Stick/mallet/hand control and position
- Play using a wide range of rudimental sticking patterns, demonstrating a developing understanding of the mechanics involved (up strokes, down strokes, full strokes, tap strokes)
- Play using an even single-stroke roll on a range of instruments including timpani, snare drum, djembe, Latin percussion and tuned percussion
- Develop an even double-stroke roll on the snare drum
- Play even accents with both hands, using increasingly complex rhythmic patterns
- Maintain an appropriate instrument grip when playing handheld instruments
Introduce new rudiments to the pieces being studied, as appropriate.
Ensure that stick heights for a given stroke are mirrored from hand to hand.
Ask learners to identify rudiment patterns within a piece of music, e.g. flams, paradiddles.
Using appropriate exercises, encourage learners to increase the speed at which rudiments are played with control.
Use onomatopoeic words and phrases to help learners distinguish between rudiments, e.g. paradiddlediddle, ratamacue.
Playing one hand at a time allows learners to concentrate on producing the correct stroke.
Ask learners to play eight single strokes with the weaker hand, then eight with the stronger hand, then seven, then six, etc. working down to one, then back up to eight.
Demonstrate the difference between buzzed strokes and bounced double strokes. Ask learners to play:
- eight double strokes with the right hand, followed by eight with the left hand, then repeat
- eight single strokes, followed by eight bounced double strokes, then repeat
- double strokes with brushes and/or hotrods to develop back-finger technique
- double-stroke rolls with single-beat accents
Ensure that rolls do not contain accents, unless notated.
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