Let's see, no need to sugarcoat anything, I personally am not a good player that can read music that well, especially snare music. That's one of the main reasons why I haven't been to a DCI try-out or anything like that. I usually learn how to play by ear an then I follow the actual sheet music. On top of that, I go to a public high school that isn't serious about marching band at all, considering that theres like 27 people with 9 being the drumline, but luckily this is my senior year and I want to march in college. Any tips on becoming a better reader instead of just learning the rudiments because that's what I'm trying to do?

Thanks

I would just read LOTS of music. Thats what i did and now im a lot better at it. Read music like youd read a book. Buy something like Just Desserts/Rudimental Cookbook and just read through solos (and try to play them while reading too of course).

Could I just order those books offline and are they decent books to read out of? I have a lot to do as far as reading the music in such a little amount time. Would jeff queen's "The Next Level" work too?

The Next Level is more on playing, and how to improve chops, i think. I cant say since i dont own it, but it looks like a great book. The books i mentioned are pretty common, your local music store should have them, but if not just google and youll find them.

And yea theyre great to read from, and they have lots of good solos and stuff to play. Id start out just trying to sightread and play one of the ridiculously easy solos (ala hot licks ). You should be able to just breeze through those at a decent tempo.

ok coo, thanks, i'll look them up

I had the same problem about two years ago. I just got as much sheet music as I could possibly find and read through it.

Is their anything in particular that you are having trouble with, like accents, flams, or check patterns, or is it just reading in general?

It's just reading in general. I know how to do the accents, flams, rolls, paradiddles(my favorite) an such. I just think by me becomg a better reader, I can also expand my drumming skills to a new level. Like, I can't tell when to do a roll in a 6/4 time signature or a basic 4/4 time.

yea, it would be in one measure

For sightreading stuff, buy different corps technique books, or if you search hard enough, you can find stuff on the internet. This will improve your sightreading skills, and thus prepare you for corps auditions.

If you could find a good book and recordings of the music it could help you a lot if you could play along so you could know what you're reading.

a drum teacher is your best bet. books dont really help unless you understand what the author is trying to get across and most books are ineffective at doing that. a one on one situation will help you 1000x more, and you will be sure you got the stuff down. and dont get "next level" by jeff queen. its for more of a solo/pro book where it has more flashy stuff and advanced techniques than to learning to read music.

p.s. most drummers DO have trouble reading music, but drumliners usually dont

Yea, I have the very similar problem and I am trying to correct it over winter break. I was told the same thing they told you, found a lot of good stuff on the internet, especislly all the stuff at VicFirth, lots of Syncopation, and just by doing that I can sight read relatively easy stuff like that SNAP!!! I snuk into my moms closet(Santa Came Early) and pulled out the Rudimental Cookbook and like SightRead Hotlicks and 5+2=7... I was like I didn't know I could do that. Besides that, stuf over the internet is like never wrote in 4/4 so I just get a friend of mine to explain a time signature or look at the thread I created about it and can ussually figure it out like that.

This also pertains to this thread, with paradidles, would the pulse for them change from 4/4 to like 6/4 or 9/8? As well as when I learned Paradiddle Rolls, I can get them up to the average roll speed now, 120bpm, but in the process of doing that I didn't pratice regular paradiddles and now when I do them the last diddle part turns into an actual diddle at high speed and I cant control it. In essence, my paradiddles have went down, how can I correct this?

As far as reading music, as quite a few people have mentioned, exposure is the best thing...just read everything you can get your hands on--and make sure you have a recording of it if you're not sure how it goes.

I found that was the best way to build my reading ability when I started serious rudimental playing a couple of years ago. Teachers are definitely a good thing too...no matter how well you can correct yourself, you're always going to miss some things, it helps to have an objective view of your playing.

There's a lot of stuff I don't agree with here. Making generalizations about drummer isn't helpful.

DLO has a WONDERFUL sheetmusic section. There's no need to buy anything if you're just looking for some different music than the stuff you already know.

Personally, I do NOT recommend listening to everything you play, before you play it. Doing this generally causes people to play what they heard instead of consciously reading. Playing before listening will build sightreading skills. I find listening to be a great idea to hear interperetations of different stylistic sections.

how about this one: Use a metronome!

good luck.

That's what I mean...listen to a recording if there are meter or time signature issues you can't figure out AFTER you've been reading it for a while.

Thanks snugglebunny guys. I dont think I can get a teacher since it cost to get a one-on-one teacher. Even my band teacher can't help me with snare music some of the time. I guess my best bet would be getting Rudimental cookbook and other books with a CD and just sightread then after play it along with the CD. If anyone has any books for suggestions, feel free to post because that's the only one I know....


So much work in so little time

check out www.vicfirth.com. there are many articles and exercises on reading music in there. I would also recommend starting with stuff that is really easy to play and work your way up. It's like learning a new language, you have to learn the how the rudimental drumming vocabulary is written. There are many variations of it, but once you get going, you can figure anything out. Hope this helps.

Go pick up the Lalo Divala book it has recordings to play along with. I think i spelled his last name wrong, but it has recordings to go along with the rudiments. To go along with the rudiment it has a solo for all of them. Every solo contains the rudiment all the way through it. It is very effective on your rudiments. Also you can go to the vicfirth website and play along with John Wooton with the rudiments. He does them open closed open. He also breaks them down in rankings like bronze, gold, and platinum speeds or tempo however you want to say it. If you look at the video, the way John plays his rudiments, it will make you want to learn all of them quick, fast, and in a hurry.

My line takes a packet of music and we sit in a line with practice pads and sit and read and play and if we mess up (like you yourself) you start from the top again while the others continue and its a competition to see who reads the best and can play all the way to the botton the quickest

Ok, this post has definitely been answered, but, I figure its not too late to put my two cents in.

Along with what everyone else says, which is basically the best way to start, Id also suggest another thing.

This is more for you to get a better understanding of the music.

Try taking all your music, from your show, or warm ups, or whatever you have available, and Write them out yourself, By hand.

No finale.

Re-writing your parts out by hand helps you to break down each note, rest, dynamic, and time signature in the particular selection, and understand what its there for.

This is also a good idea if you need to memorize your music.

Hmm...never thought about it like that....thanks. I'll go ahead an try that.

I just recently got Contemporay Rudimental Studies & Solos by Lalo Davila and its going pretty good. Although, i'm still just on single stroke rolls! Its hard stuff if you ain't got chops. Especially on 32nd notes....Another question....Since there are solos after each rudiment, should i try the solo WITHOUT the CD then with the CD??

The solos are based on the rudiment thats on the previous page(s)

If you now how to read it then just practice reading it all the time. I suggest buying a book with a whole bunch of easy-medium solos to sight read out of.

I've been working with my students for the past few months on reading and what the BD will do is make up a rhythm sheet and then they have to write in how to count the rhythms. We test them on it each week, and just really drill them on it and it's made a huge improvement with a lot of the kids. I'll also make up tests for them so they can learn natural sticking. But I would suggest that you go buy a book that will help you with counting rhythms and knowing how everything works. If you can't remember things like how many 8th notes are in a dotted quarter note and basics like that your going to have a real hard time in college.

THis could have been answered in 3 pages of posts but...

Try learning all the duple/triplet check patterns. Work those with a metronome/marking time to get a good sense of it all. Make sure you know where the downbeat is all the time. Then slowly learn more and more rudiments, and you'll see that all music is just rudiments placed into check patterns.

Another thing that worked for me, was learning things that were way above my head playing and reading wise. Like Martian Mambo and Electric Wheelchair. I'd just listen to the recordings and play to it with the sticks and rudiments in until I got it. I'd simplify parts as needed until I could play the right rudiments. (For example the first measure of EW that's not the snare intro) Then once I could play them well, I had a much better understanding of how rythms worked. That's kind of assbackwards though, and I wouldn't recommend it. But it did work for me.

Honestly, to put it plain and simple - read everything you can. More exposure to different musics will help you learn rhythms and be more comfortable.

I am gonna disagree with the post above. I don't think you should go learning music that's way over your head yet. Unless your technique is solid. Otherwise you'll learn rhythms and playing with bad technique.

Also, when you learn to read, learn to subdivide!! It makes playing so much easier and will help in sight reading.

Really, there is no trick other than practice, practice, practice.

I can vouch for this myself. I was a poor player/reader/drummer when I joined F+D corps back in the beginning of 8th grade. By the end of 9th grade year, I was NY state champion.

Practice practice practice.

The way I learned to read was because my teacher made it VERY interesting. Everything we played was groovy and cool, so it made me want to learn so I could be a part of it. So, I think the best way to start is to play some interesting stuff. Something that you want to play instead of something you feel forced to play.

- Edited for inappropriate content. -

I don't know if this has been said yet but you should definitely get "syncopation" by Ted Reed. It's really a great book. I go through a page marking time then again tapping my left foot, then again tapping my right foot.