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 |
Often used in the phrase "in the pocket" to describe someone playing a musical instrument in such a way that the groove is very solid and with a great feel. When a drummer keeps a good metronomic pulse (keeping time), and makes the groove feel really good, and maintains this feel for an extended period of time, never wavering, this is often referred to as a deep pocket. For more information, including the history of this term and its use, read Bart Elliott's article entitled In The Pocket. | |
| Polyrhythm | Poly means many ... Polyrhythm means many rhythms. For there to be a polyrhythm there must be two or more opposing rhythms played, heard or implied at the same time. An early classical example of polyrhythm would be Don Giovanni in which Mozart used 3 different dance-rhythms simultaneously.
The simpliest example of polyrhythm would be 3:2 (three against two) or 2:3 (two against three). However, there are more intense polyrhythms such as 5:2 or 7:4 which go beyond the popular triplet based polyrhythm, using other Odd Note Groupings such as quintuplets (5) and septuplets (7). Polyrhythms (aka rhythmic contrasts) are the basic rhythmic principles underlying African-derived musics, including Jazz. |
| Press Roll | Another type of Buzz or Multiple Bounce Roll. The performance typically requires the performer to dig in a bit more, lightly pressing the drumsticks into the drumhead, causing a slight choked sound ... hence the name Press Roll.
See also Multiple Bounce Roll. |
| Resonant Head | On a two-headed drum, this is the drumhead that is not played. On a Snare Drum or Tom-Tom, this would be the bottom head on the drum. On a Kick or Bass Drum, this would be the front head. The resonant head is not struck; it vibrates and helps to control the sustain, decay and pitch of a drum. The resonant head on a Snare Drum is actually more commonly known as the Snare Head. This is because the Snare wires touch the resonant (bottom) head of the Snare Drum. |
| Rhythmic Displacement | Occurs when the feel is shifted so that the listener's ear hears the groove shifting ... as if there were an odd meter or odd bar thrown in to "throw everything off" when in reality the meter is still the same, but a different down-beat or back-beat is felt. An example may be that the shifting happens a sixteenth sooner, or sixteenth later ... or an eighth-note ... or a quarter-note. The shifting process, which creates tension or dissonance in the music, typically resolves itself so that the listener now feels a release or consonance in the groove or music. |
| Rimshot | Performed like a normal stroke on a drum, but the shank of the stick comes in contact with the rim of the drum at the same time as tip of the stick hits the center of the drumhead. Sounds like a gunshot if the snare drum is tuned moderately high (or higher). |
| Stick-shot | Performed by holding the drumsticks in a normal fashion, the tip of one stick is lightly pressed onto the drumhead, while the second stick strikes the first stick ... usually around the shank of the stick, but may be played at various points along the shaft of the drumsticks for various sounds. This was first used in the 1940s (Gene Krupa) ... sounding similar to a normal rimshot, but with less volume and impact. |
| Up-beat | Typically referring to the AND or & of the beat, which occurs between each pulse. When playing eighth-notes, the upbeats would be every other note, in between the numbered beats like 1 2 3 4, etc. |
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