Tag: grace note

Snare & Multi-Tenors Exercise: 12 Bucks

James Christian
Snare Drum

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Multi-Tenor Drums
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This exercise has gone through many tweaks and additions over the years.  In its current version, I think it’s a great tool in the arsenal of any percussionist.  When I first encountered this exercise, the first four sections were taught to me and the other students at Princeton High School (Princeton, Texas) by Rick Beckham.  This covered the accented 8th notes off the right hand and left hand, plus the accented 16th notes off the right hand and left hand.  He later added the next four sections (8th note flams leading with the right and left, plus the accented paradiddle patterns leading with the right and left).

The four main patterns—8th notes, 16th notes, flams, and paradiddles—are great for developing the control needed to distinguish accent and tap heights.  I have used this core exercise with several different drum lines, and it has been quite effective.

Over time, I decided to expand the exercise.  In personal practice, I used the basic accent structure on a number of different rudimental patterns.  When teaching it to a full drum line, I decided that I wanted to write a mallet part that went through the circle of fifths, covering all 12 major keys.*  I also wanted a bass drum part that worked split 16th note triplets and 32nd notes.  So I picked two of my favorite rudimental patterns that worked with that rhythmic structure to add sections 9-10 and 11-12.  In short, this exercise has something really useful for every section.

Since 12 sections are covered by going through the circle of fifths and the snare drum part is similar to the standard “Bucks” exercise, I decided to call the exercise “12 Bucks.”  Here is the breakdown of the skills required for snare drum and tenors:

  • Sections 1-2:  One-handed accented 8th notes.  Focus on maintaining a clear distinction between accents and taps.  Keep your taps low and controlled.  Make sure your accents are strong, not wimpy.  The tenor exercise is deliberately on one drum, so that the player can focus on the Y-axis motion and the fundamental accent/tap control.
  • Sections 3-4:  Alternating accented 16th notes.  This should follow the exact same technique as sections 1-2, except the opposite hand is now “filling in” the 16th notes.  All taps should be consistently at the same height and volume.  The tenors now move the accents to an adjacent drum.  Keep the accents strong and the taps consistently softer.
  • Sections 5-6:  Alternating 8th note flams.  These sections are excellent for focusing on the three heights of accents, taps, and grace notes.  The accents and taps should remain the same from the previous sections.  The additional grace notes should be softer and lower than the taps.  Once again, the tenors are deliberately on one drum in order to focus on the fundamentals of good flam technique.
  • Sections 7-8:  16th note paradiddles.  These patterns get a bit trickier.  Watch out for the sticking on measures 2 and 4!  The key to these section is that they should sound the same as the 16th notes in sections 3-4.  Do not let the “diddle” part of the paradiddles sound weaker or stronger than the singles you played in sections 3-4.
  • Sections 9-10:  Single stroke fours and single stroke sevens.  These rudimental patterns get your hands moving a bit quicker with the 16th note triplets.  They also require more precise timing focus.  Many drummers have a tendency to “cheat” the length of the initial 8th note by starting the triplet too soon.  Of course, you should practice the whole exercise with a metronome, but this section would especially benefit from doing so.
  • Sections 11-12:  “RLLL” quad groupings.  Once again, the 16th notes patterns should sound the same as sections 3-4 and 7-8.  Of course, these sections require more finger control in order to move each hand at the speed of 16th notes.
  • Tag ending:  A final syncopated measure to cap off everything!  Notice that the snare and tenor triplet rhythms are slightly different.  The tenors start on the downbeat, while the snares conclude on the upbeat.  Both parts should be played precisely in time in order to hear the tradeoff between sections.

Have fun learning these patterns.  Once you have them down, be adventurous and create your own variations!

*[Yes, I know there are technically 15 keys, but I’m not going to get into that debate right now.]

Snare Exercises: Three More Flam Exercises

James Christian
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Last time, we looked at three levels of flam exercises. Here are three more, but these are considerably more advanced.  They all follow the same accent “skeleton” from the previous set of flam exercises.

The first exercise utilizes rudiments often called triplet pataflaflas (though used as 16th notes in this exercise), flam tap paradiddles, and pataflaflas (that is, the regular kind).  A regular pataflafla is a group of four notes with a flam on the first and last note, and a triplet pataflafla is a group of three notes with a flam on the first and last note.  A flam tap paradiddle is a normal flam paradidle with a flam on the third note creating a flam tap on the “diddle” half of the paradiddle.

The second exercise is a true coordination challenge.  Essentially, the exercise is the same as the Level 2 exercise from last time, but the flams now follow immediately after the accent.  The rudiments all fall into the “unofficial hybrid” category, so their names vary from place to place.  Some names commonly given to these rudiments are dachudas (or tuchadas) and inverted tap flams.  (I’m unaware of a name for a paradiddle with a flam on the second note.  If you have a name for it, I’d love to hear it.  Please share it in the comments!)

The third exercise uses three fairly common rudiments—flam drags, flam ratamacues, and flam accents.  However, the way these rudiments are combined make it difficult to take this exercise very fast.  Only advanced players will be able to execute this exercise cleanly at tempos above the 132 bpm range.

Best wishes on learning these!  As always, make your accents strong, and keep your grace notes low and controlled!

Snare Exercises: Three Flam Exercises

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

Three levels of snare exercises are presented here:

The first level focuses on basic flam rudiments—the flam, the flam tap, and the flam paradiddle.  It’s a great exercise for younger players.  Use the single flams to focus on great flam spacing, then utilize the same foundational motion to lead into the flam taps.  (A flam and flam tap are very similar; simply add an extra note after the initial flam.)  The transition between flam paradiddles is the same as the double in a flam tap, so each of the three rudiments build off of each other.  The exercise is written in cut time to emphasize that it can be taken in a faster “two” feel once you feel comfortable with it.  For young players, however, it would be better to start it in a slow 4/4.  Once this exercise is solid, you can move on to the second level.

The second level exercise also utilizes flam taps and paradiddles, but flam accents are heavily incorporated in the first two measures.  These three rudiments are the most common flam rudiments, and being able to play patterns like this is an important skill to achieve for any snare drummer or percussionist.  (Note:  This second exercise is not original with me.  I played it regularly in my high school drum line under the instruction of Rick Beckham.  It’s a really good exercise though, and it’s worth passing along.)

The third level exercise follows the same accent pattern as the previous exercise, but the coordinative complexity is increased.  All of the flam rudiments are inverted lead-hand switch patterns.  The flam taps are now inverted flam taps.  The other patterns don’t have names that are universally agreed upon, but I like calling them inverted flam accents and inverted flam fours.

All of these exercises are good tests of flam coordination.  As you practice them, always keep the grace notes low and close to the drum head.  Make a distinction between accented and non-accented notes.  As always, make sure your flams are consistent with proper spacing.

Happy flamming!