Drum repeat signs
— what that % symbol means.
The percent-looking symbol on a drum chart is a repeat sign. Here's what one means, what two in a row mean, and how the two-bar version is different — plus the repeat barlines people mix them up with.
The one-bar repeat: "same as the bar before"
A thick diagonal slash through the middle of the staff with a dot either side of it — that's a measure repeat, sometimes called a simile mark. It means play the previous bar again, exactly as written. It's pure shorthand: charts use it so a groove that runs for eight bars doesn't have to be copied out eight times, and your eye can stay on the parts that actually change.
Read that as: play bar 1, then play it again, and again, and again — four bars of the same groove.
The one everybody gets wrong
Two repeat signs in a row do not mean "repeat the previous two bars." They mean repeat the previous bar twice — so that bar gets played three times in total. Each sign independently says "same as the bar immediately before me," and the second one resolves through the first, back to the written bar.
Repeating a two-bar phrase is a different symbol entirely — which is the next section.
The two-bar repeat: a wider sign with a 2
When the repeating phrase is two bars long, the chart uses one wider sign that straddles the barline between the two measures it fills, with a small 2 above the staff. Those two things — sitting on the barline rather than inside a bar, and carrying the numeral — are exactly what tell it apart from a pair of one-bar repeats.
Read that as: play bars 1 and 2 as a phrase, then play both of them again. It's the natural way to write a groove whose two halves differ — a bar that answers the bar before it, like a backbeat bar followed by a bar with a pickup.
Repeat barlines are a different thing
The other symbol with dots on a chart is the repeat barline: a thick line and a thin line together with two dots beside them, sitting at the edge of a section. That's song structure — it sends you back to replay a whole section, not a single bar.
- Inside a bar, looks like % — repeat that one bar (or two, with the 2).
- At the edge of a bar, thick + thin + dots — repeat the whole section between the two facing barlines.
- A number above a run of % signs — a running count of how many bars you've repeated, so you don't lose your place.
- "sim." written above the staff — simile: carry on in the same manner. The word version of the same instruction.
DrumShed writes them for you
Build a pattern in DrumShed and the notation adds repeat signs on its own — a bar that plays the same as the one before it collapses to a %, and a repeating two-bar phrase becomes the wider sign with its 2. They show up in the app and in the sheet-music PDF you export, and a sign only ever appears when the bars it points at are on screen beside it, so you're never sent back to something you can't see.
Drum repeat sign FAQ
Does two percent signs mean repeat the previous two bars?
No. Two one-bar repeat signs in a row mean play the previous bar twice more — the bar before them is played three times in total. Each sign independently means "same as the bar immediately before me," and the second one resolves through the first back to the written bar. Repeating a two-bar phrase uses a different, wider symbol that straddles the barline between two measures and carries a small 2 above it.
What is the percent-looking symbol in drum music?
It is a measure repeat, also called a one-bar repeat or simile mark. It is a thick diagonal slash through the middle of the staff with a dot on either side, which is why it looks like a % sign. It means play the previous bar again, exactly. It is shorthand only — it says nothing about song structure or where to jump to.
What does the repeat sign with a 2 above it mean?
That is a two-bar repeat. It is drawn straddling the barline between two measures rather than centered inside one, and the numeral 2 above the staff tells you it repeats the previous TWO bars as a phrase. The position and the numeral are the two things that distinguish it from a pair of one-bar repeats.
What is the difference between a repeat sign and a repeat barline?
A measure repeat (the percent-looking symbol) repeats a single bar and sits inside the bar. A repeat barline is a thick and thin line pair with two dots, sits at the edge of a section, and sends you back to replay a whole section. One is shorthand for copying a bar; the other is song structure.
Why do some repeat signs have numbers above them?
In a long run of one-bar repeats, engravers often print a small number above every fourth or eighth sign, counting how many bars have been repeated so far. It is a place-keeping aid so you do not lose count. A two-bar repeat always carries a 2, which is a different thing: it names the length of the repeating phrase.
What does simile mean on a drum chart?
Simile (often written "sim.") is the word form of the same instruction: carry on in the same manner. You will see it after a groove has been established, telling you to keep playing that feel without it being written out. The measure-repeat symbol is the graphical version of the same idea.
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