The backbeat is common to most pop drumbeats. The backbeat is an accented articulation on beats two and four in quadruple meters, usually played by the snare drum.

The kick drum is often syncopated.

Cymbals—hi-hats, ride, and crash—often play regular pulses at the beat, beat division, or beat subdivison level.

Common drumbeats other than the basic rock beat include double-time, half-time, four-on-the-floor, and dembow.

Quadruple meters are by far the most common meter in pop music; simple triple is the next most common. A simple triple drumbeat in pop music will often have a snare hit on beat three.

Chapter Playlist

Drumbeats are the rhythmic cornerstone of many genres of popular music, including rap, rock, and jazz. Sometimes a drumbeat is performed on a drum kit, sometimes it’s sampled from an existing recording or programmed into a sequencer or DAW (digital audio workstation). In this primer, we’ll learn about the instrument itself, notating drum set parts, and the features of drumbeats that are common to many styles of music. We’ll also learn how a few particular drumbeats are associated with specific genres.

The Acoustic Drum Kit

Example 1 illustrates six common components of a drum kit, each of which is described further below.

[](https://viva.pressbooks.pub/app/uploads/sites/12/2022/12/drum_set.png) Example 1. A standard acoustic drum kit.

Instrument

Audio

Description

1.

Snare drum

A drum with metal wires stretched underneath that buzz when the drum is struck. This results in a noisy sound (that is, one that fills out much of the audible frequency spectrum). Played with force, it sounds like wood cracking or like a thunderclap. Played softly, it offers a range of effects from clicks and taps to buzzing rolls.

2.

Kick drum (or bass drum)

The lowest-pitched drum in the kit, played with a foot pedal. It is originally based on a modified concert bass drum, and some still sound with the same booming quality. Other kick-drum sounds have a dull thud, or a sub-bass effect that (over the right speakers) is felt in the body as much as it is heard.

3.

Toms (or tom-toms)

Drums with a more focused pitch fundamental than the snare and are higher-pitched than the kick. There are often two or three toms on a drum kit, each with a distinct pitch. The pitch can be a more or less prominent feature of the toms’ sound.

4.

Ride cymbal

A large suspended cymbal. Depending on the thickness of the cymbal, the ride may sound like a warm wash of sound (thinner rides, common in jazz) or a sharp, high-pitched crunch (thicker rides, common in metal music). High, pure ringing sounds can be produced by playing the “bell” of the ride, located in the middle of the cymbal.

5.

Hi-hat cymbals

A pair of cymbals of the same size; the bottom cymbal is upside-down so only their edges touch. The cymbals are open by default and close when a foot pedal is pressed. When struck, the hi-hats’ timbre depends on how open or closed the two cymbals are. The hi-hat is most often struck while closed, producing a characteristic, bright “tick tick tick”; the open sound has a more aggressive crashing or rattling quality; and a wide range of intermediate timbres are also available. When played with the foot pedal only, the cymbals make a splashing effect.

6.

Crash and accent cymbals

Depending on size, contour, and playing technique, these can produce a variety of crashing, splashing, sizzling, and barking sounds. They range in size (6–18” diameters are common) and thickness. Some have shapes and contours unlike other cymbals, or are augmented with rivets or large holes.

The drum kit is uniquely modular—that is, most (some might say all) of its constituent parts are optional. Other auxiliary percussion add-ons found on some drum kits include cowbells, tambourines, wood blocks, and electronic pads that can trigger programmed sounds. The sheer variety of drum kit elements and their various configurations is near-limitless.

Not all pop music uses an acoustic drum kit for its percussion. Drum machines, electronic drum sets, and plug-ins for digital audio workstations allow further customization for music composition and production. Most of the sounds used in electronic percussion are samples or imitations of acoustic instruments.

Five-Line Staff Notation for Drum Kit

Many drumbeats are created, performed, and recorded without ever being written down. But drummers, arrangers, and other music-industry professionals often use a five-line staff to communicate the details of a drumbeat. Drum kit notation is not fully standardized due to the improvisatory and modular nature of its performance practice, but the conventions given below and used throughout this textbook represent a particularly common method. Best practice is always to include explanatory notes and/or a drum key whenever the notation could be at all ambiguous.

Example 2 shows how each line and space of the staff denotes a different part of the drum kit. As a percussion instrument, the drums take a percussion clef. Standard oval noteheads are used for drums (snare, kick, tom, etc.), while cross (x) noteheads are used for cymbals. The kick drum uses the bottom-most space on the staff, the snare takes the third space, and the toms are shown on the other lines and spaces in the staff. Hi-hats occupy the space above the staff, the ride takes the uppermost line, and other crash and accent cymbals use ledger lines above the staff. When the hi-hat is played with the foot pedal, rather than with drumsticks, this is notated in the space just below the staff. Other elements and effects may not have a standard representation, and should be labeled to avoid confusion.

[](https://viva.pressbooks.pub/app/uploads/sites/12/2022/12/drum_key-e1687967119512.png) Example 2. Common notation for various parts of the drum kit. Using these particular stem directions and notehead types are important for clarity.

When notating a dru