Brush sweep control with "Syncopation"

Here's an exercise to work on your brush sweeps using Ted Reed's Syncopation.  For each note you see, regardless of the length, it gets one sweep, or one half circle of the drum. so, four quarter notes would look like:

 

 

 

A bar of 8th notes:

 

 

Since each note gets a half of the circle, the speed of our sweeps is going to change in the middle of each phrase.  Quarter notes and 8th notes together, for example:

 

 

 

As you move through Syncopation you'll come across notes that are even longer, requiring you to control the speed even more.  Dotted quarter notes and 8th notes:

 

 

 

When you get to Syncopation I recommend starting on page 34, which is labelled as "Syncopation Set 2".  Again, you're changing direction with each note.

 

Number 1: 

 

 

 

Number 2:

 

 

 

Once you've got through "Syncopation Set 2" and done each example multiple times, you can then move on to the ubiquitous page 38, which is "Exercise 1"

 

The first line looks like this: 

 

 

 

This exercise is likely to be most beneficial for left hand control as that what we tend to sweep with the most, but you can, of course do this with either hand.

 

Also, I tend to sweep in a clockwise motion, and have notated it as such.  But if you are a counter clockwise player, you can just as easily flip it around.