Concert Percussion
June 4th, 2009 by James Voss Grumish
School is finished for the year so use the extra time and sign-up for some private drum lessons. Need to find a private drum instructor? Already have a private drum teacher? Well here’s a couple resources to get your summer lessons started.
FreeDrum.Info thinks lessons are a good thing and it’s a bad idea miss out.
Read our 3 reasons why you need lessons.
TakeLessons offers fun & affordable music and voice lessons for everyone.
Click here to find a lesson near you!
There’s a sweet practice routine generator available for a limited time!
Get the free pdf from the Drumming System!
That’s it. Have a great summer!
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February 2nd, 2009 by James Voss Grumish
You read that right. These are easy ways to learn a few complex subdivisions to add to your technique toolbox. First, read a little about complex subdivisions if you’re unfamiliar.
Complex subdivisions appear in music as numerical ratios above your notes:
Understand the meaning by replacing the colon with the phrase “in the space of”.
- Five in the space of four
- Seven in the space of four
- Four in the space of three
Lastly, look at the music where the complex subdivision is defined. Use the written note(s) to determine what type of subdivision you’re going to change.
- Five quarter-notes in the space of four quarter-notes
- Seven 16th-notes in the space of four 16th-notes
- Four 8th-notes in the space of three 8th-notes
Some of these you’re already familiar with, maybe without even knowing it. A triplet is technically a 3:2 — three 8th-notes in the space of two 8th-notes. A sixtuplet is 6:4 — six 16th-notes in the space of four 16th-notes.
It might sounds like a lot of math, and it certainly is. Give this Easy Complex Subdivisions drum exercise a try and see if you can’t find some fluidity in all that math.
Easy Complex Subdivisions for Drums
The basic idea is to take a tap-roll and evenly distribute the “diddles” between the accents. Hopefully it will come very naturally and quickly for you.
Please leave a quick comment if you liked this exercise!
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November 3rd, 2008 by James Voss Grumish
With PASIC about to start (see the PASIC Schedule), it seemed right to make something available that would benefit all percussionists, not just the marching or drumset crowd. This month the free percussion etudes examine basic rhythms and timing.
These etudes/exercises are dependent on good timing, so use your metronome!
The first set of etudes, Rhythm Studies, has the very basic 16th note patterns you should know. There’s also a version of the traditional drumline exercise “Hup-Dup” thrown in at the bottom since there was room.
The second exercise, Chronos (it’s Greek), works on your transitions between eighth-notes, triplets, and sixteenth-notes. Again, use your metronome if you wish to gain anything from a timing etude. Chronos could easily be converted into a drumline exercise, if you wanted.
Chronos, a timing exercise
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May 7th, 2008 by James Voss Grumish
Finally, a mallet exercise! This is a very easy-to-learn exercise that can help as you develop your four-mallet interval control. When the tempo is slow enough, focus on changing the interval in your grip during the up-stroke of the mallets. The down-stroke should then come straight down to the bars.
A Few Ideas Before You Start…
- Set your metronome pretty low, down to 80 bpm or slower. Once you have the pulse, get a feel for the transitions between the quarter-note-triplets and eighth-notes.
- Do a technique check. Review everything from your grip to your stance.
- Subdivide and get started. Remember to try and adjust the interval during the up-stroke.
Interval Flux, for Mallet Percussion
You’ll quickly learn the three-two-one pattern and eventually know this from memory. You can then use it in your warm-up repertoire.
Be sure to have your instructor, director, or a peer watch you perform this exercise from time to time as you make progress. They’ll help you avoid any bad habits in your technique that may arise from the simplicity and repetitiveness of the motions.
Lastly, the exercise is written so that the intervals expand outward, but you can easily apply the same ideas to expand inward.
P.S. Sorry for this post arriving a little late. On May 1st I was busy climbing to the top of El Castillo at Xunantunich, and then straining my leg on the way back down.
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April 1st, 2008 by James Voss Grumish
A stroke can be over-simplified as a single down/up motion of the wrist. Ways that the stick can contact the drumhead during that stroke can differ greatly. Of the near infinite detailed definitions of stroke, there’s two methods examined in the exercises below. In each, focus on matching the sound quality from right hand to left hand (and vice versa).
The first set of exercises isolate the number of rebound notes that occur during each individual stroke.
- Single, one note per stroke
- Diddle, two notes per stroke
- Buzz, many notes per stroke
The other exercise examines different rebound heights. This method uses four different strokes, all defined by the starting and ending heights of the stick. The exercise simply puts these strokes into sequence.
- Tap-to-Tap
- Tap-to-Accent
- Accent-to-Accent
- Accent-to-Tap
Like so many other percussion etudes, this one is deceptively easy when you set your standards high enough.
Isolation of Stroke Types, for Battery Percussion
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January 1st, 2008 by James Voss Grumish
This is the first set of free exercises/etudes published and distributed on the FreeDrum.Info website. Diddle Control has been specifically chosen to establish an expectation of what to find here. Although better suited for marching percussion, it is also applicable to general/concert. Use it for individual skill improvement, or give it a try in an ensemble setting.
Diddle Control is a collection of three different exercises. The audio file only has the first exercise, Diddle Manipulation, repeated four times. The other two exercises on the Diddle Control sheet don’t really need play-along audio, just a good metronome.
Welcome to the site. Enjoy.
Happy New Year.
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