NB: If you having issues reading this document on Blogger due to the colours you can read the same document on Google Docs by clicking this link here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ERzjXlDzpyUtmOWulGWntUfAq81ygP8gxKLdddNsXVI/edit?usp=sharing
This work is Task 3: Development and Planning as it displays how I am developing as drummer using these exercises.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ERzjXlDzpyUtmOWulGWntUfAq81ygP8gxKLdddNsXVI/edit?usp=sharing
This work is Task 3: Development and Planning as it displays how I am developing as drummer using these exercises.
This is a list of my favourite practices from our first term of Technical Development. I will look over them and write about how each of them is useful for my final project and performance for Project 4 and how it will help me grow as a player in many ways.
Term 1 Content:
- Rock Session Style
If the song were to become more funk-rock as opposed to funk I could apply some of the techniques used here to make it more stylistically appropriate. This could include techniques like rim-shotting the snare or playing heavier by hitting the drums harder.
For this session we looked over the track ‘Rocks’ by Primal Scream. This song contains the same drum groove throughout the entire piece meaning that playing this song demonstrates discipline as it very tempting to put a fill in where there is not. It is also played heavily on the kit which is useful when playing the rock genre.
- Eighth-note Grooves
If I were to make a basic groove for this song I would look back over the content covered in this lecture to develop my technique using eighth note grooves. This will aid in me in playing the groove better from a technique standpoint and also being able to add different eighth note patterns in to keep the piece interesting.
This is the exercise I have found most useful for my Project 4 task as this one as it can improve kit mobility when performed gradually getting faster. This is due to the fact that you are moving your body with your sticks to get from the snare to the low-tom and can be used in many different styles. It’s useful because there may be some fast fills around the kit in my project 4 performance.
- Moeller Technique / Double Strokes and Accents
Regardless of the song, this technique is always useful to practice to develop your playing in any field. Looking over these technical exercises will aid my playing for all genres and I’d be able to use it for accents for and maintain speed. This could be incredibly useful for fast 16th note funk grooves and intense fills.
As well as making fills sound interesting, I can accent off-beats in a groove of a song using exercises from here. This can make something as simple as a hi-hat lick be something to look forward to in a song. This can feature in a chorus or verse and make the song more interesting from a musical standpoint.
The exercise I find most useful from this lecture is this one (see below) as it makes you use the same arm movements to do different strokes on different hands. As you can see on beats 1 and 3 you are doing doubles on your right then left hand and the switching to singles for beats 2 and 4 on your left and right hand. I find this exercise is best when looking at a mirror as you can constantly assess your technique.
- Sixteenth note grooves (Single handed and hand to hand)
These grooves can sound incredible in funk music as they are a key feature in classic funk arrangements. Artists like James Brown and Tower of Power have these in almost all of their songs. Sixteenth note grooves feature in many significant songs of many genres. From a funk and soul perspective, ‘What is Hip’ by Tower of Power uses a sixteenth note groove as well as ‘Funky Drummer’ by James Brown. They are also incredibly prominent in Pop Rock with songs like ‘Hard Times’ by Paramore and also in indie tracks like ‘Brianstorm’ by Arctic Monkeys. They are incredibly versatile when played either was as you can you accent certain notes when played hand to hand or you can get some interesting hi-hat chokes when used single handed.
I have applied these techniques in my own performance to give our songs a funk feel and in my practice routines to increase my dexterity by addressing issues with my technique when playing at speed. Here is an exercise I use to practice the hand to hand skills:
Here is an exercise I used to practice the single handed skills. I really enjoy this groove as it also practices placing accents in unusual places:
- Rudiments Pt. 1
When leading into a different area of the song, I’d be able to use a technically advanced fill from this area of term one to make my playing more impressive from a drummer's perspective and more pleasing for a listener. It can make a fill more interesting rather than settling for something incredibly basic. I try to use all the rudiments in all of my practice sessions so that I can assess my technique and sticking in a productive manner. Here is an image of the basic rudiments I practice the most:
(Apologies for the poor image quality)
- Eighth Note Anticipations
Despite being more commonly found in Punk, these nuances can have a nice effect in funk music and featured in many songs by the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Chad Smith on drums). I have applied eighth note anticipations in my own drums parts for project 4 as I have found that they can nicely connect verses and choruses in funk rock songs. One of my favourite exercises for eighth note anticipation is as follows. It’s my favourite as you can alter the dynamics in the snare leading up to it to really build tension and anticipation in a piece of music.
- Compound (and odd) Meters
Compound meters were covered in term one however odd times were not (and surprisingly weren’t covered in the entire technical developement year one module). Due to this I have provided my own exercises for learning odd meters. Compound and odd meters are incredibly important to learn as many blues and soul sounds can be in 6/8 and 12/8 which are both compound times. My favourite exercise for odd time is as follows:
I use this exercise when practicing compound time as it can be as hard as you want it to be depending on how fast you play it. I also enjoy the fills as it gives you a solid idea of what you can get away with in a bar of 6/8.
As for odd time, my favourite practice groove is a groove by Trinity Guildhall and it features in their Grade 8 Drum Exam. The piece is called Odd One Out and I unfortunately do not have access to the sheet music however I can provide a cover if you click the link here. I thoroughly enjoy playing this piece at various different speed as it is a groove that allows you to play anything in the time signature if you can conquer this. It is also incredibly useful for me to be comfortable in the time signatures 7/4 and 7/8 as I have a drum solo in one of our originals that happens to be in 7/4
- Shuffle Grooves
Shuffles are an incredibly important part of being a drummer as they are very frequently used and despite shuffles not featuring in my assessment performance, they are still incredibly useful for me to learn as a drummer to display technical improvement. In my opinion, the best shuffle to practice is the Texas/Chicago shuffle (see below) as it aids your ghosts notes and left and right hand syncopation whilst sounding amazing to a blues backing track or just a click.
- Grooves using, and accents within, double strokes
I believe that exercises like these require constant self reflection to be as efficient as possible as you can assess your technique constantly and notice and mistakes you make and amend them immediately. The exercises provided all require the same arm movements but require you to control the sticks bounce when double strokes are applied. This is incredibly useful when writing out grooves and fills that have the space to be filled with notes. A great example of the exercises mentioned are all of the below played back to back and repeated whilst assessing your technique. Speeding up this exercise after I am comfortable with the BPM I played previously has been when improvements become obvious. I have found this huge exercise to improve my technique leaps and bounds as it forces me to correct myself when I play.
Grooves with doubles are also great, especially for funk, as they allow you to add licks to the hi-hat to add texture to the song. I personally enjoy putting these little licks into songs as it can make a huge sonic and stylistic difference as it references other genres that use it such as funk, soul, rock and countless others. My favourite application of this is as follows as the six stroke roll on the hi-hat makes for a funky yet busy composition.
- Co-ordination Exercises and Phrasing Vocabulary
Regardless of what genre a drummer plays, coordination exercises are a must. In non technical terms, they teach your hands and feet to not play together. In technical terms, the exercises allow you to play accents and beats at any place using one of your limbs whilst your other limbs are playing other things on other, or possibly the same beats. This exercise is incredibly useful for practicing your coordination. It becomes increasingly difficult when you gradually increase the speed as everything lands on the beat. The challenge is deciding which limb falls on the beat as the beat is always accented but the limb it accented on varies. For example there are areas where you need to land just the bass drum on the beat but the key challenges in this exercise is making sure each limb doesn’t affect the other and that there are no conflicts between the foot and the hand accents.
