This weeks shared drum score was written for a grade 4 bands medley selection and was meant to fit the level of beginner to experienced side drummers. The drum score has the typical slow air build up with a lot of room for the pipers in the 1st part, and then adding more beats for the 2nd part. At the end I added in the bridge to the Continue reading
This weeks shared drum score was written last year for a local Danish band for the tune The Gael, known from the film “The Last of the Mohicans”. It was written for the beginner to experienced level- I would say that a beginner with some experience should be able to play this. The hard thing here is really the musical idiom for 6/8 marches and for 6/8 jig.
The tune starts off with a piping solo part, which then transforms into a march and then a jig. I tried to make the drum score fairly easy Continue reading
The shared drum score of this week was written this summer for a tune called Dornoch Links. I really like this tune, and I think it should be played more, than I believe it does (maybe I just don’t hear it or listen for it). I played this tune in my very first season of competing in the solos back in 1994. I particularly recall that day at the Scandinavian Championships in Holbæk (what a nice venue in Strandparken, by the water) where I played in the intermediate class, in front of David Brown Sr. who was judging, and unexpectedly (for me) won 1st. place. I had already left Holbæk (for some reason I don’t recall) at the time of the prize giving, so someone else from the band picked up the trophy, diploma and judges sheet and handed it to me later on. I don’t remember anything from that original drum score I played, but I decided to revisit the tune by writing this new drum score for it. I think it should be drumable for beginners, although the endings in the 2nd part might be hard to Continue reading
The first time I came across this tune was in some of my earlier years of pipe band drumming, probably beginning to mid 90’ties. I was playing with the Heather Pipes & Drums of Copenhagen B-band (grade 4 band) and we played this tune in the medley. The shared score was written in June this year. The drum score is written for the beginner level. The focus here is to get a fluent a and easy introduction to the jig idiom. Therefore I’ve used only a limited amount of technical bits in there, to allow focus on the swing of it. Rolls can be tricky in jigs, so watch out for these when you Continue reading
As part of my June challenge this year, of writing a drum score each day of the month, I got a request to try writing a simple drum score for some of the traditional and well-known tunes. So, I finally wrote a drum score for probably the most famous marching tunes in pipe bands: Scotland The Brave. I always really enjoy playing this Continue reading
This weeks shared drum score was made for the tune Lady Lever Park back in 2010. We played it with the Balagan concert band in a concert after the Copenhagen Winter Competition 2010. This march was the 2nd of two in a set of traditional marches. In the first march we only played rope tension drums, and then for this one, we had a regular pipe band snare join in. We did some call & response in the Continue reading
Following the statement I made on the facebook extension of this webpage, I decided to share a drum score meant to be played on a rope tension drum this week. The drum score was written for the Balagan concert band back in 2010 for a set of two traditional marches. In the first, this one, we only played two rope tension drums and the bass drum. For the second one, which I will share next week, we had one snare drum join in, and we also did some cool call & response with the different types of drums. The level of this drum score is at the beginner level. I find that when I write drum scores for the deeper and softer rope tension drums, it makes sense to make the beats simple for greater clarity and effect. My favourite part is the Continue reading
This weeks drum score was written for the traditional tune Mairis Wedding. It was written for a beginner drummer to be played with his grade 4B parade band. The aim of this drum score was to make it simple, yet fitting for the tune. It’s pretty straight forward and it should be drum-able for any beginner drummer knowing the basics of Continue reading
This weeks drum score was written for the strathspey Loudens Bonnie Wods And Braes for a grade 4 drum corp. It was meant to fit for drummers who made their first go at strathspey. Therefore I tried to underline the melody a lot and also the strathspey beat. You can of course say that this drum score is very Continue reading
This drum score was written for the ending of a medley for a grade 4B band. The tune itself is quite lively and also a huge challenge for any piper regardless of level. I aimed to make the drum score follow the same lively pattern however at a lower level, so that the drummers would be able to execute the drum score – especially coming to the end of a medley. Underneath follows the instructions I sent along with the drum score.
The LD starts off the drum score, and then Continue reading
This drum score was written for a grade 4B bands medley. It’s coming right after a slow air. Here are the short instructions I sent them along with the drum score.
Make sure that you can Continue reading
This drum score was written to fit into a medley as the 2nd jig in the first part of the selection. The level is for a grade 4B band. Underneath are the short instructions I sent them along with the drum score.
Make sure that you can execute Continue reading
This drum score was written for a medley back a little more than a year ago for a grade 4B band. Here are the instructions I sent them along with the scores.
Make sure, that you can Continue reading
This drum score was written a little more than a year ago for a grade 4B band. This is the intro to their medley – quite a challenge I would say. Here (underneath) are the instructions I sent them along with the drum score.
Keep all the background strokes
This drum score is an updated and extended version of an older drum score I wrote for this tune back in 2014. This time it’s for 4 parts, as well as a reprise of the 1st part. It was meant to fit a small drum corp of adult learners who’s looking for a simple yet interesting score for this slip jig. I added in a break in the 3rd part to create some dynamics in the overall presentation. In the repeat of the part, there’s an option Continue reading
This drum score was written for a jig called The Cats Dance.
It was written to the level of beginner drummers who had not yet had experience with playing jigs. The rudiments used in the drum score are fairly simple and should give lots of Continue reading
This drum score was written for a Danish drum corp earlier in the year for the 2/4 march High Road To Gairloch. It was meant to fill out a spot in a competition march set for beginner drummers. The level was made to beginner to allow every drummer in the corp to play along. To me the key of the tune is the ending of each part – therefore I wrote the drum score to follow this part of the tune very closely. The most challenging part of the drum score is probably Continue reading
This drum score for Lochanside was written a few weeks back for a Danish grade 4 band. It builds on the more complicated drum score that I wrote for this tune a while back (also to be found on this site). This drum score is simplified to rolls, triplets and flams.
It seems to me that this is first non standard drum score that this specific band or drum corp has played. That’s why the level was adjusted to fit that aspect. Especially given the fact of the level being rather simple, it’s even more important to express the dynamics very clearly throughout. For example in the Continue reading
This drum score was put together for a Danish grade 4 band for them to play along with different 3/4 march tunes. The level of the drum corp is very diverse – some experienced drummers, some beginner drummers and some scout/marching band drummers not used to playing triplet rolls.
Therefore, this set of adaptables contains a lot of triplet rolls and regular triplets, to allow the drummers not familiar with this Continue reading
This drum score was written this past week for a pipe band in Holland. The PM of the band wrote me a note saying thanks for the drum scores on the site, and said that they had made use of some of the shared drum scores. At the same time he asked wether I had drum scores for a few tunes that they had been working on. I emailed him back that, as a thanks for the kind words, I would write them a drum score for one of the tunes. So, here we go.
The drum score is written for the beginner level however it does have some more challenging bits in there. For example the ending of the 1st lines of the parts could be played Continue reading