Gear changes in soloing coordination

One of the earliest posts on this blog was this linear idea.  I originally used it to develop new soloing vocabulary, but later found that it was also cool for creating linear grooves, or as a technical exercise for dynamic control between your limbs, and improving your ear.

I've been using it in my teaching for years, and some students take it to the next level where we begin combining different rhythms into the same stickings.  The principle remains exactly the same; it just gets harder as two beats of each phrase switch to triplets.  Some are easier than others.  The very first phrase, for example, comes out nice and square.  But when we move on to the next phrase, the gear change happens in the middle of the three beats.

As with the original post, where this exercise really comes into it's own is with the accents.  Once you can move freely in between any of the phrases, and place the accents anywhere you want you can create pretty much endless melodic combinations.  Another cool sound is to play the unaccented notes almost inaudibly, like ghost notes.

I wrote it in 8th notes and triplets as it's easier to read, but you can obviously think of it and feel it in 16th notes and sextuplets as well.

You can download the PDF here. 

 

16th / Triplet Paradiddle Grid

Here’s a fun little grid to try next time you’re on the pad.  Play constant paradiddles, always accenting the first note of each one, but move between 16th notes and triplets every four beats, then two, then one.  The paradiddles will cross the bar lines so that not only will the accents and doubles shift through the bar, but some of the paradiddles will be part 16th notes, part triplet.  It’s a great challenge of stick and timing control.

Download the PDF

Single stroke / Herta exercises

A few of the drumline exercises we looked at recently can easily be tweaked to work single strokes.

 

First, "The Grid".  Go through it with doubles as the variable, but instead of a double stroke, play it as two single strokes, or a "herta", if you will.

 

 

Next, do the same thing with Triplet Rolls.  This one works really nicely as it will end on the opposite hand that you start with, so you can just go around again on the other side.

 

 

 

Finally, this is another piece from the drumline "songbook", called "Pantera".  I have no idea who wrote it, and it seems like no one else does either.  It just appears to be like a folk tune with an unknown composer.

 

 

With all of these, keep your heights consistent; full, but not pounding, and don't add any accents. 

Triplet Rolls

Here's another classic of the marching arts repertoire.  It's simply called "Triplet Rolls", and that's exactly what it is, a roll exercise based in triplets.  You could wor /these skills just as easily by "diddling" The Grid, but still everyone knows this one, so it's something you can play with other people easily.

 

Just like a jazz standard, there are a few slightly different versions of it, but what I think of as the most common version looks like this:

 

Notice the lack of accents.  Everything should be at one even height.  It will vary depending on the speed, but in general it should be a medium height; nice and relaxed and beefy - not so high to where you're really having to push it, but not so low that you don't get any sound or power.  Try to keep the singles and doubles both at a consistent height and volume.

The Grid

We're in peak drum corp season.  And while I haven't properly followed the activity since the two summers I spent with the Glassmen many moons ago, I still watch some "lot videos" every year for a dose of nostalgia, and to see what kind of craziness they're up to these days.

The "marching arts", a catchall phrase referring to drum and bugle corps, marching band, and winter guard, is something that practically doesn't exist here in the UK, save a few small pockets of niche interest.  But love it or hate it, I think there are some great lessons to be learned in these activities that students here are missing out on. 

Seemingly simple things like punctuality, instrument care, teamwork, and reliability are incredibly important skill in these activities, and continue to be so through any musical career.  A strong and logical practice regime and focused rehearsal etiquette are paramount skills that are honed to perfection over a summer of daily rehearsals and performances with 134 other individuals.

Musically speaking, there's always heated debate on the benefits (or detriments) of the marching arts, which I won't go into today.  But I certainly feel that having to move your whole body in time while playing your instrument can never be a bad thing.  And finally, the whole reason for this post, repertoire.  Again, there are plenty of musicians out there who don't care for such musical stylings, but there is standard material from this scene from which any drummer can benefit.

If you're not familiar with the drumline world, each group will have their own exercises and show pieces that are unique to them.  But there is also a huge repertoire of universal pieces and exercises that everyone knows.  It's akin to the marching equivalent of a blues, or rhythm changes.  You can get together with members of other groups who you've never met and be able to immediately play together.

One of them is "The Grid", which is not so much a piece in itself, but a concept to which one can apply nearly limitless variables.  The easiest place to start is with accents. In constant triplets, play an accent on the first partial of the triplet four times, the second partial four times, and the third partial four times.  Next, we do each partial only twice, but repeat that whole section a second time, so the accents are changing more quickly, but over the same amount of time.  Finally, we do each partial only once, but repeat that whole section four times.  In short:

4 beats, once

2 beats, twice

1 beat, four times

So, with accents it would look like this:

But, the concept can be applied to anything.  Instead of accents you could do flams:

Or double strokes:

This can then be taken further by adding static elements, eg:

Flam on every first partial, while going through the accent grid

Accent on every first partial, which going through the diddle grid

Play the accent grid with rolls on the unaccented notes

Once you memorize the form, the possibilities are pretty much endless.  I remember sitting around with practice pads seeing what ridiculous combinations we could come up with.  If you're new to this, start with the accents, flams, and rolls, and go from there.

When playing it, put on a metronome, and move your feet with the pulse or, better yet, count out loud at the same time.  This will improve your timing, and give you a better feel of where each articulation sits in relation to the beat.

More (read: ALL) Three-Beat Triplet Stickings

Here's some silliness for your Friday morning....

The other day I was playing around with some of those Philly Joe three-beat triplet ideas and made up some of my own.  I started making a sheet of all the different combinations when I thought, "hang on, that's gonna' be a lot!"  Not knowing (or caring) the best way to find all of them and organize them I simply asked ChatGPT to give me every combination of nine notes using only singles and doubles, and wouldn't you know it just spat it out lickety split.

Of course, some of the phrases start with one or two notes on one hand, and also end with one or two notes on the same hand, meaning you'd end up with three or four notes in a row.  ChatGPT didn't quite understand the concept of looping at first, but I was able to get it split into phrases that will loop cleanly, and those that won't.  For those that wouldn't, I asked ChatGPT to give me the opposite of it, allowing it to be looped.

The whole thing was pretty dumb, and even though I didn't spend much time on it, it still got more time than it really deserved.  But hey, at this point I think I might as well have a little tap through them.

So, not that you needed, or wanted it, but here's all 110 possible combination of three beats worth of triplets.

LOOP-FRIENDLY PHRASES

  1. RRL RRL RRL      21. RLR RLR RLR      41. RLL RRL RRL      61. LRL RLR RLR  

  2. RRL RRL RLL      22. RLR RLR RLL      42. RLL RRL RLR      62. LRL RLR LRR  

  3. RRL RRL LRL      23. RLR RLR LRL      43. RLL RRL RLL      63. LRL RLR LRL  

  4. RRL RLR RLL      24. RLR RLR LLR      44. RLL RRL LRL      64. LRL RLR LLR  

  5. RRL RLR LRL      25. RLR RLL RRL      45. RLL RLR RLR      65. LRL RLL RRL  

  6. RRL RLL RRL      26. RLR RLL RLR      46. RLL RLR RLL      66. LRL LRR LRR  

  7. RRL RLL RLL      27. RLR RLL RLL      47. RLL RLR LRL      67. LRL LRR LRL  

  8. RRL LRR LRL      28. RLR LRR LRL      48. RLL RLR LLR      68. LRL LRR LLR  

  9. RRL LRL RRL      29. RLR LRR LLR      49. RLL RLL RRL      69. LRL LRL RRL  

 10. RRL LRL RLL      30. RLR LRL RRL      50. RLL RLL RLR      70. LRL LRL RLR  

 11. RRL LRL LRL      31. RLR LRL RLR      51. RLL RLL RLL      71. LRL LRL LRR  

 12. RRL RLR LRL      32. RLR LRL LRL      52. LRR LRR LRR      72. LRL LRL LRL  

 13. RRL LRR LRL      33. RLR LLR RLR      53. LRR LRR LRL      73. LLR RLR RLR  

 14. RRL RLL RLL      34. RLR LLR RLL      54. LRR LRR LLR      74. LLR RLR LRR  

 15. RLR RLL RRL      35. RLR LLR LRL      55. LRR LRL RRL      75. LLR RLR LRL  

 16. RLR RLL RLL      36. RLR LLR LLR      56. LRR LRL RLR      76. LLR RLR LLR  

 17. RRL RLL RRL      37. RLL RRL LRL      57. LRR LRL LRR      77. LLR RLL RLR  

 18. RLR RLL RLR      38. RLL RLR LRL      58. LRR LLR RLR      78. LLR LRR LRR  

 19. RLR LRL RLR      39. RLL RLR LLR      59. LRR LLR RLL      79. LLR LRR LRL  

 20. RLR RLL RRL      40. RLL RLR LLR      60. LRR LLR LLR      80. LLR LLR RLL  

  

 

NON-LOOP-FRIENDLY PHRASES

 1.  RRL RRL RLR      LLR LLR LRL         16.  RLL RLR LRR      LRL LRL RLL

 2.  RRL RRL LRR      LLR LLR RLL         17.  LRR LRL RLL      RLL RLR LRR

 3.  RRL RLR RLR      LLR LRL LRL         18.  LRL RRL RLL      RLR LLR RRL

 4.  RRL RLR LRR      LLR LRL RLL         19.  LRL RLR RLL      RLR LRL RRL

 5.  RRL RLR LLR      LLR LRL RRL         20.  LRL RLL RLL      RLR RRL RRL

 6.  RRL RLL RLR      LLR RRL LRL         21.  LRL LRL RLL      RLR RLR RRL

 7.  RRL LRR LRR      LLR RLL RLL         22.  LLR RLR RLL      RRL LRL RRL

 8.  RRL LRR LLR      LLR RLL RRL         23.  LLR RLL RRL      RRL LLR RRL

 9.  RRL LRL RLR      LLR RLR LRL         24.  LLR RLL RLL      RRL LLR RLR

10.  RRL LRL LRR      LLR RLR RLL         25.  LLR LRR LRL      RRL LLR RLR

11.  RLR RLR LRR      LRL LRL RLL         26.  LLR LRL RRL      RRL RLR LRL

12.  RLR LRR LRR      LRL RLL RLL         27.  LLR LRL RLL      RRL RLR LRL

13.  RLR LRL LRR      LRL RLR RLL         28.  LLR LRL LRL      RRL RLR LRL

14.  RLR LLR LRR      LRL RRL RLL         29.  LLR LLR RLL      RRL RRL LRL

15.  RLL RRL LRR      LRL LLR RLL         30.  LLR LLR LRL      RRL RRL LRR

John Riley flam exercise

The other day John Riley did a guest spot on the Memphis Drum Shop instagram page where he broke down a flam exercise he developed that employs 5 flam rudiments in descending order of length.  He created the exercise in response to Joe Morello telling him that a "professional drummer" should be able to play flamadiddlediddles as sextuplets at 120 bpm.  John describes this as "wicked fast", and I couldn't help but noticed that he didn't actually play them at that tempo in the video.  I know I can't!  Either way it's a fun and handy little exercise so I jotted it down to share with you.

Double strokes in odd groupings

Kiko Freitas recently posted this exercise in which he plays a double stroke roll in groupings of 5, 7, and 9.  In the post Kiko points out that this is a good way to develop technique and internal time.  I also find it helps me hear - and more importantly, feel - odd note groupings and visualize them in different ways as with each odd grouping you'll start once on the first note of a double on each hand, and once with the second note of a double on each hand.

I would start by spending some time with each tuplet, but once you start to get comfortable with it you can try a bar of quintuplets, a bar of septuplets, and a bar of ninelets (nonlets?), and then work your way back down.

Allison Miller's post-Christmas work out

Allison Miller posted this exercise on Instagram the other day to "reconnect the four limbs after not playing during the holidays", and I've really been enjoying as I took an extra long break from my usual practice routine this Christmas.

Allison explains that she's been doing this exercise for 20 years as a way to "connect with [her] ride cymbal better and ... understand the connection between the four limbs".

It's quarter note triplets played as paradiddles between the right foot and left hand, starting first on the downbeat, then on the second partial of the triplet, and finally the third.  For brevity I've just jotted them all down one after another, but Allison puts four bars of improvised time between each one.

Another "Puh-Duh-Duh" exercise

As promised, here's some more pad business to enjoy outside.

We did one of these "puh-duh-duh" exercises awhile back.  I like this sticking.  It rolls off the hands nicely and makes for a relaxed warm-up.

This time though, we're going to add some paradiddles into the fold, making it more difficult on a few levels.  Not only do we have to deal with the gear change between triplets and 16th notes in general, but often we're moving swiftly between double strokes at the triplet rate and 16th note rate.

Play the whole thing as written, with no accents.  Then for a few variations, try keeping everything low, but accenting the single notes of the puh-duh-duh's, like so:

And also, with an accent on every beat, regardless of the sticking, like so:

Stick Control Diddle System

We're coming into that time of year where I spend a lot more time out on the back porch with a pad in front of me just working the hands, writing exercises, and playing along to music.  So is here a system for Stick Control that is simple concept, but quickly becomes quite the workout both in terms of chops and brain power.

Awhile back we applied flams to Stick Control.  This is a similar concept that applys double strokes.  The basic system is below, with all the 16th notes played as double strokes:

From here simply add the stickings from the first few pages of Stick Control.  So, for example, number one will look like this:

Once we get past the single strokes we end up getting three and four strokes on one hand.  Number three (which is paradiddles), for example, will look like this:

After number 13, when the patterns become four beats long instead of just two, is when the real mental game comes in.  Here's what number 14 will look like, for example:

This will work all the way through number 72, so that should keep you busy for awhile.  More nerdy pad stuff coming this week.

Flam Accent/Swiss Army Triplet/Single Flammed Mill Study

How's that for a nice, concise name?

I've been working these three rudiments on the set with a student of mine.  Some came easier than others and flowing between them was one of the rough spots.

When this happens either with my students or myself I'm a big fan of creating simple exercises that can be played on the pad or even just on your lap.  If you've checked out any of the other studies I've posted here before, then you'll know that I also like to make them naturally flip to be practiced off both hands.

So I quickly jotted down this little study that incorporates all three and naturally switches hands.  Try repeating it with drags added as well.

Steve Smith Flam Exercises

Just a bit of a re-blog today.  I recently stumbled across a video of Steve Smith going through one of his warmup routines, which essentially is just various combinations of flam taps.  It's fun to play through, and I thought my students my enjoy it, so I put it all on one sheet so I could share it with them, and you.  The video is below.  Drop me an e-mail if you'd like a PDF.

Stick Control with Flams

I could pretty much just leave you with the title.  Because that's exactly what I'm suggesting: play Stick Control as flams.  At least the first few pages.

Why?  Because it incorporates all four common strokes, and is therefore a great way to practice them naturally, using a lot of muscle memory that you already have built in.  We're used to keeping grace notes low, bringing them up for primary notes, playing primary notes as downstrokes in preparation for grace notes, etc. etc.  So let's use that to our advantage.

Let's break a couple of them down as we did when we looked at how to practice flam rudiments.

For example, number one is just a single stroke roll.  That will now become hand to hand flams.  Think about what each hand will be doing individually.  The right hand starts with a primary note which will be a down stroke so that it is low and ready to play the next grace note.  That grace note will be an upstroke so you're ready for the next primary note.  Therefore our right hand will play DOWN, UP, DOWN, UP, repeatedly.  The left hand will do the same, but starting with an upstroke.

Let's skip now to number 3, which is a double stroke roll, meaning we'll play two right flams followed by two left flams.  The first stroke will be a full stroke as it is a primary note followed by another primary note.  That second primary note, however, will be a down stroke in preparation for the grace note that follows.  The grace note will be a tap since it's followed by another grace note, and the second grace note will be an up stroke to get ready to circle back around to the first primary note again.  So, in this example our right hand will play FULL, DOWN, TAP, UP.

So, as you go through each one take a moment to think about what each hand is playing.  Chances are you won't find it terribly difficult because as I mentioned earlier a lot of the motions will be built in through muscle memory anyway.  But putting your focus on it will improve your stroke control in other applications outside of flams.

Jason Brown's 5/4 Gear Shift Thing

Jason Brown posted this on Instagram the other day, and I enjoyed it, so I thought I'd jot it out for all of you.  Jason is based in New York, but when we're not all quarantined he makes his way to London fairly often.  He's quite active on Instagram with short snippets of exercises, tips, lessons, etc.  It's worth a follow.  Anyway, the idea is to keep your hands alternating with accents on each beat, but after every two bars of 5/4 change gears.  The odd numbered tuplets will work themselves out naturally, but the even numbered ones need a double stroke on each beat to turn around.  So, the sextuplets are double paradiddles, the 16th notes paradiddles, and the 8th notes double strokes.  In the video Jason goes from septuplets down to quarter notes and stops, but I like to go down and then back up without stopping.

Articulation Control with Paradiddles

At the moment I have a couple of students working on Wilcoxon’s “Paradiddle Johnnie” from “Modern Rudimental Swing Solos”.  Both of them are playing really well, but are finding it difficult to control their stick heights/volume so that there is only two distinct levels of sound - accent and unaccented.

In passages such as this one, in “Paradiddle Johnnie”…

…the students are unintentionally producing a third sound by giving additional weight, or emphasis to unaccented notes that fall on a downbeat.  What comes out is a sound that is softer than an accent, but louder that a tap stroke.

So, to help remedy this, I whipped up a simple paradiddle exercise that isolates those phrases, and other ones similar to it.

How to Use "Accents and Rebounds"

Accents and Rebounds is the lesser-known, but equally as important and useful little brother of George L. Stone’s Stick Control.  It’s a great book, but if you’re just playing through the exercises within it like an “Accent Tap” exercise of a high school drumline, then you’re not quite realizing it’s full potential.

To get the most out of the book we must remember that there are four distinct strokes that make up the majority of drumming: The full stroke, the upstroke, the downstroke, and the low stroke or tap stroke.

The full stroke, as the name suggests, covers our full range of motion.  It begins from a raised position, is thrown down into the drum and allowed to rebound back up to the same position at which it started.  This gives us a nice full sound, and if we’re playing multiple high notes in a row, it saves us the trouble of having to lift the stick back up into playing position.

When using the downstroke, we stop the stick before it is allowed to rebound so that the stroke ends low to the head of the drum.  An important thing to remember is that until after the stick strikes the head there is absolutely no difference between a downstroke and a full stroke.  We throw the stick downward from a raised position and then apply a little pressure to the stick AFTER it strikes the head.  If you squeeze the stick before it hits the head you will choke off your sound, and in the long term probably hurt your wrists or forearms.  We use this stroke when we need a low stroke immediately following a larger stroke.  Without it, the stick would be in a raised position and we would first have to lower it before we could execute our low stroke.

The upstroke is the opposite of a downstroke.  This motion starts from a low position and ends up high.  Use as much rebound as you can to get the stick back up to the raised position, but you’ll most certainly need to give it a little help.  It’s not going to make it all the way to the top on it’s own.  Again, the use of the upstroke is the same as the downstroke, but in reverse.  If we need to play a larger, more powerful, stroke following a low stroke, putting that upward pop on it puts us in better position to execute the next stroke.

And last but not least the low stroke.  The low stroke, or tap, is essentially just a full stroke, but played at a much lower height.

As you’ve probably gathered, the whole purpose of these different strokes is to economize our motions as much as we can to maximize fluidity around the drums.

Let’s look at a practical application using paradiddles.  If we were to play each note of the paradiddle at the same volume, we would use full strokes, whether they be high or low.  But if we add an accent to the first note of each paradiddle, everything changes.

Our first note would need to be a downstroke, because we’d want to start high to achieve the accent, but we’d want to stop the stick low to the head in preparation for the next right hand which is low.  The second note would then be an upstroke.  It’s not accented, so we want it low, but the next note that hand will play, after the double strokes, will be an accent, so we need it up high.  And those two doubles will simply be low strokes.

So our paradiddles strokes would look like this:

F = full stroke
D = downstroke
U = upstroke
T = tap, or low stroke

To practice all four strokes in a row all we need is a bar of 8th notes with the first four accented and the second four unaccented.  The first two would be full strokes to prepare for the next two accents, the second two would be downstrokes to prepare for the first two low strokes, and the last two would be up strokes in preparation for the first two accents on the repeat.

If we apply this concept to Accents and Rebounds, the book becomes far more useful.

Let’s break down the first example:

1 - full stroke in preparation for the next right hand, which is accented

& of 1 - tap as it is unaccented, and so is the next left hand on the & of 2

2 - downstroke, as it is accented, but then needs to be low for the next right

& of 2 - upstroke in preparation for the accent it on the & of 3

3 - tap, as the right hand as no more accents in that bar

& of 3 - downstroke

4 - upstroke to prepare to start the pattern over again

& of 4 - tap

Of course, when the stickings change it also changes the type of stroke needed.  I went ahead and did the whole first page for you to get you started, because that’s the kind of guy I am.  E-mail me if you’d like a PDF.

In spending a little time breaking these examples down one stroke at a time and playing them really really slowly, focusing on the mechanics of each stroke, I found that my motions became smoother and more effortless, and as a result I got faster.  I recommend writing in the strokes and really focusing on them for awhile.  Eventually choosing the correct stroke to apply will become second nature and you’ll be able to move through the book more quickly.  Do be careful though, as much like Stick Control, you can easily go overboard with this and run it into complete tedium to the point where the amount of time you’re putting in is far disproportionate to the results you are getting.

Oh, and I've decided how I'm going to make my mark on the drumming world.  If R, L, and B are “stickings”, then F, D, U, and T shall henceforth be known as “strokings”.  July 18, 2017.  You heard it here first.