A snare band adjustment and locking device of a snare drum includes a mechanism for adjusting first, second and third settings, a first setting wherein the snare band is removed from the snare head, a second setting wherein the snare band has a maximum, predetermined contact pressure with the snare head, and a third setting wherein the contact pressure of the snare band with the snare head can be continuously varied between the contact pressure in the first and second settings. The adjustment mechanism is operated in the third setting via a foot pedal and a cable running through a control member which determines by its tension the spacing between the control member and a control lever pretensioned by a compression spring.