Time Signatures

Being a well rounded drummer would consist of being able to play different styles of music. This is where learning time signatures is a must. Now don't get discouraged as some are easy to learn. Also playing an odd time signature drum solo is amazing so you shouldn't exclude that either, it just takes practice. The standard time signature in rock music is 4/4 while being able to play jazz you'd have to understand triplets. We're going to take this step by step without giving you a mouthful. 

What does that fraction mean? The time signature gives us the value of what type of notes they are and how many are in each measure. For example in rock music 4/4 timing the top 4 is referring to how many notes. The bottom four is showing us that they are quarter notes. Easy right? So there will be four notes played per measure then it will repeat itself. How do you count in 4/4? Easy say aloud so you can concentrate better "1,2,3,4". Now if you want to play in eighth notes count "1,and,2,and,3,and,4,and". This is the most standard time signature that drummers know and play, so lets move onto something more complexe and killer sounding. 

If you guys have heard of Creed or Tool you've probably noticed some of their songs are in odd time signatures. Most of the time they're playing in 7/4  or 7/8. We already know the bottom numeral means quarter notes, which means 7 notes per measure or till it repeats itself. Counting seven is a little more tricky as seven is a double syllable, but saying "Sev" instead of "Seven" will make this a lot easier. Count it off by "1,2,3,4,5,6,Sev" or "1,2,3,4,1,2,3" it can be flipped to "1,2,3,1,2,3,4". That's like adding a 3/4 + 4/4 and to make life easy play the down beat on the one. Another way would be to play it in "1,2,3,4,5,1,2".  Take your time and play it slow and count out loud. You'll get it and then start showing off in no time.