In music, a drum cadence or street beat is a

work Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal tr ...

played exclusively by the percussion section of a modern

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...

(see marching percussion). It is stylistically descended from early military marches, and related to military cadences, as both are a means of providing a

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

while

marching Marching refers to the organized, uniformed, steady walking forward in either rhythmic or route-step time; and, typically, it refers to overland movements on foot of military troops and units under field orders. Marching is often performed ...

. Usually, each instrument will have a part that mimics a specific drum or drums on a drum set to create a sound similar to a drum beat. According to ''Hiro Songsblog'' a drum cadence is "'a drumline piece played in a parading marching band between or in place of full-band pieces'. Cadences are also: 'a

chant A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes ...

that is sung by military personnel while parading or marching'." Cadences employ the four basic

drum stroke In music, a drum stroke is a movement which produces a single or multiple notes on drums or other percussion instruments such as cymbals. There are several types of strokes: four basic single strokes (noted below), double strokes, and other ...

s and often directly include

drum rudiment In ''rudimental drumming'', a form of percussion music, a drum rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drumming patterns. The term "drum rudiment" is most closely associ ...

s. They have a wide range of difficulty, from simple accent patterns to complex rhythms including hybrid rudiments, and are played by virtually every modern drum line. Cadences are important from a performance standpoint, as a good drum cadence can make the band stand out from the rest in competition. Field shows are often preceded by the band marching to the beat of the cadence. Marching percussion generally consists of at least snare drums, tenor drums,

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

s, and

bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The ...

s, and may include timpani.

Sources

External links

How to Write a Drum Cadence
, ''wikiHow.com''. Drum and bugle corps Drum patterns Drum rudiments Instrumentals March music Military traditions Military music Percussion performance techniques {{Music-theory-stub

See also

Sources

Further reading

External links