Proper Ways
To Play...
Snare
-Traditional-
First, lets talk about traditional grip. This is grip you will see
commonly used in most Drum & Bugle Corps. To execute the traditional
grip correctly follow these steps:
1.)
Position the right-handed stick like normal matched grip with the stick
resting on the crease of the 1st joint of the digits and all five fingers
gripping around the stick.
2.)
For the left hand place the stick between the thumb and forefinger.
3.)
With the slightly to the side (you wouldn't want to "catch water" in the
palm of your hand) let the stick come to rest on the ring finger between
the 1st knuckle and the cuticle of your nail.
4.)
Tuck the pinky-finger under the ring ringer.
5.)
Place your thumb on your index finger and place the middle finger loosely
on the stick. You want all of the fingers to kind of "flow" down the stick.
The correct stroke of the traditional grip is a lot like turning a door
knob, just turn the wrist instead of making a vertical movement. A lot
of people pick this grip for several reasons. Some feel they should keep
the traditional aspects of drumming alive and this grip was the first any
marching drummer used (due to the way the drum was on a sling over their
shoulders, they had to compensate for the tilt in the drum by changing
the left-handed grip).
-Sticks-
You should have 2 pairs of Ralph Hardimon Corpsmasters® (SRH).
One set for rehearsals and another set for performances. DO NOT use
your "game day" sticks in practice.
-Heights-
Lets keep this short and simple. All of the drummers have to be playing
at the same heights or you will not give an astringent appearance. A height
is usually referred to as the height your stick is over the head in taps
as well as accents. ALWAYS PLAY YOUR TAPS AT 3" AND ALWAYS PLAY YOUR ACCENTS
AT 9". Another thing to consider is the plane of the snares. A lower
plane gives the impression of a looser, more fluid drumline while a higher
plane projects the appearance of a tighter, more technical group. Pick
a plane that will make it easier for all of the drummers to adjust to.
For example, if you have one 6'3" drummer and four 5'7" drummers don't
pick a low plane. Because then the tall guy will have the snare at his
heels and will have trouble marching.
-Emotion-
Yes, I know when you are pulling some sweet groove that makes everyone
want to dance, it's hard to stay uniform. If you show any emotion (raising
the drum up, head movements, etc.) all the other members in your line must
be doing the same. Uniformity is key, nobody can look different from somebody
else. If one guy is getting carried away with heights and another
starts raising his drum up and another starts bobbing his head the judges
will eat you alive and so will I.
-Rudiments-
A rudiment is the main and basic principle division of drumming. It's what
holds the drummer up and makes difficult passages seem effortless. You
just need to work on them until you stop drumming because there is no easy
way around rudimential efficiency. Here's some guidelines for what you
can hope to be accomplished in the process of practicing rudiments.
The first thing the snare drummer should learn is all 40 international
PAS rudiments. Of course easier said than done, the 40 international rudiments
cover the four basic divisions of rudiments - roll rudiments, diddle rudiments,
flam rudiments, and drag rudiments. They also cover rudiments in both triple
and duple meter. You can find a .PDF file of all 40 rudiments with
notation at:
http://www.pas.org/
With the preceding rudiments mastered and preferably memorized your ability
to play marching snare will be greatly maximized. Knowing the basic
rudiments will give you more coordination with a lot of rhythms you haven't
even played! For example, Drum Corps Hybrid Rudiments are just mutated
versions of the first 40 rudiments. But most importantly, the practice
will refine your coordination all around your hands and strengthen every
muscle needed for the high perfection on a kevlar head.
-Diddles-
A lot of students have questions on how much finger or wrist should be
used through diddles and such. In diddles you need to make the primary
stroke with your wrist, and the secondary "bounce" with your fingers, pulling
your fingers close to the palm of your hand. This is really important because
some snare players stick their pinkies out through diddles and open rolls.
That is incorrect on ALL INSTRUMENTS.
Tenors
-Technique-
In this section we will discuss the basics of playing tenor drums. First
off let's define exactly what they are. Tenor drums usually consist of
4-6 drums, having four main drums (10",12",13", and 14"). They are played
with mallets (95% of the time) made of anything from felt, to rubber, to
nylon cartwheel or ball shaped heads or sticks in some cases. To play tenors
effortlessly and to look relaxed you need to concentrate on the right playing
areas. The right playing areas are 1-2" away from bottom of the 1st and
2nd drums and on the top-left/right corner of the 3rd and 4th drums. If
you have to imagine a line drawn all the way across the tenors overlapping
all of the main drums. This is where you need to be playing, concentrate
on keeping a flowing motion and always hit a drum in the right area so
it resonates with the best tone. Whether you are playing straight doubles,
triples, or sweeping always maintain contact with that imaginary line and
you will find you can go much faster and with more efficiency.
-Sticks-
You should have 2 pairs of Corpsmaster® Multi-Tenor Mallets (MT1).
One set for rehearsals and another set for performances. DO NOT use
your "game day" sticks in practice.
-Heights-
Another aspect of tenors you should focus on is playing heights. This is
so your line will be uniform and in unison technically. Unaccented notes
are played 3" above the head and accented notes are 9" above the head just
as the snares do. The heights may change, but only if everyone can play
the same heights. You can lose your spot if you don't watch your heights.
-Rudiments-
See
Snare Section, but you must also apply it to all the drums on the tenors.
-Diddles-
See
Snare Section
-Muffling-
This is simply when you hit one of the drums and immediately cut off it's
resonation by putting the tip of your fingers on the head. You only do
this when it is called for like skangks or a cut-off in the music.
-Sweeps/Scraps-
To define this two facets of tenors a scrape is a one-handed motion in
which the performer hits 2-4 drums in one motion (up down or across) and
a sweep is the same thing except that you use double strokes with the first
bounce on one drum and the second on another. Okay, lets discuss some basic
fundamentals of scrapes. When scraping make sure you keep that imaginary
line (see technique) constant. Make sure you maintain the same grip
throughout the scrape, don't let the wrist turn horizontally rather keep
a nice level plane.
-Crossovers-
There are 3 basic kinds of cross-overs:
1.)
Fulcrum to Fulcrum - this only happens when you are playing drums that
are beside one another such as the 1 or the 2, 1 or the 3 and so on. You
should make sure to cross only fulcrum and not shaft as to not inhibit
the movement of the hand underneath the crossing hand.
2.)
Wrist to Wrist - this crossover is when your are crossing over the 2st
to 4nd drums and visa versa. The wrists will be the point of crossing-over.
3.)
Forearm to Forearm - this only happens once, when you are crossing over
the 4 and 3 drums. One thing to keep in mind when doing crossovers is to
keep the auxiliary hand (the hand under the crossing hand) low to the drum.
This will ensure that you won't bump hands or sticks.
Bass
Drum
-Technique-
The normal grip for a bass drummer is not much unlike that of a tenor player.
The mallet itself rests upon the bottom of the fingers and the thumb forms
a fulcrum with the index finger resulting in a stereotypical "Matched grip."
This grip is then moved vertically where the bass drummer would appear
to have a "french" or thumbs up grip. It is imperative that the bass drummer
have a fulcrum rather than a "baseball bat" grip in order to execute any
roll or flam passages, a common mistake of many bass lines.
The stroke is much less of an arm stroke and more of a wrist stroke. The
mallet moves in a semicircular (or less depending on the dynamic markings,
accents, etc.) motion where the diameter would be perpendicular to the
ground. In other words, turning your wrist so that your palm would face
up. You should rarely incorporate arm motions until louder dynamic markings
simply because you will find it harder to hit the drum in the same area
consistently unless you use less movement to execute the stroke. You will
fine that a more subtle wrist movement will not only produce adequate volume
but will increase your consistency as well.
-Sticks-
You should have 2 pairs of Corpsmaster® Marching Bass Mallets (MB1H-
1st Drum, MB2H- 2nd & 3rd Drum, or MB3H- 4th & 5th). One
set for rehearsals and another set for performances. DO NOT use your
"game day" sticks in practice.
-Heights-
You can't give a set height from the head for bass drums because they're
different in size, but you must bring back your mallet to the same point
as all the other basses do.
-Rudiments-
See
Snare Section, but it usually only applies to the 2 highest bass drums.
-Diddles-
See
Snare Section
Cymbals
-Technique-
To you grip the cymbals you make your hands flat and vertical. Stick
all of your fingers except your thumbs in the straps. Make a clockwise
motion with your right hand and do the opposite for your left hand.
This should wrap the straps around your thumbs and give you a nice grasp
of the cymbals. To hold your cymbals at attention you should, have
90 degree angled arms, your hands should be level with you neck, and the
cymbals should be vertically slanted like an upside down V.
-Crashing-
You must crash the cymbals with your left cymbal stationary while your
right cymbal glides into and out of the left one with one motion.
You may crash differently sometimes, but only for visual effect.
-Hi-hats-
The concept is pretty easy, you just need to flip the horizontally, squeeze
them together, and slightly put them against your stomach.
-Holding-
Usually during a drumset beat the snares will need a ride. Place
yourself to your left of the assigned snare and hold your right cymbal
up to ride on. When holding for the snares you must use the same
angle as the cymbal for the center snare. Also, YOU MUST HOLD THE
LEFT CYMBAL BEHIND YOUR BACK, NOT TO THE SIDE. |
