Drumset Etudes
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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March 1st, 2009 by James Voss Grumish
So you want faster single-stroke rolls. Okay. Here’s the very short drum lesson to help make this possible.
- Work on single-hand legato strokes. The idea is that each stroke should utilize both the wrist and the fingers for each stroke; don’t just rely on one or the other.
- The grip should be loose, but totally under control. There’s a small, subtle difference between the sticks moving freely and being moved freely. You’re fingers should be in contact with the sticks at all times.
- Don’t underplay and pretend you can go faster; don’t overplay and pretend it builds chops faster.
- Work towards consistency of sound between your hands. Practice double-stops on a pad and line things up. Practice exercises as both right-hand and left-hand lead.
- Use a metronome to make sure you are keeping things up to speed and not allowing your hands to drag.
- Subdivide the metronome click. Don’t just put eight notes in a beat and call it a single-stroke nine roll. Put the notes in the right place.
Enough lesson. Here’s some single-stroke roll exercises.
The last roll exercise is the best. It’s called “Fat Wallet”. Enjoy.
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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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December 19th, 2008 by James Voss Grumish
[photo by Kamal Aboul-Hosn is shared]
Although FreeDrum.Info has yet to publish many drumset specific articles, here’s a good source of inspiration for applying any of the exercises available on FreeDrum.Info into something for your kit.
Derico Watson presented at the 2008 PASIC back in November. Check out the “Rudimental Rant” video on his Vic Firth video page from the event. Watson talks about the importance of rudimental drumming, how simple drumline exercises can be applied to the drumset, and why now is a good time to get started.
Now if you spent your summer on the [marching] snare drum, your hands are out-of-control, right? Right now, they’re just great. Now you have to take that to the drumset.
Simply converting exercises to drumset isn’t as thorough as something like Jared Falk’s complete Rock Drumming System or Jazz Drum Method, but it is a start.
Watson also touches on the importance of concert percussion for a drumset artist.
Learn as much as you can. Learn about the timpani. Learn about the marimba and the vibraphone. Those are all great things that are only going to help you to become more of a musical drumset player.
There’s also resources if you liked Watson’s ideas about rudiments on drumset.
Happy Holidays!
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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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