A Drum tablature, also known as drum tab is a tablature in use for drums. An example follows: Example of numeric vihuela tablature from the book Orphenica Lyra by Miguel de Fuenllana (1554). ... Classic-Spanish Marching Drum A drum is a musical instrument in the percussion family, technically classified as a membranophone. ...

 H |-xxxxx-x|xxxxxxxx|-xxxxxxx|xxxxxxxx|-| S |--oo--o-|--oo--o-|--oo--o-|--oo--o-|-| B |o---o---|o---o---|o---o---|o---o---|o| CC|x-----x-|--------|x-------|--------|x| 
 (as depicted in Misirlou, Pulp Fiction theme) 

Usually there are the following lines: (edited from mxtabs.net)

 CC|-Crash Cymbal----| HH|-Hi-Hat----------| Rd|-Ride-Cymbal-----| SN|-Snare-drum------| LT|-Low-Tom---------| HT|-High-Tom--------| FT|-Floor-Tom-------| B |-Bass-Drum-------| Hf|-Hi-Hat-w/foot---| 

Some alternative lines:

 CR|-Crash-Ride-Cymbal--| RC|-Ride-Cymbal--------| S |-Snare-drum---------| T1|-Tom-1-(high-tom)---| T2|-Tom-2-(low/mid-tom)| NOTE: Tom 1, Tom 2 etc. can be continued to as many toms as you have. F |-Floor-Tom----------| BD|-Bass-Drum----------| 

Generally there will not be that many lines during verses; the above is more common during fills. For example in verse there may be only 3 lines (bass, snare, and HH), while during chorus HH is replaced with RD, symbolizing a ride cymbal. Also, what to use to symbolize the drum can vary from tab to tab (eg. using 't' for LT).

Additionally, there are symbols to depict how the tabs should be played: (also from mxtabs.com)

Cymbals:

 |-x-| Strike Cymbal or Hi-Hat |-X-| Strike Loose Hi-Hat, or hit Crash Hard |-o-| Open High Hat |-#-| Choke Cymbal (Grab Cymbal With Hand After Striking It) |-s-| Splash Cymbal |-c-| China Cymbal |-b-| Bell of Ride |-x-| Click Hi-Hat With Foot 

Drums:

 |-o-| Strike |-O-| Accent |-g-| Ghost Note |-f-| Flam |-d-| Drag |-b-| Soft One-Handed Roll |-B-| Accented One-Handed Roll |-@-| Snare Rim 

Interestingly, the method of showing the notes to play in the game Drummania essentially employed a six-line drum tablature: Ghost notes are musical notes occurring in a rhythmic figure which are purposely deemphasized, often nearly to the point of silence. ... A flam is one of the twenty-six drum rudiments used in drumming music theory. ... DrumMania (alternately drummania, abbreviated DM) is a video game created by Konami as part of the Bemani series. ...

 HH|--------| S |--------| B |--------| (rotate it counter-clockwise by 90 degrees) HT|--------| LT|--------| C |--------| 

Unlike guitar tabs which often fail to accurately represent timing information, drum tabs usually describe timing information very accurately.

Drum tabs can be created, edited and converted to standard drum notation with TabTrax and Dtab software.

External links

• Mxtabs - Drum Tabs: Over 12,000 Drum Tabs
• [1] Tab browser
• Drum tab blog on wordpress.com
• One Love Drum Tabs - Tab site specializing in funk tabs.
• tabforge - free online guitar, bass and drum tabs - an online repository of free drum tabs
• Moosic Smurf - Tab Site For Drum And Guitar Tabs
• TabTrax drum tab converter, editor, player
• Drums at Wikiot.com - A wiki devoted to music. A collection of drum tabs and lessons that anyone and everyone can edit and add to.
• Drum Tab Resource - Drum Tabs indexed by Band, Artist, and Site.
• UnderTabs - Drum Tabs, Bass Tabs and Guitar Tabs