Ok, so here is a breakdown of drum terms used in the industry. Some of these you may have heard of, some maybe not. But this gives you a better understanding of what I may be communicating in a module, or even how to communicate in a musical setting on your drum set with your band. I Would love to hear any others you may have.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
“BIG PICTURE” TERMS
• Technique: execution of an artistic work or procedure; skillful or efficient way of
doing or achieving something. (I developed great technique from
doing the exercises at GIK.)
• Concept: the understanding of an idea or system of ideas; philosophy. (I got my
concept of pocket from GIK.)
• Feel (musical): emotion or sensation that affects a song or piece of music. (Thanks t o
GIK, he has a great feel.)
• Fill: punctuation at the end and/or beginning of a musical section (You
always lose the time in your fills, go check out GIK.)
• Groove: consistent, well-defined musical pulse that feels good/comfortable.
(Nice groove; you must have subscribed to GIK!)
• Pulse: rhythmic throb; musical beat. (Can’t you feel the pulse? You need
to check out GIK.)
• Lope: to move with a long bounding stride. The way a groove “lays” in
the pocket.
• Hook: melody or phrase that gives immediate appeal and/or makes it easy
to remember.
TECHNICAL TERMS
• Stroke: method of striking the drum; style of moving the arms, hands, and
fingers. (What a clearly defined stroke; did you study with GIK?)
• Touch: quality of sound produced by the manner of stroke. (He worked through
GIK and has a nice touch on the ride cymbal.)
• Fulcrum: the point on which a lever rests and on which it pivots. (My fulcrum is
jacked, I need to go back to the technique modules from GIK.)
• Beat: the steady pulse of a piece of music. (Hey, you lost the beat again, time
to check out GIK!)
• Tempo: the speed of a piece of music. (We ended up faster than the tempo we
started.)
GENERAL MUSICAL TERMS
• Measure: a standard unit of size or amount. A bar of music. (There are 4 beats per
measure in most pop and rock songs.)
• Metronome: a device used to indicate an exact tempo at any speed.
(You need to practice with a metronome.)
• Click: (a.k.a. click track) metronomic track used for live performance and
recording to maintain steady tempo. Similar to a metronome. (Do you
need some more click in your mix?)
• Loop: a rhythmic/musical fragment that repeats (loops) in order to provide
a feel, vibe, momentum. (A lot of music incorporates loops these days.)
• Dynamics: the varying levels of volume in music. (You need to utilize more
dynamics in your playing to give it some direction.)
• Rudiments: basic, standard patterns/stickings used in drumming. (i.e. rolls, flams,
paradiddles)
• Time Signature: the time (or meter) of a piece of music, indicated by 2 numbers, one
above the other, at the beginning of a piece of music. (Most Pop/Rock
tunes are in 4/4. That means there are 4 beats per measure. That’s all
you need to know right now!)
• Subdivision: secondary division of a rhythm. (You can subdivide quarter notes into
8th notes in order to feel the space between the notes more accurately.)
• Quarter Note(s): note value equaling ¼ of a whole note. (Most pop and rock music uses
the quarter note as the basic pulse or beat of the song.)
• Eighth Note(s): note value equaling 1/8 of a whole note. (8th notes are twice as fast
as quarter notes and there are twice as many per measure.)
• Whole Note(s): note having the value of 4 beats. It’s the longest note in common use.
Often referred to as a diamond (or football) in popular music. (A whole
note takes up an entire measure in 4/4 time. This isn’t very important right
now…)
• Accent(s): the emphasis of a particular note/beat; usually played louder than the
surrounding notes. (This is achieved with a higher sticking, usually.)
• Downbeat: the “strong” or felt beat(s) of a particular pulse. (The quarter notes are
the downbeats in 4/4.)
• Upbeat: the weak beat(s) or in-between beats of a defined pulse. (Upbeats
usually refer to the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th notes of a measure of 8th notes
in 4/4. The downbeats are 1, 2, 3,4. A measure of 8ths in 4/4 would be
counted like 1&2&3&4&. All the ands are the upbeats.)
*Groove is King is dedicated to revealing the skills necessary to become an in-demand drummer in both the live performance and studio recording setting. This will be done through a system of lessons that deal with specific concepts and the techniques that relate to those concepts on the drum set and practice pads.
