normal elliptical note heads and auxiliary percussion with alternative note heads.^[1] Non-pitched percussion notation on a conventional staff once commonly employed the bass clef, but the neutral clef (or 'percussion clef'), consisting of two parallel vertical lines, is usually preferred now. It is usual to label each instrument and technique the first time it is introduced, or to add an explanatory footnote, to clarify this. Sometimes unconventional staves are used to clarify notation, for example a 2-, 3-, or 4- line stave may be used where each line refers to a differently pitched instrument, such as temple blocks or tom-toms, or a single line stave may be used for a single non-pitched instrument such as a tambourine.

Below is an example of drum set notation.

Key or legend[edit]

Each line and space of the staff is assigned a different part or 'voice' of the drum kit and these are often laid out at the beginning of a piece of music in what is known as a key or legend or occasionally labeled when initially appearing in the piece.^[2]

Below are two examples of Drum Legends as they would appear in the music:

Example 1: (Less common)

Drum legend example^[2]

Example 2:

Drum legend. play

System based on the recommendations of the Percussive Arts Society found in Norman Weinberg’s Guide To Standardized Drumset Notation (2002, ISBN0-9664928-1-1).)

Drums[edit]

Standard:

Extended to six toms:

Cymbals[edit]

Other[edit]

Mounted triangle: ledger-line high C with 'x' replacing notehead. Maraca: high-B with '+' replacing notehead. Mounted tambourine: high-B with 'x' through conventional notehead.

Techniques[edit]

All note letter-names in this section refer to the bass clef.

Rolls: Diagonal lines across stem (or above whole note). Usually three lines connote a roll, whereas fewer would be interpreted as measured subdivisions of the note.

Open hi-hat: o above high-G X.

Closed hi-hat: + above high-G X.

Cross Stick: X in E snare space.

Rim Shot: diagonal slash through note head.

Brush sweep: horizontal line (replacing note head) in E snare space with slur to show brush is not lifted. (With stem this looks rather like a long 'T' or a long inverted 'T', depending which way the stem is going.)

Dynamic accents[edit]

In percussion notation, accents are almost always to be interpreted as dynamic accents. Typically this involves emphasizing the accented note simply by raising the dynamic level.The meanings of the different types of accents are not entirely standard. The image above shows the accent notations most commonly used by composers of percussion music.The tenuto articulation is often used to indicate a slight raise in dynamic, less than a normal accent. Marcato markings typically indicate a more dramatic dynamic change. It is important to note that these markings have different meanings in traditional musical notation for other instruments.

Anti-accents[edit]

slightly softer than surrounding notes: ˘ (breve above or below—inverted—notehead)
significantly softer than surrounding notes: ( ) (note head in parentheses)
much softer than surrounding notes: [ ] (note head in brackets)

(Ghost note is a less formal alternative term which may refer either to anti-accentuation in general or to a particular degree of anti-accentuation. Ghost notes are often considered to be especially faint.)

Sources[edit]

^Drum Notation - Drumbook.org
^ ^a^bPeckman, Jonathan (2007). Picture Yourself Drumming, p.46. ISBN1-59863-330-9.

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Percussion_notation&oldid=964710811'

Repeat the drum beats played by the computer. In this game you will first need to hear a set of drum beats played by the computer, after that you should play the exact same beats alongside the computer, the more accurate your play is, the higher the score you gain. As the game progresses, there will be more and more drum beats and the game will be harder and harder.
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Notation Playback 2.2 is a Windows program designed to file and play back your notation of djembe, bass and bell parts. The program is based on the graphic Djembe font - but also allows you to write as well as print user defined ASCII character. ...
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