Snare Drum

Contents

The snare drum produces a crisp high-pitch tone. It achieves this through a series of twisted, curled pieces of metal wire that are strung across the bottom head of the shell.

Gibraltar Snare Strainer 20 Strands SC-4467

When you hit the top head of the instrument, the wires at the bottom vibrate and create that crisp, high-pitch tone. It is most commonly used to create backbeat patterns or set the time for a particular beat. If you’ve ever clapped your hands along to a song, you are probably keeping time with the snare, unless you are one of those people who just cannot seem to clap with the rest of us(in which case, you may want to try guitar).

If you are just learning how to play, snare is the drum you will want to start with. If you are beginning with the entire set, then you will still focus on snare along with bass drum and high-hats. A good way to start learning how to play is by working your way through the drum rudiments. You can find them on the LESSONS page of this site. You can see video of how to play them and notation. It is important to develop each hand individually. Developing each hand independently will help you play fills easier and quicker. Snare Rudiments are a good way to work each hand.

Free Online Drum Rudiment Lessons

Snare Brands and Accent Pieces

If you are looking for a specific make or model of snare, browse through a few of the options below. You can find steel, brass, maple, mahogany, and birch shells. Each one will sound different from another based on what type of shell is used, the diameter of the shell, and type of drum heads used. Where possible I have tried to include videos of the instruments so you can hear the different sounds that they make. The links below are all drum set snares. If you’re looking for something different, check out the marching snares.

DDrum
Ludwig
Mapex
Micro Add-On
Pacific Ace (Acrylic and Metal)
Pearl Snares
Tama Artwood Series
Tama Metalworks
Tama Swingstar

Snare Stands

Now that you’ve seen a few different options for your snare, you will want to pick out these snare drum stands. There are quite a few different options and customizations that you will want to consider when choosing your stand.

Sheet Music

You can watch video of some cool snare solo performances at the link below and have access to solo books and sheet music too.
Video Performances
Solo Performance Books and Drum Sheet Music

When purchasing a snare, prices can range anywhere from a hundred dollars for a complete starter set to almost six hundred dollars for a Signature Series Drum Shell.
Snare Drums Starter Kits

Starter Set From AMS

CB Snare Kit with Cymbal

Pearl Eric Singer Signature Series from Musician’s Hut.

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