14-How to Play the Drums: Semiquavers

This lesson is part of the series: Drumming Lessons: Reading Rhythm, Drumming Lessons: Beginner-Intermediate, Drumming Lessons: Basics through Advanced

The next type of note we learn is called the “semiquaver.” Semiquavers sound faster than crotchets or quavers, so we have to make sure our hand skills are good enough to control them. There are lots of ways that we can use semiquavers, and this lesson will be a good introduction to some of these uses.

Semiquavers are sometimes called “Sixteenth Notes”, because they are 1/16 of a bar long, and you can fit sixteen semiquavers in a bar. You can also have a rest which lasts
for one semiquaver, and this is called a “semiquaver rest.” A semiquaver looks just like a quaver, but instead of having one tail or beam on the end of the note stem, it has two. We would count a bar of semiquavers, “One e and a Two e and a Three e and a Four e and a.” If four semiquavers next to each other are part of the same beat, we will usually beam them together (with two lines or beams where we only used one line for attaching quavers). There are four semiquavers per beat in common time. Two semiquavers have the same value as one quaver. This means four semiquavers has the same value as two quavers or one crotchet.

After discussing semiquavers at length, Jim will go through some exercises involving reading simple semiquaver patterns. In these exercises, Jim will also introduce and define syncopation, the situation in which a note or grouping of notes go across the beginning of a beat. Jim will also cover which hand should be used for which notes when reading music with semiquavers.

This lesson is excerpted from a broader course available from www.begindrumming.com. The Begin Drumming course is a 100% comprehensive drumming course which takes you from absolute beginner to expert soloist without any gimmicky short cuts! Through a combination of video and written lessons, the course will teach you proper technique as well as how to read drum music.

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Let me introduce myself. My name is Jim McCarthy. I'm a drum clinician and teacher and have specialized in pure technique for many years. I consider myself still a student as well, because I have a passion for constantly learning. I learn every day when I watch other drummers, and I analyze what works and what doesn’t. Performing, Educating and Learning have been my life and my living for well over 20 years.

I've had a tremendously broad background in drumming. I've played in rock bands, orchestras, marching bands - everything from high-brow contemporary music to Latin American stuff.

I spent six years at university studying percussion performance full time, and I ended up with a...

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