Do drummers use sheet music?

Okay, I asked my husband, who's a conga drummer and has played in bands with "regular" drummers (drummers with drum kits).

He says it depends on who's scoring the music. They may just have the basics, or they may put more info into it.
 
Bretrick, I asked my BFF who has played in different bands and who currently performs in and is musical director for several theater productions. Here's what I gathered from what she told me.

Drum charts (aka sheet music): bass drum indicated by stems down, snare stems up & in middle of the clefs. Cymbals are indicated at the top of bass clef line. X-es on top show where hits are. Orchestra charts would be more intricate.
 
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It depends on the drummer / musician
Some drummer musicians use sheet music , some, some don’t. It’s personal preference but a lot depends on the type of music. Small band easy stuff doesn’t often require using sheet music or large orchestras. Some orchestra or big band stuff are 10 minutes plus long while smaller bands using shorter songs can get away with it.
 
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In an orchestra, percussion sheet music is typically distributed to each specific instrument within the percussion section.

Timpanists receive a separate part specifically for timpani. This part includes the musical notation for the timpani pitches, dynamics, and any special techniques required.

527f92f09f77cd6af2cfa0935a54a242_800x.png


Each percussionist focuses on their assigned instrument, following the conductor’s cues and contributing to the overall orchestral sound. 🥁🎶
 
Paco Dennis said:
In an orchestra, percussion sheet music is typically distributed to each specific instrument within the percussion section.

Timpanists receive a separate part specifically for timpani. This part includes the musical notation for the timpani pitches, dynamics, and any special techniques required.

527f92f09f77cd6af2cfa0935a54a242_800x.png


Each percussionist focuses on their assigned instrument, following the conductor’s cues and contributing to the overall orchestral sound. 🥁🎶
Click to expand...
Exactly. In a proper orchestra nobody shares music. Each musician has their own score
 
Good answers. I studied Rudemental Drum Control for 3 years ,long ago (1960's) and my husband, for my birthday, took me to see Buddy Rich play in person. I brought a blank sheet music pad with me and wrote some down of what he was playing.
After the show he asked me what I had been writing as he played and I showed it to him and he told me he had never learned to read drum sheet music and autographed the sheet for me. I used a double snare-one for sticks and the other for the brush affect.


Some musicians are so talented they do not need to learn sheet music.

Speaking of music I think the greatest electric guitarist in the world is Jimmy Page.
He started playing when he was 12 years old, on an old Spanish guitar , took a few lessons, but is basically self taught.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Bretrick, I asked my BFF who has played in different bands and who currently performs in and is musical director for several theater productions. Here's what I gathered from what she told me.

Drum charts (aka sheet music): bass drum indicated by stems down, snare stems up & in middle of the clefs. Cymbals are indicated at the top of bass clef line. X-es on top show where hits are. Orchestra charts would be more intricate.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Thank you for that.
 
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