Drumline Tenors Sweeps and Scrapes Exercises

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Sweeps & Scrapes for Marching Tenors

April 3rd, 2009 by James Voss Grumish

Tenors in the Lot
[photo by Justin Van Rheenen is shared]

Some people call them sweeps, some people call them scrapes. Basically it’s just a double-stroke where the notes are played on different drums. This is a fundamental technique for playing marching tenors, so if you’re already a tenor player or hope to be one in the future, make sure to learn these simple scrapes/sweeps drumline exercises.

When playing tenor sweeps the motion during the double-stroke is created by using a small amount of elbow pivot and lateral wrist bend (side-to-side). Don’t just rely on either your elbow or wrist to move your stick horizontally.

Also, keep your shoulder relaxed. Stiffness will make consistent sweeps impossible.

Lastly, make sure the medial wrist motion (up-down) remains consistent during the double-stroke and that there are indeed two independent strokes (as opposed to a diddle).

Tenor Sweeps and Scrapes Exercises

Tenor Sweeps and Scrapes Sheet Music PDF

Two really quick bits of FreeDrum.Info new for you:

Later this month check out an interview with Paul Buyer, author of the recently published and soon-to-be-released Marching Bands and Drumlines: Secrets of Success from the Best of the Best. Paul was kind enough to answer a few questions about just what’s inside the book and why you should get a copy.
In the past, FreeDrum.Info has offered premium drumline exercises for a small fee. These full-score exercises will be available for free later this summer, and we hope you enjoy them. Also, it’s free to subscribe to FreeDrum.Info articles to make sure you don’t miss out.

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