Timpani Exercise: 12 Bucks

January 20, 2017January 22, 2017 James Christian

*Click on the image to enlarge or click here to download in PDF format.*

This exercise is a good warm-up for practicing tone quality and pedaling changes. It goes through the circle of fifths, and each section incorporates the tonic and dominant of the key. Like the other “12 Bucks” exercises this week, today’s timpani exercise can be played individually or with a group of percussionists.

This exercise can be played on three drums, but four will be easier. The rhythms are not overly difficult, so it’s a good opportunity to focus on drawing a full tone from the drum on every stroke. When playing with a group, you may want to use a medium hard mallet to produce slightly sharper articulation.

The main challenge on this exercise will be the pitch changes. Gauges will certainly make the changes easier, but a well-trained timpanist can learn to “feel” the next pitch as he or she becomes more familiar with the specific set of drums used. As always, use your ear and learn to adjust quickly, whether you have gauges or not.

Happy pedaling!

Two Exercises for Any Percussion Instrument: 8th Note Timing

December 12, 2016December 12, 2016 James Christian

These two timing exercises are quite helpful for all percussionists, regardless of your specific area of specialty. They seem simple at first, but they really great exercises for getting an ensemble to internalize the pulse together. They are also useful exercises for individual practice (with a metronome, of course!). They will help you realize how accurate or inaccurate your internal beat subdivisions are. This becomes especially evident at extremely slow and extremely fast tempos.

I should state upfront that I did not write these two exercises, but I like them, and I wanted to share them here. I helped teach at a high school drum line camp a couple of years ago, and Luke Holt was the front ensemble technician. He brought out these exercises during the full drum line rehearsal (I’m not sure if they were original with him, but they’re worth passing along). With all of the space created by the rests, it was a challenge for the entire group to play every note perfectly together.

I have since used these exercises at times to help my percussion group in the same way. They are particularly good for bass lines, since each individual player often has isolated rhythms like this.

For individual practice, I highly recommend using a metronome with the eighth note subdivision turned on. You will probably be surprised how easily you tend to rush or drag certain notes in the measure. I would recommend practicing these exercises every so often at slow tempos (about 40-60 bpm or slower) and fast tempos (160 bpm or faster). If you can play these two exercises perfectly along the entire tempo spectrum, you can be pretty confident in your sense of eighth note pulse.

Timpani Exercise: Triplet Splits

December 8, 2016December 9, 2016 James Christian

This three-drum timpani exercise utilizes a common situation, in which you must quickly play all three drums. To avoid awkward crossover situations and to play the passage with a consistent sticking pattern, most timpanists choose to play a double split among the two drums. (Tenor drummers call these “sweeps.”)

This exercise works both the right hand and the left hand. The accents add an additional challenge. Make sure the accents are distinct, but never overplayed and harsh.

The notes in the exercise are based on an A diminished triad. Any other grouping of notes could certainly work for practicing the technical skills, but tuning the written notes is important.

As always, start slowly until you have the exercise sounding great. Then gradually build speed.

Timpani Exercise: Shifting Paradiddles

November 24, 2016November 22, 2016 James Christian

Click on the images to enlarge the exercise or click here to download in PDF format.

Throughout this week we have been looking at the “Shifting Paradiddles” exercise adapted for different percussion instruments. So far, we have looked at applications for snare drum, keyboard percussion, and bass drums.

Today’s variation for timpani may be the most challenging variation of them all due to its pedaling difficulties. The exercise utilizes three drums. It can be played along with the keyboard variation as it cycles through all 12 keys. As the key changes every two measures, the three drums are tuned to the root major triad.

The exercise falls into three sections, each ending with a quarter note…

Measures 1-8: The singles check pattern is on the highest drum, while the paradiddle variations are on the lowest two drums.

Measures 9-16: The singles check pattern is on the lowest drum, while the paradiddle variations are on the highest two drums.

Measures 17-24: The singles check pattern is on the middle drum, while the paradiddle variations are on the highest and lowest drums.

During the check pattern, you will have to pedal the other two drums—and during the paradiddle variations, you will have to pedal the other drum. Throughout each 8-measure section, each drum will progressively be tuned a half step higher. On the final measure, the quarter note should glissando smoothly into the next 8-measure section. For the final note of the exercise, you may want to utilize a downward gliss on repeats and use no gliss the final time through.

Of course, this exercise will be much easier if you have gauges on your timpani. If you do not, you can still achieve it with careful practice. Take it slowly and use a keyboard or pitch pipe to check yourself on every pitch change. Once you get all of the transitions down smoothly, this will be a pretty impressive exercise.