Studio Drummer – Chart Reading – Lead Sheets

*LEAD SHEETS.*

 

A very real challenge for drummers is that 90 % of the time when you’re on a session you will get what’s known as a ‘lead sheet’ as a chart.  I personally love lead sheets because they don’t confine you as a player so much.  What they are is a general layout of the song or piece of music for all of the musicians. 

 

Lead sheets encompass the road map aspects that we’ve talked about, the chord changes, the melody and the rhythmic figures of the song.  Yet the rhythmic figures can sometimes imply figures for the entire ensemble or just for specific members.  What is good is that this process is most often left to be additionally refined by the session players.  On a lead sheet you will have a notated rhythmic phrase.  However it is not notated in a drumistic sort of way.  It is a general notation or musical rhythmic phrase.

 

So your challenge as a reading drummer is to intimately know rhythmic phrases that most often arise. That way you can apply them around the drum kit in any number of ways, subtlety or flamboyantly without a lot of needless forethought.

 

These notations are not written out in drum language so to speak so you have to know how to interpret them quickly and effectively around the drum kit.

 

 

*READING AHEAD.*

 

You have to develop the skill of reading ahead.  What this means is that you are playing a passage while reading a chart.  You are playing with full intensity and artistry but you have to concentrate on looking ahead on the chart to something that may be a stumbling block such as a rhythmic figure, groove change or a rit etc.  It’s true multi-tasking!

 

This requires that you continue with your unfettered playing and intensity while continuously counting, which is always necessary and with the anticipation and mental preparation of the upcoming event.  This again takes time and experience but it comes with practice. 

 

tune in for the next installment of Chart Reading Tips!