Explanation of Drum Tablatures
By Branden Robinson

Drum tablature is fundamentally similar to guitar and bass tablature,
except that instead of representing the six strings of a guitar or four
strings of a bass, each line of tablature refers to a percussive instrument
(or group of them).  Instead of fret numbers, a letter or number referring
to the specific instrument, or type of stroke, is used.

To the far left of each screen bar of tab (not a bar of music) is a letter
denoting the percussion instrument(s) represented on that line.  The usual
correspondence is:

C	cymbals
H	hi-hat
S	snare
T	toms
K	kick (bass)

If any of the above are not used in a screen bar, they may be omitted.
Likewise, a line may be duplicated if necessary.

Whenever you see a pair of numerals on the tab lines arranged one above the
other, each with a colon after it, that is the time signature.

For instance, take the following measure of straight eighths in 4/4:

     e e e e e e e e
H|---X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-|
S|4:-----X-------X---|
K|4:-X-------X-X-----|

There are no "C" or "T" lines because the cymbals and toms are not played.

On the other hand, the following fill in 4/4 (from "Hemispheres: Prelude"
requires multiple lines for toms, because two different toms are being
struck at the same time:

     >    6      >  >
     s^s^s^s^s^s e  e   s s s s s s e
H|---R----------------------r-----r-----|
S|-----X-X-X-X-X-X--X-------e-----e-----|
T|----------------------6-6-s-6-6-s-6---|
T|----------------------7-7-t-7-7-t-7---|
F|---X----------------------------------|

To fully understand the above, we must know a few more things.  The first
is the note length notation used above the lines of drum tablature.

  w  whole note
  h  half note
  q  quarter note
  e  eighth note
  s  sixteenth note
  t  thirty-second note
  x  sixty-fourth note

If a note length is capitalized, regard it as dotted (double dotted notes
are rare in rock tablature, and usually represented as ties instead).

A tie is represented with a plus sign ("+").  This may appear after the
first note to be tied or before the second.

A rest may be denoted by simple blank space (nothing but dashes) below a
note length, or by the word "rest" horizontally or vertically on the staff
lines.

Constructs like duplets or triplets can be represented a few different
ways:

--3--    3
e e e  e^e^e  e^e^e

The above demonstrates three different ways of writing an eigth-note
triplet.  The last is shorthand for a triplet; it implies a 3 and only a 3
above it.

We now understand part of the fill above:

     6
s^s^s^s^s^s

to mean a sextuplet of sixteenth notes.

The ">" above the note length line indicates a strong accent.  (An accent
mark sometimes appears below the tab staff instead.)

Finally, we have the symbols that, for guitar and bass tablatures, would be
fret numbers.  These have different meanings depending on which line they
are on; the following notations are common:

Cymbal              Hi-Hat           Snare
C = crash           X = closed       X = hit
R = ride            O = open         R = rimshot
B = bell of ride    H = half-open    F = flam
S = splash          P = with pedal   S = side stick
T = china (trash)

On tom lines, digits are used to indicate which tom was struck.  Toms are
generally numbered starting at 1, with increasing value meaning lower
pitch.  Floor toms therefore have the highest numbers.  A tom digit can be
combined with snare notation if necessary (e.g., 7F means flam on the
seventh tom).

The kick line typically just has an X to mean a pedal was stepped on.

For particularly difficult patterns, "R"'s and "L"'s may appear within the
tab to indicate which hand or foot should be used, but exactly how this is
notated varies from tab to tab.

Further notation (lines for crotales, timbales, tubular bells, gongs, etc.)
may be added, but such extra notation will be explained in the tablature
file.

"Even Branden Can Play This Thing" copyright 1999 Branden Robinson.
Transcribed by Branden Robinson.  No rights reserved.

"Hemispheres: Prelude" copyright 1978 Core Music Publishing.  Transcribed
by Bryan McDonald.

The transcriptions here are present to explain the tablature notation; they
may be less correct than the versions in the tablature archive.