Has anyone conquered Alan Dawson's Rudimental Ritual?

[hwy145]

I'm about 15 rudiments in right now, and I swear my ADD is not allowing me to go any further without screwing up! I've heard and seen it done completely, but I'm not sure I can do it!

[Boomka]

I'm about 15 rudiments in right now, and I swear my ADD is not allowing me to go any further without screwing up! I've heard and seen it done completely, but I'm not sure I can do it!

Then you can't.

Change your mind.

[bballdrummer34]

You can do it, piece by piece. You don't have to learn it all at one time. Learn a quarter of it a day even and put together as you learn it. You'll get the hang of it. Then it'll seem short. Also, you could try doing it on a pad in front of a tv.

[jonescrusher]

You need to look at each named section on its own, and maybe break it down yet further, for example in passages of one rudiment played over different time values. Some parts are harder than others. You must work at very slow tempos, obviously with a metronome. Make sure that when you've got the hands worked out that you add in the foot pattern. Don't cheat yourself by ignoring it.
It will take months, not weeks, to gain the facility to be able to play it straight through, then add the foot pattern, then commit it to memory. But it is worth it, as it unlocks the secrets of many of the greatest players eg. Tony Williams, Vinnie Colaiuta...

[hwy145]

I appreciate the replies. It's adding the foot pattern that has slowed me down. I started by "cheating" and skipped the ostinato foot pattern. I've since gone back and started the right way. I was having so much trouble right off the bat with the bass pattern over the the more quirky figures such as the double drag. REALLY listening to the cd and how the bass pattern falls into it helps. I've set a goal for the end of the summer, but that might be too soon!

[SickRick]

Has anybody got a PDF or Pic of that?

I've tried to get it more than once... Just curious about it for my students and myself.

Thx.

[Muckster]

Has anybody got a PDF or Pic of that?

I've tried to get it more than once... Just curious about it for my students and myself.

Thx.

Here you go Lutz. I got mine off of Amazon.

[SickRick]

thx

I didn't know the title of the book and couldn't find anything searching for the name. I'll give that a shot.

[hwy145]

This book is well worth the $25 or so I spent on it. It has a ton of great exercises. You'll need (which I'm sure you, and every other drummer on the planet has) a copy of syncopation to go through some of the independence exercises. Best money I've spent in a long time.

[Ben Tormey]

Has anyone here tried playing it with brushes? I have enough trouble doing it with sticks!

[jazzin']

I'm about 15 rudiments in right now, and I swear my ADD is not allowing me to go any further without screwing up! I've heard and seen it done completely, but I'm not sure I can do it!

It is not so hard actually. It is long of course, but, anything with over eighty rudiments in it is going to be. The way my teacher taught it to me was in sections. You know how it is built up of smaller sections such as the 26 basic rudiments, Swiss section or the Chop building section? Practice the individual rudiments by themselves of each section first.

Once you've got the individual rudiments down first, then practice the actual rudiments as they are written in the Ritual, just like you would a snare study without the samba ostinato. Of course, once you've got that down then just incorporate the bass drum. Just think sections and pieces that build up the whole. In no time at all you'll be flying through the entire thing. Then you'll wonder how you ever did without it!


Ben: Yes, it is actually meant to be played with brushes. I also started out with sticks, but quickly moved to brushes once I had it down well. After a year or so of playing it with brushes I actually started creating my own way of playing by incorporating certain brush techniques like the slide and wire flex. Clayton Cameron has in his book a bunch of rudiments for brush playing that incorporate slides etc. If you take these and use a slide in the obvious spots in the Ritual, it is about as good a brush, coordination, hand and musical phrasing workout as you'll be likely to get! If, for example, you use the first section; You go through the three stroke ruff, single drag and double drag as normal, then on the ratamacue, double rat and triple rat you would use a slide in place of the accent. Great stuff.

[OldStampK]

By attempting go get through the ritual I found a rudiment I really need to work on. It's the alternating paradiddle-diddle starting with a ruff. I was in a pretty good flow until I got to that one. My aim is to work on it during every practice session until it's wired in, then move on. It's great to know your weaknesses, doncha think?

By the way, I'm practicing it with brushes with the foot pattern. It's more fun that way.

[Class A Drummer]

Then you can't.

Change your mind.

Well said.

I dont actually know what this Rudimental Ritual thing is, but just keep trying. Its perseverance that gets people through the tough times in drumming and life.

[rootheart]

it is my "favourite" exercise since I was introduced to it by a friend a few years ago. First I thought it would take me years to play this. I gave myself like 2 weeks for one page. It is 20 pages which would make 40 weeks, almost a year. Then I found I could go through it much faster, since I already knew most of the rudiments, and it is not really 85 rudiments since some of the exercises are variations of the same rudiment.
Essential for this exercise is not only playing it, but memorizing it.
The way I did this is: I practised to play nonstop rudiment 1 through 3. Then rudiment 2 through 4, then rudiment 3 through 5, and so on. This way never starting all over from the beginning. Sometimes I just started randomly practising e.g. rudiment 21 through 23, adding 22 through 24..So, later, whenever I play e.g. rudiment 8, it will be connected mentally with rudiment 9 coming up.
Then I posted all the pages on the wall, reading along the whole shabang nonstop over and over. Then I made copies of the pages, scaled down to almost unreadable size and posted them on the wall, reading along over and over again. Then I wrote down only the rudiment´s names in the right order on a small piece of paper, reading only this. Then I memorized this piece of paper, playing just mentally while sitting on my sofa or in a coffe shop.
It took me about 2 month of killing my brain, and I got many weird looks from my friends and family, cause I was not really talkable anymore..Then I could play the whole thing memorized nonstop and for about a year I played it every day about 2 times, just like a daily workout, instead of jogging (it is 17 minutes average). After memorizing I brought it up to speed, following Alan´s advice to play it with brushes.
Meanwhile I do not memorize it exactly anymore, but it was a really great experience, and when I improvise, things come up from somewhere. It is on my music stand right now, cause I plan to go back to rememorize it.
As you notice, I am very enthusiastic about it. It is really the best thing you can practise..work on it any way you can. Time, blood sweat and tears invested in this, IMO might give you more milage, respect and chops than investing in becoming world´s fastest doublebasss player, grin. I do have a recording playing it memorized pretty fast in a free stile jazzrock session (cause that day I had no idea of whatever to play), while a guitarplayer makes some weird noises along to it...If I can find this, browsing my archive, I might eventually post it.

[SickRick]

Hey, good this thread comes up again! I've received the copy of that book a week ago (or maybe a week and a half) and think its GREAT.

I've already memorized the whole thing except for the last page (which is a bit** btw) for which I still need the sheet. The exercise is put together with great effort and makes lots of sense so its really easy to memorize.

I've already set the goal of being able to play it at 210bpm through the whole thing - thats around the tempo Alan plays it on the CDs. I can do maybe 60 or 70% at that speed but not the whole thing. Some parts are just totally crazy at that tempo (Flam accent No.2 is insane)....

Lots of fun, great warm up routine, great way of keeping in touch with all the rudiments. Just sad that theres no Cheese in it, but I'ev added that myself along with some other stuff I learnt from Ralph Humphrey.

I can only encourage everybody to give this a shot, it totally blew my mind over the last week. Thanks for turning me on to this - biggest gain I got out of DWF so far.

Great!

[rootheart]

makes lots of sense so its really easy to memorize.

yes, I think this is another reason why I could memorize it: Understanding the structure how it was made.
Same with rudimental snare solos, eg. Tornado is easy to memorize, once you understand the strukture/story, while some of Wilcoxon´s appear to me like randomly mixing rudiments, and so, for me, it is hard to see a musical structure in them and memorize .

It does have some cheese in it, for as I lately learned from this forum about the term cheese, it basically is the swiss army triplet, or the flamtap, isn´t it?

BTW: what really turned me on for the Ritual simply was the sound of the recording of the slow version, especially the tuning of the snare. I just got addicted to this "song" after hearing it for the first time, and had it playing on my hifi over and over all day long, grin.
If you can memorize the whole thing after a week and a half: wow. I am very impressed!
Let me know about your progress in the "8 triplet ways", I´ve been working on this a lot, and I´d like to share experience

[SickRick]

BTW: what really turned me on for the Ritual simply was the sound of the recording of the slow version, especially the tuning of the snare. I just got addicted to this "song" after hearing it for the first time, and had it playing on my hifi over and over all day long, grin.
If you can memorize the whole thing after a week and a half: wow. I am very impressed!
Let me know about your progress in the "8 triplet ways", I´ve been working on this a lot, and I´d like to share experience

Well, I've worked a lot on Syncopation and Swinging it in the past years, so the 8 triplet ways are not really new to me. But I'm going to start over with that stuff again, taking all the advices you get in the book.

I have to tell you: the feel with which John Ramsey plays the ritual (the version in slow tempo) is friggin sick. He phrases the bassdrum so funny and his hands are not quite in line with it... it just swings like crazy. Perfect example that its not all about playing correctly all the time, more about how you can make it sound and swing. Because thats just one of the most swinging recording ever - also the drumsound is great but probably the opposite of what many people would consider good drumsound.
Its just great to hear what a Jazzdrummer is doing with the rudiments - it does not really sound like he's playing rudiments, more like he's playing music. That's to me what things are supposed to sound like. Man, I love that stuff... :)

[paramac]

I don't know if I "conquered it" as it could always be better , but I did do up to "Innovations" and never went any further. I learned it trad and matched brushes and sticks and pretty much have it memorized up to that point but kind of cheat and skip the 4 stroke ruff para diddle diddle and one other one around there.( I Hate that rudiment! Lol!) I did it with the Samba/ Bossa foot pattern at first then tried other such as the Biao ( I know that's got to be spelled wrong! Lol!) and a few others. I also tried it a little in 5/4 but lost interest in that after a few pages. I was made to learn it a little at a time and total relaxation was emphasized from the guy who showed it to me. No squeezing the stcks AT ALL! which at first I thought was impossible but it ain't, it just takes longer to learn that way. It's a great routine to learn and practice, have fun.

[fat in the middle]

I have been doing it for a couple months off and on, and find Its something best done consistantly. Revisiting means re-learning.[like anything]. What it does do is get me used to going over the bar line., giving a stretched sense of where 1 is. Its a challenge but a good one.

[hendrum]

Congratulations for this thread!

It took about 3-4 months to poorly play the Ritual entirely and about 1 year to play it decently. So, I think the time you spend to "conquer" it is not the most important thing. I could have so much fun playing only the American Rudiments in the Ritual form that it served as the fuel to continue practicing throughout the other sections.

Now, I have a question...

I have the book "The Drummer's Complete Vocabulary..." and noticed that some stickings and accents in the Rudiments Sections (American, Swiss, New Innovations and Chopsbuilders) are different from the Ritual transcription. It seems that some mistakes passed through the revision.

FLAM DA-DA and DA-DA FLAM stickings are the big mistery for me, since I've never studied these rudiments before taking the Ritual. At first the stickings are RRL LLR for both "flam dada" and "dada flam". However, in the transcription section it's different.

What's the right sticking ???

[jangus]

I didn't expect so many people to know of this great exercise. I have the first part memorized, up to the swiss rudiments. I used to play it once a day, not as a warm-up but immediately after my warm-up, and it helped my control. But I got away from it, and now its been a couple months since I thought about it. I gotta get back to my pad.

[THit]

The Marvin "Smitty" Smith Rudiment Ritual (circa 1985) is WAY harder!!!

[hendrum]

The Marvin "Smitty" Smith Rudiment Ritual (circa 1985) is WAY harder!!!

Where can we find Marvin's Ritual?

[The Colonel]

: Yes. (202020202020202020)

[Butch Axsmith]

YES //// //// //// ////
Butch Axsmith

[Hercraft]

Technique Question:

The first ex in the ritual is 3 stroke ruff:

llR llR llR llR x4 rrL rrL rrL rrL x4

So.. they are full strokes right?

What is the correct technique to play them?

Gladstone?

Free Stroke?

Down Up kind of corp?

I was wondering if someone could submit a video of this rudiment, because I could find anyone. I will be getting the attention of my drum teacher as well, but, information doesnt hurts isnt it?

Thanks in advance!

[ZootELoops]

I'm about 15 rudiments in right now, and I swear my ADD is not allowing me to go any further without screwing up! I've heard and seen it done completely, but I'm not sure I can do it!

How is this book different from just practicing the rudiments? I'm curious because I am working on nailing my rudiments right now and would like to know if it's worth it before I invest in another practice book before I am finished with my other 4 ;)

[jonescrusher]

How is this book different from just practicing the rudiments? I'm curious because I am working on nailing my rudiments right now and would like to know if it's worth it before I invest in another practice book before I am finished with my other 4 ;)

It's not a book but a solo piece with a foot ostinato, All the standard rudiments are included and many are played over a variety of note values. It's probably not a good one for a beginner to dive into, unless your teacher suggests it.
Work on the other books first and get the basic rudiments solid first.

[tomgrosset]

Original Question: Has anyone conquered Alan Dawson's Rudiment Ritual?

Answer: Yes!.... Try it with brushes sometime!

How is this book different from just practicing the rudiments? I'm curious because I am working on nailing my rudiments right now and would like to know if it's worth it before I invest in another practice book before I am finished with my other 4 ;)

All these rudiments have been well organized and are extremely beneficial. Like c'mon, Alan Dawson was Tony Williams' teacher for cryin out loud!!

[The Colonel]

it's actually *supposed* to be played with brushes, not sticks.

For those first 3-stroke ruffs - play them "open" and keep the ruff-strokes (the doubles) down - only playing an upstroke on the last ll before the L when the right hand starts playing the ruff strokes.

And I say "play them "open" because you're supposed to do the ritual with brushes and I would love to see a good press roll with brushes (not including the rim-rolls, for those smart asses who know about them who might comment... :P )



It's never too early to get into the Ritual if you have a good grasp of your rudiments. And if you don't - the book ("The Drummer's Complete Vocabulary As Taught By Alan Dawson") gives you roughly 3 at a time to practice - which - as Tom just said - is the same lesson structure the great Tony Williams learned.

Get the book. Become a better drummer. Enjoy.

[Hercraft]

Technique Question:

The first ex in the ritual is 3 stroke ruff:

llR llR llR llR x4 rrL rrL rrL rrL x4

So.. they are full strokes right?

What is the correct technique to play them?

Gladstone?

Free Stroke?

Down Up kind of corp?

I was wondering if someone could submit a video of this rudiment, because I could find anyone. I will be getting the attention of my drum teacher as well, but, information doesnt hurts isnt it?

Thanks in advance!

Anyone could help? Some video? Some insight?

[The Colonel]

"For those first 3-stroke ruffs - play them "open" and keep the ruff-strokes (the doubles) down - only playing an upstroke on the last ll before the L when the right hand starts playing the ruff strokes."

[Hercraft]

"For those first 3-stroke ruffs - play them "open" and keep the ruff-strokes (the doubles) down - only playing an upstroke on the last ll before the L when the right hand starts playing the ruff strokes."

Great! Thanks, I guess was that way but I couldnt see anything in video.