"Slash Marks" or "Rhythm Slashes" are diagonal slashes that indicate the actual beats in a measure. This means that a bar of 4/4 time will have four slashes, while a bar of 3/4 time will have three. Slash marks are a valuable tool for writing drum sheet music, as they are flexible and can be used as a placeholder for grooves and fills, and can also carry specific information. SLASH MARKS FOR GROOVES If you encounter a bar of slash marks after a concrete groove example, it's p

Have you ever been confused by the Italian terms used in classical music, like D.C. (Da Capo), D.S. (Dal Segno), "al Coda" and "al Fine"? Don't worry, this post will explain how to make sense of them. These terms are commonly used in professional drum sheets and scores, so understanding them is important. D.C. and D.S. are simply "jump to" or "go to" commands. Let's explore them. DA CAPO Da Capo means "from the beginning" or "from the top". When you see a "D.C." sign at the e

This blog post will show you how to read and write multiple endings in drum sheets, drum scores or drum transcriptions. This is very convenient to save up lots of space while writing music and gets used quite often. FIRST AND SECOND ENDING Multiple endings are a musical notation used to indicate different endings to a section of music. They are denoted by bracketed numbers above the music staff, with each number corresponding to a different ending. In this example, the sectio

This article will give you a great overview of the different repeat signs you will encounter reading drum sheets, drum scores or drum transcriptions. Each of the signs is easy to understand and very common practice, so make sure you have the following three repeat signs under your belt. SECTION REPEAT SIGNS The "section repeat" sign is a musical notation used to indicate that a section of music should be repeated. It consists of two dots placed on either side of a thick verti