Practicing Drum Rudiments for Musicality

JoeOsoDopke

Junior Member
What's good?
I'm trying to focus on really learning my drum rudiments currently, and rather then requesting tips on technique or what-have-you, I'm looking for some ideas on how to practice rudiments in a way that promotes their musical significance. Any ideas? Not just for drilling them into my head, but for really digging deep into the rudiment itself and exploring it, and being able to use it effortlessly.
 
What's good?
I'm trying to focus on really learning my drum rudiments currently, and rather then requesting tips on technique or what-have-you, I'm looking for some ideas on how to practice rudiments in a way that promotes their musical significance. Any ideas? Not just for drilling them into my head, but for really digging deep into the rudiment itself and exploring it, and being able to use it effortlessly.

Split the hands between sound sources; e.g., right hand on snare, left hand on hi-hat or visa-versa. Use snare/toms, toms/cymbals or whatever permutation you want. Keep your left hand on sound-source while moving the right hand and visa-versa. The possibilities are endless. Once you grasp the rudiment all over the kit with your hands, split the hands and feet, etc, etc...

One great example of a cool rudiment groove is Bill Bruford's part on "Heart of the Sunrise" by Yes. He's playing a paradiddle-diddle split between the hi-hat and snare and uses accents to make the groove interesting. Also, if you split a paradiddle-diddle between the hats or ride and the snare, you'll get the "jazz ride pattern" in a very even, precise way. That's also a cool way to practice jazz patterns.
 
What's good?
I'm trying to focus on really learning my drum rudiments currently, and rather then requesting tips on technique or what-have-you, I'm looking for some ideas on how to practice rudiments in a way that promotes their musical significance. Any ideas? Not just for drilling them into my head, but for really digging deep into the rudiment itself and exploring it, and being able to use it effortlessly.

A drummer's drumset playing will only be as good as his or her abilities on the snare drum... Drummers use rudiments all of the time on the snare, and a great way to learn rudiments is playing written snare drum solos.

I use Wilcoxon and Pratt books all of the time. I started using them on the pad because they were a fun break from playing drills all day long, but I started to realize the benefits of these solos when I moved them onto the snare drum:
1. Learning how to apply rudiments in a musical context
2. Working on technique (touch, tone...)
3 Improving reading

Set the snare drum up away from your kit and try some written solos. When you find a one that you like, start at a slow tempo, memorize it and really get it down. Then you can slowly move up the tempo. Sometimes I do the opposite, and slow the tempo down - this helps you work on control, and allows you to hone in one you hand's mechanics, to make sure you're playing with good clean technique. Always record yourself and make sure they groove!
 
A lot of great advice here! I would also add that as you play, be conscious of practicing at different volume levels, as well as speeds. Your control will really take off when you can play a piece at regular speed but play at ppp or pp. One of the most challenging pieces ever written for snare drum is Ravels Bolero. It is a mind boggelingly simple 4 bars, but repeated over and over for about 15 minutes, starting from barely audible to "let her rip!" One long, measured, steady, unwavering crescendo that demands perfect stick control.

Drumming is all about stick control! If you don't have it, buy a copy of stick control by George L. Stone.
 
Ultimately rudiments all lead to musicality as they build abilities and more capable hands. Capable hands allow you to play way more things with way more natural and musical flow.

Nevermind the rudiments themselves, it's what they develop in each hand. If the point of rudiments was to orchestrate them around the kit I'd probably blow it off as that seems like a lot of work for relatively little return. (Though technically every time you hit a drum you're playing a rudiment.)
 
What's good?
I'm trying to focus on really learning my drum rudiments currently, and rather then requesting tips on technique or what-have-you, I'm looking for some ideas on how to practice rudiments in a way that promotes their musical significance. Any ideas? Not just for drilling them into my head, but for really digging deep into the rudiment itself and exploring it, and being able to use it effortlessly.

I have to admit, I've often been perplexed by the "learn some rudiments, then make music with them" method. Don't get me wrong, I get the value of rudiments for entraining particular movement patterns, etc. But the applicability of many of them to the vocabulary of modern drum set playing is not always immediately apparent. Of course, in other cases they ARE the vocabulary of modern drumset playing - e.g. where would we be without Steve Gadd's paradiddles and ratamacues? And many, many, many great players and teachers have utilised this method. It can work.

A fellow named Jim Blackley came up with a different solution a long while back. Jim surmised that in order to play the drum set well, it wasn't "rudiments" per se that one needed but a system for teaching rhythm that would incorporate various rudiments along the way. Rhythm (music) first. Then the technique to execute the rhythm.

The result was Syncopated Rolls for the Modern Drummer. http://jimblackley.com/?cat=7

The method is to start with a rhythm, say 4 quarter notes. Then, that rhythm becomes a series of accents in various subdivisions. The subdivisions and accents are then executed using various stickings (singles, doubles, paradiddles, flams, etc.) Effectively, your hand technique is developing as part of your rhythmic development.

Another good book for this sort of thing is Dave Stanoch's Mastering The Tables of Time. There, he takes various stickings and hand/foot combinations through common subdivisions. The musical inspiration tends to take care of itself as you go through it, in my experience.
 
I agree with your post for the most part, Boomka. But I'll also throw in that pure rudimental playing, specifically the rudimental breakdown, is an art form in and of itself. It's a discipline that develops balance, purity of stick sound, volume control and dynamics while shifting speed. It's the challenge and reward of playing a pattern in its traditional form. And while this approach isn't a direct method for working your sticks within a melodic framework, it can be a powerful supplement.
 
I am always inspired when I listen to Frank Arsenault play the rudiments, then put them together in traditional and classic drum solos. To me it is pure drumming in its simplicity . . . one person and one drum. It is an art form in itself, the original rudimental drumming!
 
There's a great new post on swiss triplets. You can do this with any rudiment and it's really still just the tip of the iceberg.

Really, the potential is endless. Play the rudiment, choose a framework to incorporate it in and just do a little twist, when you can do that and another twist, soon you have ideas for days.

Definetly check out the Wilcoxon and Pratt material. They're stringing rudiments together into etudes that are very different from just playing static rudiments. Making those flow requires way more focus. Move those to the kit and have fun. Take bars you like and see how much you can get out of them.
 
One method I do is this......

I pick a simple, relatively slowish drumless backing track in straight 4/4.

Then I choose one rudiment and use that one rudiment only for the groove and fills.

As you become comfortable with it, I add in accents, voice substitution and voice displacement incorporating the whole kit.....but I never waiver from the original rudiment, it kinda keeps you focused doing that.

It really does make you resourceful to make the most out of one rudiment.

Then you can swing the same rudiment with different genres of backing tracks, play it faster, slower, with brushes......so on and so forth.
 
Any tips for getting young students to engage with this type of stuff?

Here's a couple of suggestions from a perennial beginner.

Teach the roll rudiments using buzzed rolls so students can hear them and play them at tempos where they might actually be useful, right from the get-go. Then teach the open roll interpretations as a separate exercise, with the goal of eventually cleaning up the buzzed rolls. It's discouraging to spend hours tapping out long roll rudiments in slow motion.

Another idea would be to find pieces where flams, drags, and paradiddles sound musical when played at slow tempos, so students can hear practical applications they might actually be able to play, as opposed to listening to virtuoso's peeling off rudiments at speeds few people in the world can match.
 
Back
Top