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? Examples of Snare Drum Notation, Part 2: 1809-20.

ULALUME: An Opportunity Lost. ?
.
Examples of Snare Drum Notation, Part 1: 1589-1797.
26Jun
PROLOGUE to PART 1
I collect drum manuals from the 18 and 19 centuries because they are histories o
f drumming today. They provide insights into the beats drummer s played and the ty
pe of written drum instruction available 100 or more years ago. I also like thei
r archaic look. They have their own personalities: diaries written with quill pe
ns, books printed with crude type, hand made paper, colorful, antiquated languag
e and interesting notation. The notation in some of these manuals defies transla
tion and I assume were invented specifically for drummer boys who couldn t read mu
sic or by teachers and drummers who could not imagine another way to notate the
grace notes and rolls drummers played. But that doesn t make complete sense.
For example, years before the appearance of the unique drum manuals published in
the United States between 1810 and 1853, music notation had become highly evolv
ed. During the Baroque era (ca. 1600-1750), an extensive set of symbols, particu
larly for keyboard and string music, were developed for embellishments ranging f
rom single grace notes to trills and complex ornaments. In 1740, Thomas Arne (17
10-78) wrote eight and five stroke rolls in traditional notation, for the snare
drum in his March with a side drum in the Masque Alfred.
Therefore, I must wonder if the notation in some early drum manuals was truly ea

sier to learn than a standard notation in use during their era. Rather, it seems
as though some drummers wanted to devise their own systems of notation. After a
ll, unlike string and keyboard teachers, they were unencumbered by hundreds of
years of pedagogy, and thus free to invent individual schools of drumming and no
tation. All this while composers of Western art music, were using the widely acc
epted notation of their time; a notation familiar to us today.
PART 1:
Until the early twentieth century, instruction books for snare drummers were wri
tten to conform with military protocol.1 These books contained names for drum s
trokes, signals for camp duty and field maneuvers, exercises or rudiments 2, and o
ften, appropriate tunes for fife, the instrument most commonly paired with the f
ield snare or side drum. They did not tell drummers how the drum was played,3
Creating symbols for the snare drum strokes, signals and exercises, and staves u
pon which to put them, has occupied players and teachers of military drumming fo
r at least 350 years. The examples of drum notation which follow, are arranged a
s closely as possible in chronological order and represent all extant drum manua
ls or fragments thereof in my possession from the period of time covered
155? The first mention of military drum signals in English history, date from th
e reign of Queen Mary (1553-58). They applied to foot soldiers and were titled
March, Alarm, Approach, Assault, Battle, Retreat and Skirmish. However, these se
ven signals survive as names only, no music notation for them is known to exist.
4
1589. The earliest extant music notation for military drum is in Orchesography,
a treatise on the honourable exercise of dancing by Thoinot Arbeau, published b
y Jehan des Preyz, Langres, France.5
1589-Orchesography,Thoinot Arbeau, Langres France.1589-Orchesography,Thoinot Arb
eau, Langres France.
Arbeau s notation is easily understood today if one reduces each note by half, i.e
., a half note (minum) to a quarter note, a quarter to an eighth, etc. There are
no grace notes or rolls in Orchesography. The right hand plays the first note o
f each group and both hands together play the last note. The right hand stroke c
oincides with the left foot, and the fifth note-hands together-coincides with th
e right foot, thus completing one stride. This sequence of right hand-left foot,
left hand-right foot, keeps the player in balance while marching.6 Some scholars
believe the 16th c. minum was a relatively quick beat much like the quarter note
today; perhaps 115 beats per minute
1627. Bonaventura Pistofilo s, Torneo (Bologna, Italy,), a book of illustrations i
nstructing Cavaliere (Knights or soldiers) in postures for weapon s drill, 7 conta
ins, according to James Blades (1901-99), the first drum beats actually used in
a military context.8 In the example below, lines one and three show the drum be
ats, while lines two and four dictate the soldier s movements in response to the d
rum. The notation is similar to Arbeau, but the bar lines, typical of the age, d
o not mean what they mean today.*9
1621-Torneo, Bonaventura Pistofilo.1621-Torneo, Bonaventura Pistofilo.
There are other mysteries as well. What is the relationship between Primo tempo a
nd Secondo Tempo ? What is the meaning of the dots over some notes, the + ( crosses )
and the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, which appear only under the soldier s staves? These re
main to be deciphered, but the onomatopoeia device, here, ta pa, was also used
in Arbeau and will be familiar to modern military drummers.10 So too is the stem
down, stem up notation which may make its first appearance here, and probably i
ndicates right and left hands, a device in use to this day.

1632. Charles I of England(1625-49), issued a Warrant directing the restoration

of the English March to its original rhythm as it had suffered from improper int
erpretation. Copies of the march and warrant, as shown below, have appeared in v
arious texts. The original has not been found.
1632-Warrant, English March.1632-Warrant, English March.
At first glance, the deciphering of this beat seems to be at our fingertips: the
notation in Arbeau and Pistofilo are similar, but how this march was played, ha
s been argued since its actual sound faded from memory.11 Note the use of both s
ingle and double bar lines, fermatas, and the onomatopoeia, here pou and tou, wi
th a final poung.12 The capital R, appears with intriguing regularity and may in
dicate a roll or a ruff; perhaps a key to deciphering the March.
1634. After these tantalizing examples of almost decipherable drum notation,two
unique and aggravatingly obscure manuscripts appear. The first is a version of
The English March shown in the Warrant above and published by Thomas Fisher in W
arlike Directions or the Soldiers Practice.13
1644-Warlike Directions, Thomas Fisher.1644-Warlike Directions, Thomas Fisher.
1= Left Hand, I= Right Hand, r= Full Ruff, 2= 1/2 Ruff, Ir= Stroke and R
uff,
r2= A Ruff and a half joined together. (6 Rudimenss in this beating.)
The Preparation. which precedes the drum beat is, in Charles
y Before the March

Warrant,The Voluntar

In the sentence below the drum beating, Fisher says, I have insisted somewhat lon
g in the office of the drummer, so that I find a great deficit in that place, an
d would wish a more general reformation. Fisher is petitioning King Charles I for
a job as drum instructor throughout the kingdom, and if the credentials he give
s for himself in his book s preface are believable, he may well have been qualifie
d.
1650-90. And then, this curious document. Discovered glued to the inside of a bo
ok in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, England, it is referred to as the Douce (pr
onounced Dowse) Document after the book s original owner. Shown below is one page
of the document titled The Grounds of Beating Ye Drum . Under this title, arranged
from left to right, are 11 symbols or pictographs representing drum strokes or r
udiments.
1650-90 (ca.)-Douce, Grounds for Beating Ye Drum.1650-90 (ca.)-Douce, Grounds fo
r Beating Ye Drum.
The interpretations for these symbols read as follows: one stroke and a touch , Is
a plain stroke , Is 4 strokes beginning easy and ending hard , Is a half ruffe beginni
ng loud and ending loud , Is a whole ruffe which is 5 strokes ending loud , Is a ruffe
and half which is 8 strokes , , Is a stroke with both sticks together , Is a stroke w
ith both sticks and a touch , Is rolling two sticks with one hand and two strokes w
ith ye other , Is continual rolling , Is a bang by ye hoop (a Pointing, Poung, pong or
poing stroke? There is a similar instruction in Levi Lovering s 1818 book,page 9.
See my posting What was a Poing Stroke? )
1777. Reveille from Trommel Spielett, George L. Winters,(Berlin); according to t
he late James Blades,the earliest military drum manual in existence. The upward
slanting being this on all the roles indicate crescendos. (A combination of upwa
rd and downward slanting beams appear on other pages in the manual.) The beating
below is identical to the Reveille in use today in the Swedish and Dutch armies
. (see Part II)
1777-George L. Winters, Berlin.1777-George L. Winters, Berlin.
1778. The Valley Forg (sic)drum beating below, is from A Revolutionary War Dru

mmers Book, a possession of the Massachusetts historical Society. It s twenty nine

pages were written entirely with a quill pen, and contain much to recommend the
m to drummers. On his opening pages the anonymous author lists 20 exercises (rud
iments). He begins with what he terms The Rule of the first roll or Gamut for the
Drum i.e. closing the long roll.Included also is a Twelve stroke roll.
In the example below, the very first note is an eighth note with a backward beam
. This is a 7, and indicates a seven stroke role, the first six notes of which p
recede the downbeat, but are not shown. The letter R signifies A roll . The two sta
ves which separate Right and Left hands, are, to my knowledge, the earliest exta
nt example of this device, a variant of the single stave with up and down stems
in The Young Drummers Assistant from the same period.
1778(ca.) A Revolutionary War Drummer's Book.1778(ca.) A Revolutionary War Drumm
er s Book.
Above is my interpretation of the Valley Forg beat. Every drum beating in the bo
ok was named for a tune it was meant to accompany. (The Valley Forg(e) is a catc
hy tune.) Finding these tunes, many existing under different names,and transcrib
ing the drum beatings into modern notation,was often a challenge, but always exc
iting.
1779-84. With the appearance of The Young Drummers Assistant (London), illustra
ted below, drum notation appeared to be continuing in the mainstream of common p
ractice, and the Thomas Fischer and Douce manuscripts appeared to have been anom
alies.
1784(ca.)-Young Drummers Assistant, London.1784(ca.)-Young Drummers Assistant, L
ondon.
The Young Drummers Assistant may well be the first drum manual published in the
West utilizing three line notation; the notes on the middle line indicate the p
rimary beats, in this case, the end note of rolls. Stems up indicate the Left h
and, stems down, right hand.
Mother , is the five stroke roll.(See Ashworth, Part II) This book contains 12 Marks
(rudiments), but the 5 stroke roll is not among them. Interestingly, Roll Contin
ued is listed recalling the Roll Continuing in the Douce Document from approximatel
y 100 years earlier. Also included is a Pointing Stroke Which cannot help but rem
ind one of the Poing Stroke .
ca.1780-90. This Book titled Scotch (sic) Duty Beatings is part of the Thomas Sh
aw Hellier collection devoted to mid to late 18th-century music manuscripts in pos
session of the Music Library, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmi
ngham, England. The staff of the Shaw Hellier collection has not been able to da
te this manuscript, but agreed with me that based on its similarity to The Young
Drummers Assistant above, it probably dates from the same decades, The Scotch
Duty Beatings s staves are printed, but the notation is by hand and made with quil
l pen. I have chosen to reproduce a similar section of Mother and three Camps R
eveille from both books. The book contains 12 rudiments including a Six stroke r
oll.
ca1780-Scotch (sic) Duty Beatingsca1780-Scotch (sic) Duty Beatings
1788. Die Erste Tagwacht, (Reveille.) The text reads: The First Morning Call. To
every measure of this morning call belongs a step. One will always beat the firs
t and second part twice. (repeat both parts always.)
1788-Swiss notation, Reveille.1788-Swiss notation, Reveille.
A totally phonetic approach to teaching drummers. This Tagwacht drum beating from
the Berner Ordommanx1788. Likely even earlier, it appears as the identical Fren
ch drum call, Premier Reveille with the pretty melody, Goddess Diana at the Break o
f Day. The oldest known morning call .14

1797. Below is a reproduction of one page from Benjamin Clark s Drum Book Titled R
ules for the Drum. The notation is similar to The Young Drummers Assistant and
the Scotch Duty above except for the direction of the note stems, and lists roll
s of varying lengths the long roll, 10, 9, 7, 5, and 3 stroke rolls, as well as
drags and ruffe . Clark s book was discovered in 1974 by Kate Van Winkle Keller and
subsequently Susan Cifaldi collected and transcribed the fife tunes to match th
e books drum beatings transcribed into modern notation by Bob Castillo.15
1797-Benjamin Clark drum book.1797-Benjamin Clark drum book.
Clark s book contains nine exercises (rudiments) including a Three stroke roll..
Footnotes to Part 1:
1. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, two men wrote instructi
on books for percussion instruments which deviated from the military norm. Harr
y A. Bower, who played in the Boston Symphony(1904-07), was first in 1899 with h
is Imperial Method for the Drums, Timpani, Bells Etc.. The John Church Co., Phi
ladelphia, PA., and followed in1911 with his System for Drums, Bells, Xylophone
and Timpani., Carl Fischer, N.Y.
Carl E. Gardner was next in 1919 with his Modern Method for the Drums, Cymbals
and Accessories, Carl Fischer, N.Y. Gardner had also played with the B.S.O. an
d, at the time he wrote his books, was Supervisor of Bands and Orchestras in the
Boston Public School System.
Though the books of both men contained some of the essential rudiments flams, ruff
s, and short rolls Bower and Gardner wrote primarily to train percussionists for
symphony orchestra, Vaudeville and theatre orchestra snare, timpani and mallet p
laying.
2. The word Rudiments first appears in print on page 3 of A New Useful and Complet
e System of Drum Beating by Charles Stewart Ashworth, published in Boston, Massa
chusetts in 1812. A complete list of exercises or rudiments shown in each book
will be attached to the end of Part II. (Also, see my article, A Brief Note on D
rum Rudiments posted on this blog.)
3. In his Imperial Method for the Drum (1899), Harry A. Bower included three ve
ry simple line drawings intended to show the right and left hand grip and the pr
oper angle for setting a concert snare drum. In his System for Drums, Bells, Xyl
ophone and Timpani (1911), Bower used photographs to more clearly show the hand,
arm and playing positions for the snare drum.
4. Grosse, Military Antiquities, 1801, in Henry George Farmer: The Rise and Dev
elopment of Military Music, 1912-1970. These seven signals (commands) do, howeve
r, suggest a rather sophisticated drum technique, as each signal would have been
distinctly different, one from the other, in order to impress itself upon men e
ngaged or about to be engaged in the stress and distractions of battle. When enc
amped, a 16th c. army may well have used additional signals such as Reveille, As
sembly and Tattoo, which, in one form or another, were common camp duty signals
of the 18th and 19th c. It may reasonably be assumed that drummers of the 16th
c. had a required repertoire of ten or more distinctive drum beats.
5. Thoinot Arbeau: Orchesography, Dover Publcations, New York., soft cover. Orch
esography is in the form of a dialogue between its author and his student Caprio
l, The first chapter explains the correlation between drum beats and moving sold
iers together in time, calculating distance and time of travel. Arbeau illustrat
es how seventy-six variations of five consecutive minims can be created by gradu
ally substituting crochets and quavers for the first four minims.

6. This right, left correlation persists today, even in some non-military snare
drum solos. The right hand, commonly the strongest, plays the first beat of each
measure, thus helping to clarify a beat s tempo and form. Historically, left han
dedness was considered to be evil, unnatural or simply undesirable. Even today,
some left handed young people are forced to use their right hand, particularly f
or writing. Left handed drummers have always been required to begin with, or cha
nge to, a right hand grip in order to conform to either the uniform appearance o
f a military drum line, or with drum methods and solos based on a right hand lea
d. The matched grip, so prevalent today, has not entirely done away with left ha
nded issues, as the music military drummers play is written, intentionally or no
t, from a right hand perspective.
7. Besides emphasizing martial prowess, many of the postures are balletic; befit
ting the age of Chivalry which empathized grace, refinement, honour and noble g
estures.
1627-Torneo, military drill.
8. James Blades and Jeremy Montague: Early Percussion Instruments from the Middl
e Ages to the Baroque, (page 11),Oxford University Press, 1976.
9. Understanding the precise function of bar lines during the 16th c, is problem
atic. They were not always employed, and when used, seem to have served differe
nt purposes depending on the composer. In the 15th century, vertical lines were
used to divide the staff into sections. These lines did not initially divide the
music into measures of equal length as most music then featured fewer regular r
hythmic patterns then in later periods. The use of regular measures became commo
nplace by the end of the 17th century. In Orchesography, Arbeau does not use ba
r lines in his drum beats, perhaps because of their short, uniform length, but h
e does use them occasionally and always in his melodic examples.
10. For example: Paradiddle, ratamacue, ruff and flam.
11. See Maurice Byrne: The English March and Early Drum Notation, Mr. Byrne spen
t a good deal of his life comparing and analyzing the English March as it appear
s in the four known copies of the Charles I Warrant, with the notation in the Fi
sher and Douce manuscripts and their subsequent reflections in The Young Drummer s
Assistant and Samuel Potter (1815, see part II).
Mr. Byrne s paper is fascinating, informative and a joy to read. However, if one t
hinks a final solution to the enigma of the English March awaits, a sentence in
Byrne s second paragraph will give pause.
All of these notations are incomplete,*
but by analyzing their basic rhythm it is possible to interpret the significance
of the pause sign which they use so that the march can be written down in moder
n notation . Dr. Harrison Pawley of Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, told me
he knew without doubt how this English March was played, but did not volunteer
his solution. (*emphasis mine)
12. This appears to be the Pong or Poing stroke of the late 18th century. (See m
y posting What Was a Poing Stroke?)
13. I am grateful to Graeme Thew, Principal Percussionist, Grenadier Guards Band
, for providing me with copies in readable script of the Thomas Fisher and Douce
manuscripts.
14. I am indebted to the eminent Swiss percussionist Fritz Hauser for his transl
ation of Tagwatch and other texts from Trommeln Und Pfeifen In Basel, CD 181996
BREO, a three Compact Disc history of Swiss drumming.

15. In a phone conversation Ms Cifaldi told me she had found very faint waterma
rks on some of the pages of Clark s book. These watermarks belong to a printer in
Boston who operated between the years 1800 and 1810. Even so I have decided to p
lace this manuscript in the 18 c. because Clark, though having written his book
at a later date, had been a drummer in the War for Independence (1775 83) and had
himself dated the book.
Benjamin Clark s Drum Book 1797, Containing 36 Drum Beatings from the year 1797 an
d 46 Fife Tunes from the same time period With appropriate historical notes prov
ided by the editors. Drum Beatings rendered into modern notation by Bob Castillo
, Fife Tunes collected and transcribed by Susan Cifaldi, copyright 1989 Susan L.
Cifaldi. This book may be purchased from Mr. Leo Brennan: colonialsutler@comcas
t.net> Price, $15.00 plus postage.

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Posted by robinengelman on June 26, 2010 in Articles, Fifes & Drums

? Examples of Snare Drum Notation, Part 2: 1809-20.

ULALUME: An Opportunity Lost. ?
.
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