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Thank you for your interest in the Marching Pirates Drumline! This is the technique portion of the audition packet for the drumline. You will find single-line exercises, as well as full-ensemble exercises. Many of these are universally known exercises, and are essential in any marching percussionists repertoire. You will be responsible for your own familiarity with each exercise, as they are very important to the development of your technique, which is important to your success as a member of the Marching Pirates Drumline! Exercises and Cadences Along with the technique portion, you should also download and learn the Exercises Jojo, Hurkey & Tam, and Finger Pains. These will be a regular part of our warm-up regimen, and will more than likely be called upon for auditions. The Cadences Eye Patch, Peg Leg, and Swashbuckle Swagger will be our street beats, and may also be called on for auditions. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me by email wgnicholsjr@gmail.com Im looking forward to a great season with the Marching Pirates! Happy Drumming, Nick Nichols
Building Technique
Included are exercises & etudes to help build strength in the key areas of marching percussion.
Single-Hand Exercises Two-Hand Exercises Diddle/Double Strokes Stick Motion Timing Flams
When practicing these exercises (or anything else, for that matter), always...always, ALWAYS...USE A METRONOME.
For some of the etudes, there will be a single-part exercise, as well as a scored-part exercise for the entire ensemble to play. Whether a snare drummer, tenor drummer, bass drummer, or even a cymbal player, do yourself a favor & get accommodated with the single-part exercise first. This is where the strength & chops are built.
Single-Hand Exercises
Single-hand exercises are those exercises in which you play a rotation, or variation on one hand, before you play anything on the other hand. These exercises should be played at various tempos, as well as various dynamics. Some of the included exercises are classic, & universally known. Some are also written to go slightly past the basics, and really challenge you physically & mentally.
Eight on a Hand
It doesnt get anymore self-explanatory than this. You play eight notes on one hand, then play eight notes on the other hand. Rinse & repeat. Although simple (& monotonous), this is one of the most important exercises you can play. Every note you will ever play, has some correlation to this. You must be able to play it perfectly.
Accent Tap
Also known as Bucks, this exercise will build strength in differentiating between accents & taps. Believe it or not, this can be a major problem for some percussionists. Make sure to give two a distinct height for your accents, & a distinct height for your taps. A good starting point would be to play your accents at a forte level, & your taps at a piano level. You can even try reversing them.
Double Beat
The precursor to the diddles & double strokes exercises. This exercise will work to build the strength in two consecutive notes on one hand, followed by a rest, or space. Again, you must be able to play this at various dynamics & tempos. Try changing it up a bit, & accent the first note of each grouping, then change it up more & accent the SECOND note of each grouping! This will really begin to build some double-stroke chops.
Shups
Very similar to the double-beat exercise, but in a triplet feel. This exercise will help you to play relaxed, as well as work on your triplet timing.
Variations:
- All dynamic levels: pianissimo, piano, mezzopiano, mezzoforte, forte, fortissimo - Crescendo each hand: start with pianissimo, end the hand with forte. Be careful not to accent the last note on each hand! - Decrescendo each hand: quieter! start with forte, end with pianissimo. Be careful not to slow down as you get start the left hand with forte, end with
- Up & Down: start the right hand with piano, crescendo to forte; piano. Repeat this pattern each time through.
- Down & Up: start the right hand with forte, end with pianissimo; start the left hand with pianissimo, end with forte. Repeat this pattern each time through.
The object of this exercise is to count, count, count! Train your hand to simply not play during the rests...dont tense up & squeeze the stick!
Another exercise you should master at many different tempos, & different dynamics. Change this exercise up, by switching the accents & taps, play accents on the drum head & taps on the rim, any combination you can think of!
Double Beat
Make sure you are getting the same sound from each note of each group. Dont let the second note be weaker than the first, & vice versa. Vary up this exercise by turning it into an Accent Tap exercise - Accent the first note of each group, the second is a tap - Tap the first note, & make the second note an accent - Crescendo through each hand - Decrescendo through each hand - Up & Down - Down & Up
Shups
Flow!
Two-Hand Exercises
Two-hand exercises are those exercises in which you involve both hands. This is how most real music will be played. Just like the single-hand exercises, he two hand exercises should be played at many various tempos, as well as many various dynamics.
The Grid
The Grid is an exercise pattern in which there is a constant, & a variable. Most of the time, the rhythm is the constant, & the accent is the variable. This will be explained for the two exercises included. You can apply many different rudiments into the grid, such as the flam accent, flam drag, etc.
Triplet Grid
The triplet grid is much like the 16th note grid. The constants are the triplet rhythm & the stick motion. The variable is again the accents moving around to the different subdivisions.
Triplet Grid
These are the basic forms of the exercises. You can vary these exercises, to challenge different aspects of playing simply by adding elements. - Add a diddle on the accent - Add a diddle on the note after the accent (called a tap drag) - Add a diddle on each downbeat, not the accent. There are several ways in which these exercises can be adjusted to challenge different techniques
Two-Handed Accent-Tap
As mentioned earlier, the two-handed accent-tap exercise is very close to passages you might play in real music. This exercise may be slightly more challenging than what you have practiced thus far, but if you start slowly and build up your tempo, your hands will become exponentially more adept to handling these types of passages. You can also vary this exercise in similar ways as you did with the grids.
When practicing this exercise, play the check pattern, then use one of the variations 1-12 to replace the grouping of 16th notes.
Diddle Exercises
A diddle is simply playing two notes on the same hand consecutively. It may sound easy enough, but you must strive to get the same quality of sound on the second note as you get on the first note.
Duple Diddles
This exercise introduces the basic diddle motion, as well as the underlying rhythm & subdivision that diddles will take on when employed.
Triplet Diddles
This exercise is very similar to the diddle exercise, but employing the triplet stick motion.
Stick Shift Straight Sticking Stick Shift Diddles Stick Shift Paradiddles
Flam Exercises
A flam is the technique of adding a grace note, or small note before a strong beat or subdivided beat. Often times, especially in marching percussion, a flat flam is used. This occurs when both sticks strike the drum at the same time, but at two very different heights. Flam passages, at quick tempos, can be very challenging
Flam Taps
A flam tap is adding a tap after the flam, with the same hand which was the strong beat of the flam. You can also invert this by tapping with the opposite hand.
Flam Accents
Essentially, a flam accent is a flam followed by two alternating strokes, most often followed by another flam. Many different variations can be used in a flam accent.
Duple Diddles
Make sure when practicing this exercise, that all notes are the same height. You should be able to play this exercise at many different dynamics & tempos.
You should be able to play this exercise at many different heights & tempos.
Triplet Diddles
As always, this exercise should be mastered at different tempos & dynamics. You can even take it further: -Crescendo the odd measures, decrescendo the even measures -Decrescendo the odd measures, crescendo the even measures
Flam Taps
Flam Accents