Drum chart template
Most drum charts that work on a gig share one layout. Here it is, with a blank version you can print and the reasoning behind each column, so you can draw it by hand or let the app do it.
The columns
| Column | What goes in it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Section | Intro, Verse 1, Chorus, Bridge, Solo, Outro, or the band's own names | This is what you scan for on stage. Number repeated names. |
| Time signature | 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, 12/8, 7/8 | Only needs writing when it changes, but write it on the first row always. |
| Repeat | How many times the groove plays, e.g. ×8 | Bar counts are the number one source of train wrecks. Write them. |
| Notes | Crash on 1, open hat on the and of 4, stop on 4, build | Everything that differs from the groove. Short words, not sentences. |
| Groove | One or two bars of notation, or a grid | Written once per section. Phrases under a section when the groove changes within it. |
A blank layout
Draw a landscape page with the five columns above and eight to ten rows. Title, artist and tempo across the top. Leave the groove column widest. If you are charting by hand, a staff of two bars fits in about four inches; a grid of eight boxes per bar is faster to fill and just as clear.
In Rhythm Writer the same layout is the editor itself: one row per section, phrases nested under a section, and the groove column is a grid that renders as notation. The print view produces the page below.
Three grooves you will chart a hundred times
Keep these in your pocket. Most songs are one of them with a different kick pattern.
Rules that keep the template honest
- One page. If it spills onto two, collapse something. You cannot turn pages with sticks in your hands.
- Write the exception, not the rule. The groove is the rule. Crashes, fills, stops and feel changes are the exceptions.
- Count everything. A section with no repeat number is a guess.
- Big type. You will read this from three feet away, under stage lighting, mid-song.
- Same words as the band. If they say "the ramp", you write "the ramp".
Template versus transcription
A transcription writes every bar. It is the right tool for learning a famous drum part note for note. For a gig, a wedding set, a church service or a dep with two days' notice, it is the wrong tool: forty pages you cannot read at tempo. The template above holds a four-minute song on one page because it writes each groove once and trusts you to play it.
Chart your next song in Rhythm Writer
Paint the groove on a grid, see it as notation, hear it back, print it. Free for three songs, $29 a year for unlimited.
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