Drum Set Rudiments Part 2: Technique

{See Drum Set Rudiments Part 1 for 'soft skills')

Some drummers seem to have an obsession with technique. Others eschew the whole idea. A certain amount of technical skill is necessary to play well. Beyond that, it’s personal taste, values, etc. I prefer to think in terms of capability. What am I capable of as a drummer? Then I can focus on technique that makes me a more competent player. I also find it intrinsically rewarding to advance my skills and knowledge. To that end I recommend you become familiar with the following.

Natural Sticking
Given the option, we’re inclined to start things with our dominant hand. In Natural Sticking, all notes are played hand-to-hand, i.e. alternate strokes, except for diddles. This forces you to lead with each hand and it will help with independence, body awareness, and open-handed playing.

Single Strokes
Your number one work-horse sticking should need no explanation. This is where most drummers gain their speed. Remember to lead with each hand.

Double Strokes
While the traditional Long Roll isn’t called for very often in modern music, the movements are vital to many other techniques ...  diddles, drags etc.

Paradiddles
The Single Paradiddle is probably the most useful sticking available, second only to alternate strokes. There is an entire extended family of paradiddles (single, double, triple, paradiddle-diddle, and all their permutations) and all are worth studying as they help build speed, finger control and efficiency.

Paradiddle-diddle
This simple sticking takes advantage of diddles and can outperform single strokes for speed while providing a variety of rhythmic textures. The permutations are rich in possibilities.

RLRRLL    LRLLRR
RLLRRL    LRRLLR
RRLRLL    LLRLRR
RRLLRL    LLRRLR
RLRLLR    LRLRRL

Triplets
Triplets underlie swing and shuffles, and are important to the inner feel of funk. Be comfortable with 8th, 16th and quarter-note triplets. A good triplet feel contributes to flow and balance. My preferred way of counting triplets is 1-trip-let 2-trip-let etc.

RLL & Variations
A favourite component of many drum solos, this sticking provides speed and flexibility, with the diddles giving the opposite hand extra time to move around, yielding better speed and efficiency.

RLL RLL LRR LRR
RRL RRL LLR LLR

Flam/Ruff
Usually thrown in as an accent, these simple stickings are effective attention-getters. They also help with developing height control, dynamics, ghost notes, and even Moeller.

I consider familiarity with these concepts to be just a starting point and, hopefully, inspiration to further your drum knowledge.

Photo credit: University Of Washington Libraries Digital Collection

Best Practices (Please No Jokes About The Name)

My last name is low-hanging fruit for schoolyard-style teasing (still is) so it can sometimes be a challenge for me to untangle what is meant by 'best.' But identifying and learning what we call best practices is pretty straight forward, and it can apply to everything we do.

You have your own best practices, honed over a lifetime of experience: how to load the dishwasher, which way the toilet roll goes, etc. It's the procedures you’ve adopted to get the job done quickly and economically without compromising quality and possibly safety. In short, best practices are the most efficient and practical way to do things as well as possible and with no more effort than necessary. Those are the habits you want to develop.

The way to determine a best practice is to try different approaches and then compare. It sounds like a huge task, but in the case of drums, the options are not that extensive and are usually well defined. Analyzing just a few prominent techniques can help you identify which practices have been adequately field tested and were found to reliably deliver the desired result.

Testing and comparing are important tools in making progress. I'm a stickler for field testing. I want to get it out on the job where I can apply some pressure and see how it fares. No matter what quality I may be assessing -- technique, hardware or whatever --  a good field trial will quickly tell me what I need to know. 

I don’t think I’ve seen a top player with a questionable grip, poor technique, inappropriate tuning, or an awkward set-up. They know what’s what. Want to work on your traditional grip? Then study Joe Morello, JoJo Meyer, Dave Weckl. Need to develop your right hand? Check out John Bonham, Tony Williams and Steve Smith. For whatever aspect of your playing you want to work on, there are great players who will show you exactly how they do it every time they play.

Best practices can refine existing practices, make playing easier, prevent injury, and broaden horizons. At the very least, best practices can help to avoid wasting time and following blind alleys. Best practices also tend to be easier to master and usually require less effort overall.

We are all individuals, and what works best for one may not work for another. But in general, you can assume that the techniques you see the better players using are some of best practices available. You just need to find the ones that work best for you.

Photo credit:  Konstantin32 | Dreamstime.com

Drum Psych 101

When I entered university many years ago, I’d become interested in studying the invisible forces that drive human behaviour. And so I majored in psychology (with a minor in philosophy). Along the way I picked up a few principles that we musicians should be aware of.

Operant Conditioning
This principle applies everywhere. Any behaviour that is rewarded is more likely to be repeated. It's how learning works. If you play it right and your teacher praises you, you’ll be happy to play it some more.

Successive Approximation
Most learning happens through baby steps: trial and error. Even when we know exactly what to do, we still must go through the process of trying and failing and trying again. As we rack up more tries, we make fewer errors and so we gradually baby-step our way to the final product.

Proactive Inhibition
We're inclined to automatically do the things we’ve been doing. But to do something different, you may have to first ‘un-train’ the muscles and brain so they can give up what seems so natural and embrace the new. The goal is to set aside the old mindset and imprint a new one,  to convince the brain that it’s OK to let go of the other way.

Dunning-Kruger
This one is rather disturbing. Psychologists Dunning and Kruger (see below) studied test subjects' performance and their perception of how well they had performed. The researchers came to the conclusion that the less capable or competent the respondent, the less able they were to judge their own ability. In other words, people who are less skilled really do tend to think they’re better than they actually are because they don't have sufficient skill or knowledge to accurately assess their level of competence. Solution? Learn more, get better.

Leave It In The Dressing Room
Your mind is often mulling over something that's in your future. It’s called the Reach Back Effect and it happens unconsciously. You can adopt a clear mind-set and focus on the here and now rather than be distracted by upcoming events or other concerns.

Superstitious Behaviour
We humans like superstitions. We even seem to be programmed to manufacture them. If we observe two things happening together, we're inclined to think that they’re related. The more it happens, or seems to happen, the more convinced we become that there is a relationship. No behaviour is immune, as lucky socks owners around the globe will tell you. That said, superstitions beget rituals, and rituals can be beneficial ... as long as you don’t buy into the hype.

Audience Effect
It's great to have an audience. Cheering fans can inspire you to raise your game. But this can also set you back a little. When we have an audience, our performance does in fact improve. That's good. But this only applies to our most ingrained moves. The stuff we've been working on recently may not stand a chance. So you’ll play better, but your playing might not include your latest achievements.

The Hawthorne Effect
Similar to the Audience Effect, this is the tendency to behave differently when someone is watching. The result can be for the better or worse. If you’ve ever played to a room full of drummers, you know what I mean.

Depression
There are two types of depression. Clinical depression is systemic and usually a lifelong condition. Episodic depression is a normal reaction to trauma. The death of someone close or the break-up of a relationship can push someone into a depressed state. It resembles clinical depression except that it's easier to treat and is, thankfully, self limiting. However, what to do in the mean time? Many people like to channel their mood into their music. Note the popularity of drum circles for stress relief. Playing music floods your body with endorphins and can get you away from your current doldrums.

With all these things potentially working against us, taking care of our mental health should be a priority. Knowing what can affect us -- and how -- gives us a means to avoid, or at least cope with, some of the dangers.

More on Dunning-Kruger:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/basics/dunning-kruger-effect

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The Great Drag/Ruff Conspiracy

Of all the traditional snare drum rudiments, two have had more than their share of drama. The Drag and the Ruff (a.k.a. Dragg, Rough) have been around for centuries, but a lack of documentation has led to some confusion. There have been attempts to clarify the situation, but none have fully resolved the issue. Fast forward to the present day and we have a three-way tie. One ‘official’ list has both, one claims they’re the same, and one leaves the Ruff out entirely. So after a bit of research, I have formed an opinion about the issue.

According to Strube*, the Ruff is two grace notes followed by a single stroke: rrL / llR. This is the Ruff that I learned years ago. Then came another interpretation where the grace notes are played as quick single strokes, so rlR / lrL. There’s also the 4-stroke Ruff, which is normally played as single strokes --  rlrL lrlR -- and it too has variations.

The Drag is more consistent as the grace notes are always diddles. There is also the Half Drag -- rrL / llR -- which is identical to the original 3-stroke Ruff. And then we have the Drag-ruff and the long forgotten Half Ruffe, Whole Ruffe, and Ruffe’n’Half. Hmmm.

Sorting Out the Raw Data
When I compared 10(!) different configurations of the various Ruffs and Drags, a couple of aspects stood out. The Ruff consists of grace notes plus a single stroke, whereas the Drag family always have diddles followed by two or more strokes. So there is a clear demarcation between the two: 2 or more grace notes and a single stroke for the Ruff, and diddles plus two or more single strokes for the Drag.

So:

3-stroke Ruff	4-stroke Ruff	Drag Family
rrL / llR	rlrL / lrlR	rrL-R / llR-L
rlR / lrL	rrlR / llrL	R-llR / AL-rrL
	rlR / lrrL	rrL-R-AL / llR-AL-R
	rrL / lllr	rrL-rrL-R / llR-llR-AL

The Final Analysis

So at risk of raising the ire of the powers that be, I'd like to propose the following solution:

1. Bring back the diddle-driven 3-stroke Ruff and call it a Ruff.
2. Add the 4 (and 5) stroke Ruffs to complete the set.
3. Forget about the Half Drag and the Drag-ruff. The Ruff can replace them both.

And In Conclusion
Here’s what Ryan Bloom has to say on the subject:

“In summary, a modern Ruff is a 3 Stroke Ruff, or a Single Stroke Drag, while a historical Ruff is the same as a Drag, except for when it is a buzzed orchestral Ruff or Rough. A Drag, of course, is the same as a Half Drag because if it were a Full Drag or Single Drag it would be a Drag Tap. This leaves us with the obvious: that a Double Drag is just a Double Drag Tap.”

And here’s how Strube presented it:

Any questions?

For more on drags, ruffs and rudiments, see:

The Percussive Arts Society: https://www.pas.org/resources/rudiments

The National Association of Rudimental Drummers: https://www.nard.us.com/N.A.R.D._Rudiments.html

Gardiner A. Strube: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardiner_A._Strube

Photo credit: 1265529 © Steve Mann | Dreamstime.com

One Link At A Time

Jerry Seinfeld has a simple method of working that he calls "Don't break the chain." Jerry is a comedian and an author ... in other words, an artist. And just how does such a successful artist achieve his demanding goals. Does he look in a mirror and announce gravely, “I will write eight jokes by 5:00”? No, Jerry takes a more modest and less confrontational approach. On a simple drug-store calendar, he puts an X through each day that he has worked on his craft. His only goal is to see an unbroken chain of X's. And it doesn't matter if it was 3 hours or 3 minutes. It all counts. 

I very much like Jerry's method as it makes it easier to commit to the program. Do something every day -- however small -- and you will move ever closer to your goal. This 'salami’ approach is easy to pull off. Just slice off a bit at a time. No time to practice? Really? Next time you plant yourself in front of the TV, get out the pad and sticks and do a few minutes of hand work*. It may seem almost pointless, but even two minutes done daily can reap significant rewards. The object is to build practice into your daily routine. Consider practice as basic as brushing your teeth.

Be sure you have a flexible schedule, one that lets you breath, one that won't make you feel guilty if you can only manage 5 minutes instead of the planned 20. As long as you don’t break the chain. And keep in mind that you’ll probably be ‘banking’ minutes from time to time.

A nice perk is that this system is much less stressful than setting fixed targets that you may have to miss. I used to beat myself up for not putting in 3 hours a day. Interestingly, when I decided to practice only when I felt like it , I actually ended up practicing more than I expected to. I didn’t feel obliged to put in a lot of time practicing, and the lack of pressure suited me just fine.

So your goal is to practice -- something, anything -- for whatever length of time is available, and to make it a daily commitment. And be sure to keep track on your drug-store calendar.

It’s in the cards URL
A practice program that works very well for me is a stack of 3x5 file cards. I write one exercise on a card along with the parameters I want to cover. You can find the full details here: Stay On Track With A Practice Matrix.

* Watching TV and playing a sticking are two completely different tasks. They require different skills from the brain and can co-exist quite nicely. My teacher always had a pad and sticks set up in his home theatre viewing position.

Photo credit: 594906 © Sun Jeng Tan | Dreamstime.com

 

Let Me Give You A Hand With That

Let’s try a simple experiment. Take a stick in your lead hand and tap single strokes as fast as you can. Then do the same with the other hand . My guess is that your lead hand is somewhat faster. No surprise there. Now play alternating single strokes as fast as you can. You’ll likely find that you can play alternate strokes faster than either hand on its own. It’s a phenomenon called Limb Assistance. That’s when one limb is able to perform better when it’s partnered with another limb. So your single stroke roll should always be faster than your one-handed bounces.

It works the other way as well, something called Limb Inhibition. When practicing, I like to get all four voices involved, and that usually means hi-hat on 2 & 4. But I find that the hi-hat sometimes helps and sometimes hurts. So if it’s interfering with what I'm trying to do, I’ll leave it out. Or I might play it on all four beats ... whatever helps me make progress.

There are four basic options with the hi-hat, any one of which could help with an exercise:

• Play on 2 & 4: This is the ultimate goal and it’s a core skill for drummers.

• Play on 1 & 3: This can help nail down the timing of a difficult pattern.

• Play on all 4 beats: In addition to helping with timing, this gives the other limbs support as you're working toward full co-ordination.

• Omit completely: Sometimes it’s just not going to happen until the other limbs are sorted.

The same thing can apply to any pattern or combination. Say I want to add triple strokes on the bass drum to a rock pattern, but find that I’m struggling. I might add some matching cymbal strokes so the hand strokes mirror the bass drum. The addition of the extra cymbal strokes means the two limbs are now working as a team to better articulate the foot strokes. (I’ll also leave the hi-hat out for now.)

A perennial problem for drummers is when the limbs are supposed to strike together but are just a little bit off. This is where the limbs could be helping each other. Use one limb/voice to act as ‘troop leader’ and show the other limbs where to put it. I look for relationships between what the different limbs are doing in relation to each other. Sometimes the limbs hit together and that can help with co-ordination. Other times, one limb might function as a lead-in for the next stroke. For example, in a shuffle, I think of the ‘uh’ as causing or triggering the next beat: uh-1 uh-2 etc. This is especially helpful with complex patterns.

So, when in doubt, leave it out. Or, if it helps, put it in.

Photo credit: 113417054 © creativecommonsstockphotos | Dreamstime.com

 

So What Exactly is Talent?

 There seem to be two dominant opinions when it comes to the importance of talent. One is that talent is the whole show. The other is that talent doesn't really matter. And, like most big topics, it's not that simple. Still, I think most of us would agree that, whatever talent might be, we’d still like to have more of it.

It's relative
First of all, everyone has at least some talent -- many talents, in fact. If not, we'd all be lost. Even the worst drummer on the planet has a little bit of music aptitude.  But it actually requires a melange of qualities and aptitudes that combine to create 'talent'. So a bit of drumming talent, a bit of music talent, plus a bit of this and a bit of that and you've got a pretty good drummer.

I find that a bell curve can be helpful in understanding a multitude of human characteristics. For any given category, the low end of the curve represents the completely talentless. These people are very, very rare. For example, in my lifetime I've only met one person who was truly tone deaf.

At the other end of the scale are the extremely gifted ... geniuses in many cases. These too are quite rare, the “1-percenters’ in the field. And then there's the rest of us. Some are closer to the top of the bell curve, some are closer to the bottom, and most are somewhere in the middle. The good news is that, statistically speaking, fully half of us are above average!

The Core Abilities
Talented people seem to pick things up faster, more easily and earlier. They are fast, efficient and sometimes precocious learners and may show up as prodigies. They also seem to understand things better and make it a part of themselves almost without effort. Very young performers often give the impression that they've been at it for many years.

In order to capitalize on the no-doubt adequate talents we do have, we just need to feed, nurture, and experiment. It seems to me that we can divide the job into three critical processes or abilities:

1. Accumulate
This is what we do when we study, practice, memorize, listen, etc. Our personal degree of talent for learning has a direct effect on rate and capacity of learning.

2. Assimilate
Play it, own it, make it personal ... because it is. And it's not enough to just know it. You have to internalize and integrate new knowledge with what went before, to see how it fits into the whole.

3. Innovate
Here's where we roll out our natural curiosity and our creativity. What can you do with your skills and knowledge beyond simply reproducing what's gone before?

There’s no up side to worrying about how much talent you have or don’t have. That hard truth is that talent is pretty much fixed and there’s no way of increasing it. But honing what talent you have is freely available to everyone.

“I wasn't talented... but I was relentless!” - Neil Peart

A Few More “Talents” To Nurture
Attitude, sociability, drive, energy, determination (not the same as energy), nurturing, mentoring, dedication, attention , brain power & development, memory,  marketing savvy, to name a few.

Photo Credit: Andrey Kiselev | Dreamstime.com; Mieszko Stanislawski | Dreamstime.com