FULL Musescore 4 DRUM Tutorial | Everything You Need To Know To Write Drums Like A Pro!

Musescore can be complicated for drummers - but this comprehensive tutorial walks you through EVERYTHING you need to know about writing drum notation in Musescore 4.
Text your name to 610.200.9110 to get more info on the program and get special opportunities to win drum gear!
TIMESTAMPS
Creating a new score - :51
Save a template - 2:04
Editing the Drum set - 3:37
Adding Notes - 6:54
Whole note - 7:36
Half note - 7:48
Deleting measures - 8:08
Quarter note - 8:22
8th note - 8:58
TRIPLETS - 9:40
16th notes - 9:23
Writing Drum Beats - 12:12
Adding 16th Notes to Basic Beats - 14:36
Changing the Tempo - 17:40
Writing Drum Fills - 18:13
Adding Accents - 21:09
Adding Ghost notes - 22:25
Open Hi hat - 23:43
Flams - 27:58
Double stroke/tremolos - 30:34
Dotted notes - 35:38
Time Signatures - 36:55
Repeats - 40:05
Adding text - 43:05
WIN DRUM GEAR!! 45:01
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[@whalebonemusic]

This is an utterly fantastic overview. It could not have fit what I needed to know better. Although, I'd love to hear about ruffs and drags too!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Thank you!! I'll figure out the drags I promise! haha

[@albedrumk]

I am a 19 year old guy who graduated from an academy in Italy, and I have been approaching teaching for a while. I guess there's nothing better than being able to pass on your skills and ideas to kids. With this great tutorial, you make my life easier. Congratulations and thanks for these basics of the program, I will definitely check out the channel 🙌

[@debeatsmusic]

Open Hi-Hat Hack: Edit Drumset > Open Hi-Hat > Change staff line to the same line as your closed Hi-Hat (I use -1). Then use the Open Hi-Hat together with the "Plus" and "Circle" articulations as explained in this video . This will allow you to see the Hi-Hat on the same line no matter whether open or closed and also hear it when you press play! And for accents, copy + paste works for me only, my software doesn't recognize when I want several accents above the notation... don't know how you did it! :'D All in all, aweseome overview really, thank you so much!!! Saved me a lot of time and I'm so happy to write better drumsheets!!!!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

LEVELED UP! Thanks for the tip! Never heard of Aered but I agree once you get good at the hot keys and know the tricks in Musescore it's the best! Please consider texting the Drumming For All number (610-200-9110) to get info on the non-profit and 50 free tickets win drum gear in our next raffle. Thanks!

[@piotrmakuch3551]

I'm shocked at how much knowledge you managed to share in 45 minutes! You've saved me hours of learning time. Thank you so much! And your teaching style is just brilliant.

[@TripleDeluxeDrums]

This is the best guide to Drum Set input into Muse Score I have seen yet. Nice Going.

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Thank you!!

[@MiKiMusik005]

Thank you for this great overview and tutorial, I really appreciated the great work and effort you put in. Thanks!

[@cyberfalcon2872]

42:02 That is a "Keep measures on the same system" element. You can find it on (Layout > Keep measures on the same system). That makes sure that both measures stay together on the same line so if the measure is on the far left or right it will either move both measures down or squeeze the whole line and keep both measures up. Its a layout element so it doesn't show when exported (just like the big rectangle around the title)

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Thanks!!

[@johnathanmcfarland903]

19:45 cracks me up. "If you got really good eyesight" 🤣🤣

[@johnhogue9402]

This was a wealth of information. I especially liked the tip to change all the voices to voice 1. The automatic voice 2 for the bass drum was making it very tedious.

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

I know right! That was a total game changer for me.

[@mrfudd13]

Hands down the best tutorial I've seen! Quick, but clear; full of gems. You truly want to share your considerable knowledge - Thank you!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

You're very welcome!

[@baristokel]

Thank you so much man, this helped me a lot 🙌🏻

[@aertos_xas]

Thank you so much! I didn't know about the whole shift + key ordeal! Thank you for your teaching!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

My pleasure!!

[@WateryIce54321]

Thank you! Learned several neat tricks from this. Like how not to waste 2 hours fixing a scores measures / time signature.

[@sixto662]

you are a natural born teacher bro!!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Wow man, thank you!! I absolutely love it. I love it so much I teach for free as well 😆. Do you know about the Drumming For All program at all?

[@WMDPodcast]

Very comprehensive man, this is great!!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Much appreciated!

[@DarthTatter95]

Great sense of humour, you make it easy for the info to soak in!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Thanks!

[@Scuffer-vw9lj]

Exceptional tutorial!!! Tried Musescore last night…didn’t know where to start. Watched your tutorial, and scored an entire song today (including flams) start to finish!! Excellent instructions.

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

I love hearing that!!! I'm working on more videos as we speak, looking forward to your thoughts on those too!

[@Doctor_Groove]

Great tutorial! Informative and helpful. Thanks Carlos! 🥁🎵🎶

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

You're very welcome!

[@MrE_Smuv]

Best video on the topic! Well done! I write marching percussion and this helped alot!

[@1olsendba]

Thanks man that was great! No telling how many hours you saved me!

[@JoshuaSkaja]

Hey thanks for this! 1. Instead of copy/paste into the next beat or measure, just type "r" and it'll repeat whatever is highlighted. 2. For open hats, I have it set to a different shortcut than the G for closed hats, but still on the G space. After you've entered everything, right-click an open-hat G, then Select > More > Same Pitch. Now all your open hat notes are highlighted and you can add the ° symbol to all of them at once. 3.Another style of counting triplets you might check out is the one from Richard Hoffman's Takadimi system. You should google it, but basically the downbeat is always Ta and the + is always di. 8th note triplets = Ta ki da. 16th note triplets = Tavika didama. Quarter note triplets = Ta da ki. MUCH easier than this text description is making it sound. 😆 4. I also despise the old "hands are upstemmed, feet are downstemmed" convention. A third option is to write the hat (or ride) groove with upstems and the kick/snare with downstems. Makes it SUPER glance-able. Thanks again!

[@duy4453]

I have a question, how do you add more staves in sheet.

[@stevegroulx6960]

Well... This tutorial is more that i expect! Thanks a lot! 🙃

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

My absolute pleasure, man! If you ever want any more help I do very cheap zoom calls to troubleshoot any issues you may have - by cheap I mean donate any amount to my drumming charity and we can take as much time as you need 🙂 [e-mail]

[@staunchmusic5830]

Thanks man very helpful!!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

You're very welcome!!!

[@obedire]

Yo! What a GOD video! Thank you so much!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Haha thanks!!!

[@completo3172]

thank you!!!!! I'm teaching drums to a kid and I needed this so much :)

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

You're very welcome!! Do you teach online?

[@completo3172]

​​@@DrummingForAllProgram nope, but I like being able to do these things on my own to have more customized teaching, especially when trying to simplify a song

[@QuantifyingTheEmotion]

Fantastic. I finally got to understand how to write flams properly. I think some of the things explained here, were missing even in the official Musescore documentation. Thanks a ton!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

My pleasure!

[@degarro1106]

Thank you so much! 👍👍👍

[@Ludo_A]

Great info, thanks a lot!

[@bradlipsettdrums]

Awesome video mate. Thanks for putting it together.

[@JeanWJoseph]

Thanks a million for the in-depth analysis of the drum notation tools. I appreciated it a lot. With rhythm expressions I might suggest looking at the takadimi system - Tá ka di mi replaces 1 e & a and triplets are expressed as Tá di mi. You can look up the full explanation online but I find it helps expressing rhythms a bit easier. The symbol you deleted at 42:06 tells musescore to keep that bar grouped with the preceding measures so it doesn’t format to the next system if the line gets too full. Basically a fail safe to make sure that when you see it you know exactly which bars are repeated. Could be an issue if that appears at the end of a page and the repeat shows up at the top of a new page that requires a page turn.

[@sergiopezza-batteriadrums3493]

Thanks!!! 👍🥁🥁🥁

[@MrDrumick]

Brilliant video!! Clear and handy!

[@the_drum_dawg]

Great stuff man!! And thank you for speaking the truth about stems all facing up 😂 couldnt agree more, adds so much unnecessary confusion for new players. Preach on bro 🙌🥁

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Crazy right! I understand why it used to be that way and I think once you get better at reading that it is a fun challenge and helps you understand it even more but NOT for beginners!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Also please consider joining the Drumming For All family - we're a non-profit that uses donations (and youtube ad revenue!!) to pay for drum lessons and gear for kids that can't afford them. If you text your name and ""the drum dawg" to 610-200-9110 you'll automatically be entered into the next giveaway to win drum gear and you'll get updates on the program and all of the cool stuff we're doing!

[@the_drum_dawg]

You got it bro! I really dig the concept of what you guys are doing and will donate when I am able!🙌@@DrummingForAllProgram

[@OliSoldado]

Great stuff, thanks

[@zacharywu2887]

thank you so much for this video!!!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

My pleasure! Please subscribe if you haven't already - we are a charity for young drummers and we've got a lot of cool videos coming soon, all of which help us get drum lessons to kids around the world that can't afford them!

[@Matchat11]

Hi, you can change the notation of the open hihat in Edit drumset /notehead group (change for a circlrd cross) and change the line in staff line.

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

YES!!! Haha thanks! I'm going to fiddle with it more - I don't like that it's in the second space. But certainly a game changer! Also, not sure if you caught the promo at the end but this channel is for a non profit that pays for drum lessons and gear for kids around the world that can't afford them. If you are interested in following the program we use a texting system to keep everybody informed about everything from new students to raffle winners etc. Just text your name to 610-200-9110 and you'll automatically get 50 raffle tickets to Febs raffle. Thanks!

[@henkdegroot2000]

Great video, first time I hear and see all note stems are pointing up. Guess it will be a matter of time before that makes it's way to europe as the standard. As you are a big fan of keystrokes....why don't you use the letter R? R will repeat what you have selected. So acts similar as CTRL+C + CTRL+V but instead it is just one keystroke. Another trick, you can default the accents being placed above the notes. Insert one accent, select the accent, open the properties panel, change placement to Above, click the 3 dots and set it as standard for this score. After this when you enter new accents they will automatic appear above. And if you save the score as "your template" after making the custom changes (like the drumset changes, the default accent placement), then it will be automatically used for the next score. I would even advise to actually copy the "template" score into the templates folder, so that you can just use your own template in the new score wizard as well. But copy the existing file and create a new one works as well. Last cool trick, is about entering triplets. If you have just entered a triplet and want to do the same on the next beat, just select the 3 notes and press R. No need to first change the beat into triplet.

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Heck yeah dude! Thanks so much for the additional tricks! I'm going to try those right now haha. Also, not sure if you caught the promo at the end but this channel is for a non profit that pays for drum lessons and gear for kids around the world that can't afford them. If you are interested in following the program we use a texting system to keep everybody informed about everything from new students to raffle winners etc. Just text your name to 610-200-9110 and you'll automatically get 50 raffle tickets to Febs raffle. Thanks!

[@jamesvarty6513]

Great tutorial.. but personally I'm an advocate of the two voice approach - kick and pedalled hi hat staying as voice 2 with downward stems at the bottom, which saves getting your hats, ride and other parts of the kit mashed up when you have heavily syncopated kick patterns.

[@yjj9468]

great job thanks !!!!!!!!!!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Thank you!!

[@kstung2125]

THANK YOU

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

You're very welcome! I'm curious - was there something specific you were looking for or was it a general tutorial? Thanks

[@JawKnee0530]

28:30 Flams. Hope this helps for anyone :D Very good overview. Using the software to transcribe a song bc it doesn't exist anywhere online.

[@brianczach]

This video was SUPER helpful! Thank you for uploading.

[@MonteleónOficial]

Great video!!

[@cvernazza]

Hello, excellent video! Could you explain how to upload a pdf drum sheet music to a musescore file? I have many drum scores, but I can't edit them with musescore.

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Here you go! "To import a PDF file, launch musescore and select “Import PDF” from the “File” menu. This will take you to a dedicated site for uploading. You upload your PDF file here. Once you press “Download”, you will be able to download the score that has been converted to a format that can be edited in Musescore."

[@Ntuffin]

Awesome tutorial mate! Cheers for that

[@ctrader6]

RE Adding text: This looks like the way to add sticking (R,L, etc), am I correct? Thanks.

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Ctrl T is for text above the measures, Ctrl L is for lyrics or R, L sticking 🙂

[@edmatzenik9858]

Thanks heaps for this, but Musescore seems dreadfully awkward for entering drums. I'm just copying stuff out of tutor books and I'm probably making a lot of mistakes. But even so, the program so often will not put the note at the right place even when it highlights that position. One thing I wish it could do is switch off its automation until I get what I want typed in and let me OK it when I'm ready. I suppose everyone has these troubles to start with, but it's definitely harder typing in drum parts than other instruments, isn't it?

[@jeretchristopher]

Hello, do you have a tutorial on how to do this by importing drum midi file and to clean up?

[@tommaxwell429]

Very Good! Thanks for this. I have a question about formatting page. As a model use page five in Stick Control. How can you attach the line numbers in the front of each stave? And how do you break up the page to create the 24 different lessons on a single page?

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

I feel like it would be easier to show you, I've been offering a free zoom meeting to anybody who has more questions if you want to set that up - [e-mail]

[@tommaxwell429]

@@DrummingForAllProgram ok thanks for the offer. I don’t do zoom or FaceTime, sorry. What I did is just put a text box above the first note. That will work for my purposes. Moving the stave over and putting a text box in front of it is not necessary and seems considerably more work. Thanks for the offer, though. I appreciate it! Take care!

[@russpiraino9096]

Can you write w/a drum pad/midi like you can w/keyboards? MS4 can write the note & value as you play. I can barely read drum notation & I'm trying to write drum charts w MS4. If I could tap on a midi drum pad to enter values that would be quite useful.

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Wow I'm not sure!! I have 0 experience with MIDI, sorry!

[@stevegroulx6960]

Yup of course i remember that cool 6/8 Iris song 😜

[@benjamingunnarsson6886]

Iris by Goo Goo Dolls such a timeless classic!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Agreed! Love that song!!

[@Richard-qp5ne]

The video doesnt say this i think but how do you add like the suspended cymbal or gong to the drumset

[@RonaldBowman-vq7cl]

Great job... perhaps it is something I'm doing or not doing but, you have head phones and I don't hear what you listening to on playback?

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

You should be able to hear it, I think the audio is a little low on those parts though. Let me know if you're able to hear it with headphones when you bring the volume up, thanks!

[@russpiraino9096]

THE best Musescore 4 drum set tutorial.... but still lacking. I'm trying to write Jim Chapin's "Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer". Dotted notes, swing patterns, adding "X" (hihat) to bass drum on 2&4... have been a nightmare for a entry level user. I'm wondering if limb independence focus may cause a problem. If there is a link to demonstrate how to write these I would be very appreciative.

[@cindys9491]

Great tutorial! Is there a way to add or create a two-line percussion clef in MuseScore 4, I haven't found it yet. Does anyone know? Thanks!

[@joegoodman1895]

Great video! Not sure why but I am trying to add some snare comping hits below a line of ride cymbal spang-a-lang and even with clicking shift beforehand, the snare note I am trying to add displaces the ride cymbal note above it rather than adding it below the ride cymbal figure. When the snare note appears, the ride cymbal note above it disappears. Same thing with trying to add rests to the snare line below the ride cymbal line...I use the Shift key but the rest I am trying to add on the snare line displaces the cymbal note above it... the ride cymbal note disappears as soon as the the rest appears. Any idea what I am doing wrong?

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Hmmm. I'm not sure what the fix would be, would you like to set up a zoom meeting and I can walk you through a few troubleshooting ideas? Email me if you're interested, we can set it up [e-mail]

[@Robertonatal1]

Hi! Thanks for this video. Clear and easy. But, im trying to wrhite drags and Ruffs and I cant find where in Musescore 4. You know how to do it? Thanks!!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Wow, I missed one!!! No my friend I don't, what a great catch! I will do some research and get back to you! Do you know about the Drumming For All Program? We pay for drum lessons and gear for kids around the world that can't afford them. If you text the word DRAG to 610-200-9110 you'll 50 tickets to the next raffle and it'll be easier for me to reach you when I figure out the answer to your question! Thanks!

[@henkdegroot2000]

@@DrummingForAllProgram Enter a drag by clicking the sixteenth grace note twice....and add a tie like you do with the flam.....hope that is what is meant by a drag

[@razori8709]

What a fantastic tutorial! Thank you so much! I have a question: Time signature is 6/8. But is played as a shuffle bit, not on all the notes, but some of them. So I do control 3 to turn an 1/8 into 1/16 triplex (3 beats of 1/16) and I silent the second stoke. But than the program writes it funny, bridging that 3rd 1/16 of one triplex to the 1st 1/16 of the triplex after. That is not how it should be written. Any ideas? I would appreciate any help. Thank you!!!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Saw your email! Yes let's set up that meeting!

[@razori8709]

Excellent! Looking forward to it! ​@@DrummingForAllProgram

[@mikaellog]

How do you add swing? Like making a shuffle beat? Do I have to write the hihat notes in triplets?

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Good question! I personally always write my swing in triplets but you can make 8th or 16th notes go swing in any score by going to Format - Style - and the first option is score, all the way down there is a swing option.

[@mikaellog]

@@DrummingForAllProgramAWESOME!! Thanks buddy!🔥

[@semikim6451]

Hi how do I add new page to the current score I am making ?

[@moviefeeder6811]

Do you know how to add brushes on Musescore 4? Someone was talking about the mixer but I have no idea how.

[@user-zq6jf4ty5j]

Thank you for sharing! How can I write hi hat and snare drum in one note? When I put hi hat, snare drum is erased...

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Hit shift first! Hold shift, then hit G for hat or A for snare and it'll add it, not replace it.

[@kingkonzschoolofmusic9127]

This is a great tutorial! I have a question at the 15:30 marker, when i apply the 16th note Bass drum, it puts the bass drum in Layer 2 and inputs it at the beginning of the measure? I'm following the steps exactly but must have a setting incorrect perhaps? Any help from anyone here would be much appreciated as i'm losing my mind with this step 🤯

[@kingkonzschoolofmusic9127]

I watched the tutorial again and found a few things still on Voice 2 so all is fixed now, thanks again!!

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Nice!@@kingkonzschoolofmusic9127 Sorry for the delay - if you have any other questions I've been setting up zoom meetings with people - it's easier and we can cover more ground!

[@kingkonzschoolofmusic9127]

@@DrummingForAllProgram Awesome thank you, you have a wealth of knowledge on your channel, i just need to listen carefully and not be impatient :) If i get stuck i will reach out for the zoom meeting, are they in groups?

[@sebastianalvarezmendoza2169]

iris is a great song

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

I know right haha

[@IncognitoVapehub]

how can i make the ghost note more quiet? T_T

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

So you've already written it as a ghost note meaning you've got it in the parenthesis?

[@KostasOikGR]

is there a way to force the flam "connection line" to the bottom instead of the top?

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Not sure I understand exactly what you mean - can you elaborate? I've never seen it at the top. Or email me and we can set up a zoom meeting and I can show you. [e-mail] email me!

[@KostasOikGR]

i figured it out dw@@DrummingForAllProgram

[@moranwojda6549]

the double escape doesn't work for me ? it just stay in place

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Email me - we can set up a meeting - I'll help you troubleshoot it! [e-mail]

[@erniesinger8768]

the playback audio should be louder. I think what you hear on your phones is barely bleeding onto the listener's speakers. I didn't really hear/see how you "write" a roll after the double beat.

[@elwlgus]

Good!!!

[@arifdalkiran]

Thanks super

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Thanks!

[@kdegrees1]

iPad can do this ?

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Wow great question, I am not sure!!

[@mrfudd13]

Not hearing the sound when you play selections.

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Hi! What do you mean?

[@mrfudd13]

@@DrummingForAllProgram When you enter an example, and play it back, I don't hear the playback. There's just silence. I can hear you just fine.

[@sikiumm]

I love this song and by the way, my first name is Iris 😂

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Nice! haha. Hi Iris!

[@umu5037]

Insane video and pretty necessary to teach new drummers and composers, I just would like what you mean by 'modern music is using stem direction up' with the kick and Tom because it seems odd by the fact most of transcriptions and notations are made stem direction down instead of up and teaching this way with few information about it doesn't feel alright imo

[@umu5037]

Another thing i've noticed: the flam drum isn't the second of the selection of the grace notes? The first one is acciaccatura that is the distance between 1-2 semitones and the correct I think is appoggiatura that goes with the same note where is attached

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

@@umu5037 About the flam - both notes are treated as one note but one is quieter and the other accented so the way it's written is to use the louder, second note as the main note and attach everything to it etc. Makes sense?

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

Thanks! About your question - there is no WRONG way of doing it, but drummers these days prefer writing all of the notes attached. It makes things more organized on the page, not as many rests needed and is definitely easier to read.

[@umu5037]

@@DrummingForAllProgram neat, ty !

[@DrummingForAllProgram]

You're welcome! @@umu5037