mjelinekperth
Member
Hey all,
I've been working on a drum beat book for some time now, and long story short I'm up to a chapter on drags and have been thinking about the confusing way in which they are notated.
Drags are of course usually notated with two grace notes. This would imply that a drag doesn't really contribute rhythmically to the beat - it just enters slightly before the beat (or more confusingly on the beat, delaying the next beat slightly since they're usually written as appoggiaturas not acciaccaturas). But the way I hear most drags in beats is more like a double ghost note - they generally last a 16th note in total and are often two 32nd note hits.
When you have a beat with 16th notes on the hihat and play a drag, the drag then often enters right on time with a 16th note hihat - the 'a' of '2 e and a' for instance - so writing it as grace notes doesn't make sense since that would imply the hits are between the hihats. In this case I've switched to writing them as a 16th note ghost note with a tremolo sign - i.e. two 32nd note ghost notes.
But my question is - wouldn't it make a lot more sense to just write them like that all the time? And then if it's more of a buzzy drag instead, to write it as a 16th note buzz 'Z' tremolo ghost note?
I would prefer to write it like that for the sake of accuracy but feel like most drummers wouldn't know how to read it.
Deeply nerdy confusing question but I hope someone can provide a perspective!
Thanks
Mike
I've been working on a drum beat book for some time now, and long story short I'm up to a chapter on drags and have been thinking about the confusing way in which they are notated.
Drags are of course usually notated with two grace notes. This would imply that a drag doesn't really contribute rhythmically to the beat - it just enters slightly before the beat (or more confusingly on the beat, delaying the next beat slightly since they're usually written as appoggiaturas not acciaccaturas). But the way I hear most drags in beats is more like a double ghost note - they generally last a 16th note in total and are often two 32nd note hits.
When you have a beat with 16th notes on the hihat and play a drag, the drag then often enters right on time with a 16th note hihat - the 'a' of '2 e and a' for instance - so writing it as grace notes doesn't make sense since that would imply the hits are between the hihats. In this case I've switched to writing them as a 16th note ghost note with a tremolo sign - i.e. two 32nd note ghost notes.
But my question is - wouldn't it make a lot more sense to just write them like that all the time? And then if it's more of a buzzy drag instead, to write it as a 16th note buzz 'Z' tremolo ghost note?
I would prefer to write it like that for the sake of accuracy but feel like most drummers wouldn't know how to read it.
Deeply nerdy confusing question but I hope someone can provide a perspective!
Thanks
Mike