Drumset
Stick control warmup with samba in double bass (right foot on down beat, left foot on pickup; and the opposite); exercise inspired by Blake Fleming’s late evening practice post on Facebook – played 16th notes in feet (RF and LF lead), with one hand playing 8ths and the other playing triplets = 4:3:2 (tried hands switching sides). Thanks Blake! (In case any of you don’t know, Blake is awesome on so many levels…check him out!)
I also tried out (just reading through) the first 15 pages of exercises in a new book that I am reviewing for the Percussive Notes. The book basically takes stick control (paradiddle) exercises and writes out variations in different meters for snare alone and drumset applications.
Surface Drifts
60-end – worked through with slow DV block chords, fast 1324 rolls, and metered and unmetered SA rolls (hands together, and hands separate). I am currently working on going back and forth between playing slow-ish alternating metered SA rolls and faster alternating unmetered SA rolls because I can not get the volume I need with the faster alternating unmetered rolls (lack of strength, endurance but also due to the difficulty of doing so with very small (m2-P4 intervals) in each hand… my hope is that by working the slower metered SA rolls, I am essentially building my strength and endurance. I can get the right volume with the slower metered SA, but it doesn’t actually sound like a roll. Playing the highest Bb/C at forte in one hand with SA rolls is just difficult… add to it that the RH is playing the A right below the Bb in the RH, and things get a little awkward. 😉 I am also working this section over and over to gain control over good tone while playing these small interval SA rolls at pianissimo… also not easy. I can also get the volume with ripple (1243) rolls, but then when changing between 2 and 4 note chords there is an abrupt difference in texture. What to do?
mm. 40-60 – worked hands together and separate – no metronome
mm. 1-25 – memory test (after at least 5 days of not playing this part of the piece!) = FAILED (only remember the first two lines). However, when I tried playing through (reading), my hands remembered what they were doing. Note to self – five days away from memory work is not recommended.
