Snare Exercise: Accented Singles

December 6, 2016December 9, 2016 James Christian

snare-0003-accented-singles — *Click on the image to enlarge or click here to download in PDF format.*

Accented Singles: One of the Best Things You Can Practice for Any Percussion Instrument

If you want to get the most bang for your buck in practice sessions, devote regular time to working on your accented singles. I think this exercise is extremely helpful for all percussionists, whether you play snare drum, keyboards, timpani, drum set, congas, or anything else.

Why is this exercise so great? Because singles are the foundation of everything. If you can’t play fast singles and control them with accents, then you’re going to have a hard time playing anything else very well. But if you take time and develop your singles, then everything else flows from that foundation.

This exercise has five sections; #1-4 repeat, and #5 adds a final endurance element. If you are a younger player, I would highly recommend playing just #1 over and over again (like for a month or two) until you have it sounding really good and up to a tempo of 100 bpm on the metronome. If you are already at that level, then the remaining sections provide some extra challenges with accent control and pure endurance.

At the end of the exercise, you will notice there is a “D.C.” marking—which, of course, means to go back to the very beginning and play the entire exercise again. On the second lap, follow the bottom sticking. The first time through the exercise, you will play everything with right hand lead, and the second time through, you will play everything with left hand lead. At faster tempos, this thing is a workout!

One important note about the accents: Play them! Few things sound worse than weak accents. Make a clear distinction between your accents and taps. For optimal speed, keep your taps low and close to the drum head. Take care to bring out every accent so that the rhythm is clear.

I believe it’s vitally important to practice this exercise on a single surface, such as a snare drum, because the up-and-down motion is a vital skill to master. Once you can play it well on one surface, you may want to practice it on other percussion instruments, such as multi-tenors, timpani, drum set, or keyboards. You can practice by keeping the taps on one surface and moving the accents to another surface. (You could also do the same with the rims on a snare drum.)

Finally, playing accented triplets is especially important because you have to alternate hands, and you end up working both hands equally. I would recommend adding this exercise (at least #1) to your daily practice routine. Over the course of a few weeks, you should see significant improvement on snare drum and all percussion instruments that you play.

Two Drumming Myths that Are Probably Hindering You from Appreciating a Lot of Music

December 5, 2016July 29, 2023 James Christian

two-myths-pic — *“Fight between Satyr and a woman,” a sketch of Augustin Hirschvogel*

This past week, I have seen several Internet comments that have made me realize just how brainwashed… um, “preconditioned” some of us are in our understanding of performances, especially as related to technique and sound quality.

I grew up in the American rudimental drumming scene, just like many of you who are reading this article. I always enjoyed hearing other drummers’ thoughts on technique, sound quality, practice strategies, etc. However, I did not simply listen to those from the drum & bugle corps/marching band world. I also enjoy learning about fife drumming, pipe band drumming, Basel drumming, etc. I have found the more you are aware of how other people do things, the less adamant you are that your way is the only right way. (Though sometimes, a certain way is the best way for what you want to accomplish—and that is the key.)

In this article I would like to dispel two myths about percussion commonly found in American percussion education. If you can Read more “Two Drumming Myths that Are Probably Hindering You from Appreciating a Lot of Music”

Multi-Tenors Exercise: A.N.S. Sweeps

December 1, 2016November 27, 2016 James Christian

Five-Drum Version

Six-Drum Version

To view the exercise, click on the images to enlarge. To download in PDF format, click here for the five-drum version, and click here for the six-drum version.

This exercise is written for either a five-drum setup or a six-drum setup. While the six-drum setup obviously has more options, the fundamental skills covered are about the same.

As the title indicates, this exercise focuses on sweep patterns. A sweep is a double stroke split among two different drums. The “A.N.S.” in the title stands for Adjacent Sweeps, Non-Adjacent Sweeps, and Spock Sweeps.

Adjacent sweeps are sweeps between two drums right next to each other. On the basic quad setup, this would cover sweeps between drums 2 & 4, 1 & 2, and 1 & 3. For a six-drum setup, this would also include the two spock drums.

Non-adjacent sweeps are sweeps between two drums not next to each other. On the basic quad setup, this would cover sweeps between drums 1 & 4, 2 & 3, and 3 & 4. (On the six-drum version of this exercise, I went ahead and included drum 4 to the farthest spock drum and drum 3 to the farthest spock drum. Technically, these would fall under what I call “spock sweeps,” but the movements are similar to non-adjacent sweeps, so they work here. These sweeps are somewhat of a gray area.) These sweeps require a farther reach than adjacent sweeps, and they are more difficult to play fast. When playing this exercise, feel free to take this section slower if needed.

Spock sweeps require a different type of movement than adjacent or non-adjacent sweeps. As the name indicates, these cover any sweeps utilizing the spock drum(s). When sweeping between the spock drum and drums 1 or 2, you must use a push-pull motion. This is quite difficult to play fast. Feel free to adjust the tempo on this section as well.

When it comes to tempo, take each section as fast as you can comfortably play it. Of course, you should initially start slowly to focus on your technique and accuracy. Once you have a solid foundation, you can start speeding it up. As always, focus on accuracy and great sound quality. If you keep hitting rims, slow down a little bit and reassess your aiming spot.

The odd-metered measures are intended to provide a little rhythmic interest between the sweep patterns. Focus on playing the 16th notes with steady time.

If you can play through this exercise smoothly, you will have a pretty solid grasp on all of the sweep combinations!

Snare Exercise: Stutters

November 28, 2016November 26, 2016 James Christian

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

I’ve got a brand new snare exercise for you today. I came up with it several years ago just for fun. It has been in my “private collection” of exercises that I use sometimes for individual practice and one-on-one with students, but I’ve never shared it anywhere before now.

This exercise focuses on stutters—that is, isolated diddles. These have a cool “stuttered” sound (hence the name), but they are also really good for focusing on your diddle quality between each hand. The 16th note check patterns help to keep your timing in check. Be careful to keep each “stutter” in time. If you play this with other people, it will be a really helpful exercise for checking that your diddle interpretation is the same. The last measure is particularly tricky to play cleanly with others. Happy stuttering!

Multi-Tenors Exercise: Shifting Paradiddles

November 25, 2016November 25, 2016 James Christian

To view the exercise, click on the image to enlarge or click here to download in PDF format.

This entire week, we have been looking at different approaches to the “Shifting Paradiddles” exercise for various percussion instruments. We have previously looked at applications for snare drum, keyboard percussion, bass drum splits, and timpani. Our final instrument is the multi-tenors for marching percussion.

Before attempting this on tenors, it would be a good idea to review the snare drum exercise. This variation utilizes three drums. On the surface, it is pretty straight forward. The main thing that distinguishes this exercise from the snare drum version is that the accents are played as crossovers. The first two patterns—paradiddles and inverted paradiddles—are fairly simple to play as crossovers. However, the last two patterns—mills and alternating quads—are considerably more difficult.

As with all such patterns, make sure you bring out the accents, and keep the non-accents softer and closer to the drum. Contrast between accents and non-accents is of utmost importance in this exercise. Simply changing drums is not the same thing as an accent! It’s easy for tenor players to get lazy on accents and simply allow the momentum of moving from drum to drum to create a quasi-accent. When you play the accents with crossovers, make sure you are still bringing out the accents.

On the final four measures, play each pattern slowly at first until you feel comfortable with the quick movements involved in each crossover. On every double, be careful not to drop the second note. Strive for absolute smoothness in your 16th notes. Once you get everything down smoothly, every two measures should theoretically sound identical to the first two measures.

I hope you have enjoyed the exercises this week. Let us know what you think in the comments section. Do you like having an exercise that all sections can play together? Or would you prefer to see more specialized exercises for each instrument? Were these exercises a good challenge? Too easy? Too hard? Did you play through any of them with your percussion friends? Do you have any helpful tips to share?

Thank you for your feedback. We want to hear from you!

Snare Exercise: Shifting Paradiddles

November 21, 2016November 22, 2016 James Christian

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

Throughout the week, we will feature exercises for different percussion instruments. Here is our first exercise for snare drum. It utilizes paradiddles and three paradiddle variations—inverted paradiddles, single mills, and alternating quads. These last three rudiments have been around for a while, but they have never quite gained the same popularity as their grandfather, the single paradiddle. Nonetheless, they are all quite versatile, and they make for a fun exercise.

As you play this exercise, pay careful attention to distinguish between your accent and tap volumes. As the tempo increases, the more difficult it is to bring out the accents, especially on the alternating quad.

A fun variation on this exercise is to play it with zero accents. Make it sound as smooth as possible. As you get it faster and faster, it should sound like a smooth roll.

Check back here regularly. We will look at different applications of this exercise on various percussion instruments throughout the week!