Snare drums are among the most popular types of percussion instruments. This goes without saying for most drummers, since the instrument is capable of playing the upbeat, the downbeat and just about everything in between with relative ease. In fact, many drummers will agree that the snare is the one element of their drum kits that they can’t do without. Were they to be left with a single drum that they can choose among all the different parts of their drum kits, they would undoubtedly choose the snare.

So how do you make your snare drum get that perfect sound just right and improve the way you play your entire routine? One of the key answers to this is knowing how to properly tune your snare.

There are three basic types of tuning here: tight, loose and medium. Also, between the batter and resonant head, there are three tuning modalities that you can try: top head loose / bottom head tight, the opposite, and both heads tuned to equal tension.

The trick here is that, as the resonant head is pushed down by the air, it pushes the snare wires away. As a result, the looser the resonant head, the less air resistance and the weaker and slower the snare wires’ reaction time. Just be careful not to over-tension the head, as you might end up with no “snap” at all.

If you are in the market for a drum kit, look online for snare drum kits for sale to find affordable new and used options.