Drumming Terms | |
Bart Elliott shares standard musical and drumming terms, words, phrases and expressions. | |
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| There are 28 entries in the glossary. | |
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| Term | Definition |
| Half-Time Feel | Playing any groove twice as slow as the regular feel, while the measures of music continue as normal. To achieve this, in 4/4 time for example, the back-beat would play on beat 3, rather than the normal fashion ... playing on beats 2 and 4.
This terms is used in relation to the pulse of the music, which, 99% of the time, is the quarter-note. |
| Linear | A term used specifically to describe a type of 20th Century counterpoint with emphasis on the individual strands of the fabric rather than on their harmonic implications -- but all counterpoint is by nature linear. See also Linear Drumming. |
| Linear Drumming |
Anytime a groove or figure in which the performer moves from instrument to instrument (ie. Snare, Kick, HiHat, Tom, etc.) and no two instruments sound at the same time. See also Linear. |
| Metric Modulation | Sometimes confused with Rhythmic Displacement because there is a shift in the feel or meter. Typically with Metric Modulation, the music, not just the groove, actually changes or shifts in a permanent fashion, unlike the Rhythm Displacement which toys with the listeners ear. In Metric Modulation, the music literally shifts so that, for example, the pulse changes from a quarter-note to ... let's say ... a dotted-eighth-note. |
| Muffled Snare | A term used to inform the performer to turn (or throw) the snare wires to the OFF position; no wires touching the snare head.
Disengage the snare wires. |
| Multiple Bounce Roll | A roll rudiment in which many bounces are achieved per individual stroke of the drumstick. Typically this means three or more bounces with each stroke, as two bounces per stroke would be a Double Stroke Roll.
This roll is considered to be a closed roll which is a type of roll, and should not be confused with the term open/closed, which would be a method by which to interpret the roll. Any roll may be performed in an open or closed fashion, but the term closed, when discussing the rudiment category, is referring to the roll genre. The Multiple Bounce Roll, being a closed (genre) roll, may be played in an open fashion ala Louie Bellson. The Multiple Bounce Roll should not be confused with the Three-Stroke Roll. See also Buzz Roll and Press Roll. |
| One Drop |
One Drop is a rhythmic approach in the Reggae music genre. It just means that you don't play on beat 1 ... you are still in 4/4 or Common Time, the time signature doesn't change ... but beat 1 is silent. This does NOT mean that you can't ever play on beat 1. You can do whatever you want, placing the HiHat, Snare, Tom, Cymbal, anything on beat 1 if you want; its not a rule set in stone. You can even put the Kick drum on beat 1 if you want ... but you need to only do that occasionally or it will cease to be a Reggae One Drop.
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| Open Grip | A misnomer, the term "open grip" has nothing to do with how you grip the drumsticks. Open Grip simply means the drummer does not cross his/her hands or drumsticks in order to play instruments positioned to the performer's left (ie. HiHat). Historically drummers who are right-handed would cross over with their dominant hand to play the HiHat, which was usually placed on the performer's left. Open Grip is achieved by playing the HiHat with your left hand while the HiHat is placed left of center. |
| Ostinato | A musical phrase repeated over and over during a composition.
An ostinato on the drums would be a rhythmic pattern played over and over again. One approach might be to play a single pattern over and over again with the feet, while the hands solo over the top. Another example might be to establish a groove on the drumkit, while one limb improvises around the drums. When an ostinato is used within a solo, it typically takes on the role of accompaniment ... allowing the performer to play over the top of this regularly, reoccurring pattern. Ostinato drumming is nothing new; listen to Max Roach solo drum compositions. Terry Bozzio gained a lot of notoriety using ostinatos in his solo performances because of the massive set-ups he uses. There are countless drummers who use ostinato patterns in their playing. If we take the actual definition of the term ostinato ... we quickly realize that drummers, especially those from the Jazz genre, have been using ostinatos for over six decades. |
| Paila | Pronounced PAEE-lah, simply means to play on the shells; synomynous with Cascara. The word pailas originally came from a vessel of iron or copper used in the sugar cane factories of Cuba. Many Cuban timbaleros use the word Pailas to refer to the timbales, and Cascara to playing on the sides of the drum. Paila patterns (ie. verse) are used in softer sections when a cowbell is too much; playing on one or both shells of the timbales. |
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