You may remember that, sometime ago, I wrote an article showing various rolling techniques for tambourine. That article was "Tamborine technique V. Rolls".
Ross Antonich, a follower of this blog, has got in touch with me asking about the roll we named "Riq style roll" in that article.
Trying to clarify as many points as possible regarding this rolling technique, I recorded the following video. On it, I explain how to hold the instrument and the motions producing the roll, all of them coming from the riq tradition.
This technique is a very versatile one, allowing us to play very long rolls with total fluidity, at every dynamic level and, if so we wish, articulating its beggining and ending.
I hope this video clarifies all points regarding this technique and you find it useful.
As you already know, I love learning new "tricks" and techniques so I can integrate them into my "musical arsenal". If you know of any you think I should learn, do not hesitate to contact me to tell me about it.
Obviously, these stickings can be reversed if you are left handed and convert rights into lefts and viceversa.
I decided to play the last three eighth notes with my strong hand (right one) in order to get the best rhythmical and timbrical homogeneity, but they can be played with different combinations: RRL, RLL, RLR... (and all their right/left inversions).
Every single sticking showed on the video produces a different phrasing, providing us with many different options when it comes to making music. That, and no other, is the purpose of technique: a mean to get to a musical solution that suits best a particular context.
Which sticking are you using for this famous excerpt?
New article, this time retaking an issue related to tambourine, as asked by one of the followers of Percusize Me!
There are many excerpts requiring differents types of rolls depending on dynamics, musical context...Shake or finger roll: possibilities are allmost endless, and I´m showing you a few of the many options:
The first roll is the traditional shake one, suitable for the majority of the situations. My advice is to practice it very relaxed.
The second one is a variation producing a triplet feeling. You can get the effect using the movement you use when playing single alternating strokes on marimba.
For piano and light passages, the third roll is your best option. Believe or not, I´ve used it quite a few times.
The nightmare every percussionist fears is to play a piano roll and then making a crescendo: the way I´ve found to give the roll a very clear beggining and articulation is to use the previous technique, and then play the shake. As a result, we get a very clear initial articulation, pianissimo, and the we can do a nice crescendo.
The two handed version allows great volume and a busy roll, also permiting a clear beggining and ending.
Leaning the fingers against the head we can play very long rolls without fatigue, with a very articulate beggining and ending.
Some weeks ago I saw a video by Tony Ames (principal percussion with the National Symphony Orchestra) which got my attention. That video feautures him playing the famous snare drum excerpt from the third movement of "Scheherezade" using just one hand.
You know I always try anything that can lead to a technical improvement or entails a new music making possibility. I try and work on it until I get something that wasn´t previously in my musical arsenal. Any new option is more than welcome.
As always, and before going on, here´s the part we are dealing with:
And here´s my one-handed interpretation, emulating Tony Ames:
This solution is a very interesting one, as we get a very atractive phrasing: the seven stroke roll is nicely tapered down, resulting in a very elegant and musical diminuendo. Also, the hand alternation can´t be heard, making for a very homogeneous phrasing.
Despite what it may seem, it´s not difficult to play (if we know how to get it). In my previous article "Snare drum technique: the roll" , I wrote about rebound control, and showed a video on which I was getting eight controlled rebounds. Put into context, what I´m doing here is getting a six stroke controlled rebound with my right hand, finishing it with my left one to complete the seven stroke roll and, again, use my right hand to strike the remaining three eight notes of the bar. I´m also using a "trick" I explained in the above mentioned article: I´m moving horizontally across the head in order to facilitate bouncing but, if you noticed it, I´m not moving my stick as much as Mr. Ames does, and I´m moving it more in a diagonal line instead of "vertically", trying not to get an evident timbrical change.
Moved by curiosity, I wanted to check if there was visual corespondence with what I heard and, using an audio editor, the graphic result of this one-handed "Scheherezade" is a follows (bare in mind we have a double wave because the audio was recorded in stereo):
We can clearly see every single stroke of our seven stroke roll, together with a progresive diminuendo (see the amplitude of each wave is smaller than the preceding one). We should not hear with our eyes, but it´s always a relief to visually confirm our hearing impression.
I´d like to know your opinion on the musical effect this way of playing results in. I will soon post an article on the many ways this famous excerpt can be played.
Some months ago (exactly last summer, as you will see me on the video wearing a t-shirt and tanned), one of the Percusize Me! followers asked me about the paradiddle. At that time I shot a video explaining some of my thoughts, but couldn´t upload it because my PC was running short of RAM and I could not render long HD projects.
Fortunately, after a good cleaning, an OS change, and some "steroidic" diet based on RAM modules, I can retake old projects that were left for better occasion.
In my modest opinion, not many people understand drum rudiments, what they are, what they are for, and how to practise them. Despite rudiments have been with us for centuries (first rudiments were introduced in medieval Switzerland), there are still doubts, myths and missconceptions on how to play them.
Trying to explain my thoughts on the paradiddle, I shot the following video:
Think of rudiments as a very powerful musical, independence, phrasing, rebound control, and use of inertia tool. If you see them as mere hand combinations, you would have understood nothing.
If rudiments have been with us for so long..., let´s practise them the way they deserve!
Probably, the roll is the most characteristic and idiomatic of all snare drum techniques. I always tell my students we don´t have a bow or an air column allowing us to play long notes: isolately played, a 64th note lasts the same as a whole note on a snare drum. Thus, the roll is the only way we can create the ilusion of a sustained sound.
A good rolling technique resulting in a good music making tool is a must. The sad thing is that, despite the roll being a basic technique, there are still wrong ideas and concepts arround it.
Trying to explain my thoughts on the roll, how I analyze it, the way I improved mine, and how I work to control the number of rebounds, I have shot this video:
Aplying the concept of the "Triple Stroke Roll" rudiment has been fundamental in order to improve my roll. I hope you find this video helpful.
As always, any comment helping me to become a better musician will be more than welcome. Anxiously waiting for them!
I can´t deny it´s been a surprise for Neil Grover to contact me asking for permission to add my video to the above mentioned sections. I´m proud the most prestigious brand of tambourines and other percussion instruments has liked my video.
As I´m playing again the wonderful "Capriccio Espagnol" by Rimsky-Korsakov (I have played this work several times with different orchestras, different instruments, it was the last work I played before moving to London, and it was the first I listened to being played by an orchestra in London), I´d like to write about the tambourine part, the different techniques we can use, the various "tempi" conductors can take, phrasing...
As always, before going on, here you have a copy of the part:
The tambourine doubles the melody, so precise rhythm and phrasing are a must. Having said this, there are many ways to play this excerpt but, if there´s something that is going to determine how we play it, it will be, no doubt, the tempo chosen by the maestro. Indeed, there are techniques that don´t work when the tempo is slow (the knee technique comes to mind), and others don´t work when the tempo is fast (the ordinary technique, for example). Knowing the tempo the maestro is going to take is paramount in order to successfully choose a technique to play this fragment. Once we know the tempo, we can adapt our technique.
During the last week, preparing the concert I was going to play with the Asturias Symphony Orchestra at the Vatican City, I used the regular/normal technique, as the tempo was slow enough so I could use just one hand. This also allowed me to keep the instrument high, reinforcing the visual concept.
On this video you can see various options, but it´s only at the end that technique is put into context, playing with the rest of the orchestra. The first four techniques were recorded in my classroom at the Gijón Conservatory, while the last one was recorded at "Príncipe Felipe" Auditorium during a rehearsal with the Asturias Symphony Orchestra, the camera on the music stand:
As you can see, the tempo is pretty slow, so I can use the "normal" technique. Any other, given that speed, wouldn´t have worked.
On the contrary, I want you to listen to this same fragment recorded with the Gijón Symphony Orchestra, me on tambourine as well:
It is quite obvious that the tempo is much faster, and I wouldn´t have been able to play that fast using the technique on the last video: on this recording I´m using my knee.
As you see, it´s very important to be flexible and have as many musical resources as possible, so we can face the different musical situations.
The indication "strepitoso" in the part (which literally means "with great din, racket") doesn´t involve to play with no phrasing or musical direction. It is the triangle the one in charge of "making noise", which plays 16th notes left, right and centre: in my opinion, it´s this instrument the one adding the festive and noisy character to the alborada (phrasing the triangle would be, in my modest opinion, overplaying: it is a rhythmical and phrasing pedal that should be played impassive). On the contrary, the tambourine (and later on the snare drum) has to phrase and follow the melody. My musical idea with respect to the tambourine is as follows:
You can see there are many possibilities, but just one fits a certain context. The more ways we have to face a fragment, the more possibilities of making music. Also, it´s obvious that every single technique has its own timbre, character and dynamic posibilities so, depending on what we want, we can "dive" into our "technical catalogue" and choose the technique that best suits the musical context.
As soon as I get a copy of the video featuring the concert we played at "Sala Nervi" in the Vatican City, I´ll post it so you can see the result of my "tambourine obsession".
Practising, studying and analysing the rudiments has made me realize the PAS list has quite a few errors on it. Before going on, you can download that list for free from the PAS website.
The rudiment we are going to analize is the Flam Paradiddle-diddle, which appears on the PAS list as follows:
Obviously, this rudiment comes from the Single Paradiddle-diddle:
The first problem arrises with the name of this basic rudiment: “Single Paradiddle-diddle”. As there´s no other rudiment named “Double Paradiddle-diddle” or “Triple Paradiddle-diddle”, I see no need in using "Single" to name it. All drummers in the world have had no problem identifying this rudiment as “Paradidle-diddle”. Also, it´s the only rudiment in the Paradiddle family which its pattern is written twice (see the pdf file from the previous link). The Paradiddle, Double Paradiddle and Triple Paradiddle being written twice makes sense, as these rudiments alternate hands on each beat so, before you complete a full cycle and start again with the same hand, two patterns of the rudiment have passed, thus the doble writing making sense. That´s not the case with the Paradiddle-diddle, as it always starts with the same hand, thus writing its pattern twice is not necesary.
So, the Paradiddle-diddle always starts with the same hand, and this where I think the mistake with the Flam Paradiddle-diddle comes from. Logic makes us think that the Flam Paradiddle-diddle is nothing but a Paradiddle-diddle with the adition of a flam (and that´s exactly how it is), but I think that adition of a flam should not alter in any way the sticking of the basic rudiment on which it is based. That´s where the problem lies: the Flam Paradiddle-diddle alternates hands on each beat, while his “dad” (the Paradiddle-diddle) doesn´t. Again, here are the pictures for you to check this inconsistency:
To me, it makes no sense at all to alter the basic sticking of a rudiment just because we are adding a flam. In my modest opinion, this is the correct way the Flam Paradiddle-diddle should be written:
Here´s a video on which I´m comparing both versions at different tempi:
This is my idea about the Flam Paraddidle-diddle. I think the transcription mistake is evident. What´s your opinion on this subject?
After some months away from the blog, I´m back again. As you already know, I have a passion for the sea and navigation. This months I´ve been studying and preparing my exam for becoming the Spanish equivalent to the RYA Yachtmaster Ocean, and I have passed 100% of the subjects I was enrolled in: Metereology, Oceanography, English and Radiocommunications.
Now that I have more time, I can write on the blog again... There we go!
Sometime ago, Ronny Lauten, follower of this blog, read my previous article "Tambourine Technique". As I wrote about a technique suitable for piano passages, Mr. Lauten got in touch with me, wanting to know my approach to loud ones.
Well, when I play forte, I use the same technique. When you want to play intrincate and loud passages, everything explained on that previous article is of application. Re-read it, as it has very detailed information. The only difference beween piano and forte is the velocity of attack. As my students already know, I always relate dynamics and velocity of attack: More speed always means more volume, less speed implies less volume.
On this video, you can see and hear that technique on loud passages:
This technique is very useful for things like "Capriccio Spagnol", "Carmen", "España"... It has many applications and, as it happens with its piano counterpart, it allows for the instrument to be played high, keeping the visual factor.
Many percussionists use the knee technique for these situations. Personally, (not neglecting any other way of playing, as different situations can be better resolved with certain technique instead of other), I prefer to unify criteria and play everything as simple and natural as possible. If I can play an excerpt this way, I prefer it over the knee version, as I can stay seated (read "To sit or not to seat? That is the question") and keep the instrument high.
As you can see, this technique can be used with many passages.
But... What if we need to play agile passages with very generous dynamics ("Trepak" comes to mind)? For this, I use a very similar technique. Our thumb may not be enough for dynamics above forte (quite logical as it´s only one finger), so I use a group of muscles located on the base of the palm named thenar and hypothenar prominences. It will be the red marked part the one replacing our thumb, allowing to play louder:
The difference is in the way we hit with the palm. Contrary to the way we used the thumb, which striked the instrument, it is the tambourine which produces the stroke: the right hand stays still (very important), being the tambourine with a left hand twist the one producing the stroke:
Obviously, it´s crucial for both types of stroke to be as similar as possible, resulting in a homogeneous sound. The "work load" is for the fingers, and the "extra strokes" are assignated to the base of the palm.
On the following video, you can see the different movements:
I encourage you to practice these techniques for their extraordinary versatility.
These are just a few of the many possibilities the tambourine has to offer. In future articles, I´ll write some more about different techniques for this instrument.
Tambourine is probably one of the "accessory instruments" I like to play the most. Its possibilities are almost endless, and the ammount of techniques and tricks you can use on it are countless.
Few days ago, I played for the Asturias Symphony Orchestra a work with a very interesting tambourine part: "Romeo and Juliet" by Hector Berlioz. Here´s the video of one of the concerts (you´ll have to crank the volume up, as audio hasn´t been compressed):
As always, here you have the music:
As you can see, between rehearsal numbers 18 and 19, I use a peculiar technique which consists in swinging between the middle finger and the thumb. There are several ways you could play this passage, but I used this technique because I can keep the instrument high (keeping the visual factor, which is important to the public), because I can even both rhythmycally and timbrically my strokes, and because it helps me getting the phrasing I want (energy on the first note, coming all the following ones from that first impulse, and then tappering down the motif).
To play this technique, we have to even our fingers lenght in order to get all strokes of the same intensity. For this, make your right hand adopt the shape of an inverted "C":
With the correct position, put your fingers on the frame (this way, you´ll be on the jingles, they´ll react inmediately to your stroke and won´t be late. You will also get a clearer sound, as the head won´t sound, just the jingles):
Don´t play as in the following picture, as your thumb will be more on the head, thus producing a different sound. It´s not a good posture, as you´ll have to use to movements: a piston stroke with your fingers, and a rotary one with your thumb. The "C" position is better, as it uses just one movement and is more efficient.
Once you are correctly situated on the instrument, you swing back and forth between middle finger and thumb, trying to even and homogenize the sound produced by the two different strokes. Here´s a video that illustrates it:
This technique can be used on many excerpts: "España" (Chabrier), "Iberia" (Debussy), "Scheherezade" (Rimsky-Korsakov), "Alborada del Gracioso", "Rhapsody Espagnol" (Ravel), "Nutcracker" (Tchaikovsky), "Symphony #3" (Mahler)...
Also, this technique is fantastic for playing one, two and three notes ornaments. With little modifications, we can get dynamics above forte and play things like "Trepak" from ""Nutcracker" (yes, I played it not using my knee).
If you want a versatile technique, I recommend you trying this one, as its applications are numerous.
As you already know, I have a passion for the sea and sailing. These last thirty days were devoted to studying and preparing my exam for becoming a Yacht Skipper (my previous qualification was as Leisure Boat Skipper). I had to seriously prepare my exam, so I had to spend some time studying Vessel Technology, Security, Mechanics, Navigation, Radiotelecommunications, Metereology and Law.
On it, I explained how I like attention to detail and my preference for a scientific approach with regard to snare drum technique. On that occasion I wrote about matched grip; today, I´ll explain traditional grip:
Due to the 15 minutes limitation by YouTube, I had no time to explain all things I wanted to. They will come up in future updates. However, I think I was authorized by YouTube to upload longer videos, so future updates may be longer (if that´s possible!).
I said it before, but it´s worth remembering... Technique is not a goal but a mean, a mean to take you to the real aim: Music.
Having said that, do not look down on technique. If Michael Schumacher was driving a Ford Fiesta, he wouldn´t have been seven times F1 World Champion. Your technique has to run parallel to your musical talent, or you won´t be able to express anything.
I always liked his book because of its attention to detail, its clear explanations, the application of scientific methods, its fight against some "percusive myths" and his sense of humor.
I´ve never found a snare drum book equivalent to "MOM", which explained with detail all aspects concerning the grip, how to properly strike, and which developed technical questions in a scientific way. I have read many great books (those by Queen, Moeller, Stone, Morello, Chapin..., come to mind), but none of them is as meticulous as the one Stevens wrote for marimba. If such a book as "Method of Movement for Snare Drum" exists, no doubt it´d be my favorite.
My snare drum technique comes from the observation of many percussionists, picking up those things I´ve found best suited my musical ideas, and discarding those I thought were not useful.
Observing myself, I got to describe and explain what I do and (most important) WHY. In the same way I think we have to know what to do with every single note we play (and we always must have a good reason for doing so), I also think that´s of application in the technical aspect: we must know what we are doing with our technique, why this finger is here and not there, why our hand moves this way and not the other, etc, etc...
Taking into account that what I´m about to explain is what works for me, and that it doesn´t have to necessarily work for you, this is how (trying to be as meticulous as Stevens) I undestand the grip:
Due to the 15 minutes limitation by YouTube, I had no time to explain all things I wanted to. They will come up in future updates.
Remember technique is not a goal but a mean, a mean to take you to the real aim: Music.
Having said that, do not look down on technique. If Michael Schumacher was driving a Ford Fiesta, he wouldn´t have been seven times F1 World Champion. Your technique has to run parallel to your musical talent, or you won´t be able to express anything.
The false dichotomy "technique versus musicality" many musicians believe in is quite funny, but we´ll write about it in futures updates.
Friday afternoon, due to the proximity of the weekend, is prone to make yourself relax... That´s exactly what I did yesterday, so I recorded a little caprice for snare drum.
Some of you already know that I´m messing around a lot with the snare drum, investigating, trying and discovering "new" things about the instrument and its technique. Everything that improves my control and technique, even with no obvious musical application, will be more than welcome.
Altough some techniques, "stick tricks", attitudes or movements could seem circus moves instead of musical ones, I don´t reject them for their value as a way to improve technique. For this reason, I´ve found myself trying certain things that, despite I will never use them in an orchestral situation, they´ve helped me to develop my technique to a state I have never known before.
YouTube is an invaluable source for information, where people with extraordinary talent upload their habilities. That´s what I´m doing now: surfing those videos, devouring information, assimilating it and learning as much as possible.
As a game, an inspired by the videos posted by Bill Marschall, this is what I came up with:
Take this as a divertimento, something not too important, a mere technique exercise...
Last Saturday I went sailing. It was blowing an 11 knots NorthWest wind, which backed to West and became calmed as the evening progressed. Luckily, it didn´t rain, as the forecast predicted.
Hugging to Candás, the mainsail tighten on the centerline, the Genoa jib at a fist distance from the spreader. All sails flat, perfectly trimmed, the boat heeled to leeward, and all the crew to the windward side... We got a speed of six knots, but three meters high waves slowed us down.
On the way back, when we left the green light to starboard, night fell. A little bit later, we left the nine white flashes of the Amosucas West cardinal signal to portside. At sea, it´s a pitch-black night, but Gijón shines some miles to the south...
What does this have to do with music? Who knows, maybe it depends on how you look at it... The thing is that, this sailing day, has made me remember a fantastic piece of music: "Four Sea Interludes", from the opera "Peter Grimes", by Benjamin Britten.
This composer wrote magnificent percussion parts for his works with the guide and advice given by James Blades. I didn´t get to know Mr. Blades (despite his long life), but I was fortunate enough to be taught by one of his students: Nick Cole. Also, the influence of Blades at the Royal Academy of Music (where I studied) is very significant (the room in the basement is named "James Blades Percussion Studio"). For all these reasons, the percussion parts by Britten are quite familiar to me.
"Dawn", the first of the interludes, is beautiful, and I can almost feel the cold of a clear morning by the sea. The second one, "Sunday morning", is fresh, clean, clear... "Moonlight" is fantastic, which makes me think of a summer night, a warm breeze blowing, the moon lighting a white thread on the calmed sea... Flute and xylophone are, in my imagination, shooting stars which brighten up a clear sky full of still stars. Here goes this fantastic piece of music in a version by the Boston Symphony:
As percussionists, I´m quite sure is the fourth interlude ("Storm") the one we know better.
The timpani part is crucial for the mood of this interlude (I´ve played it some years ago at the Academy), but the most famous one is the tambourine part.
When I played that part (sorry, I have no recording of it), I used a small instrument (8 inches) so as to help me with the dynamics, with tinplate jingles to get a higher timbre than that produced by berillium/copper ones, so I can blend better with the flutes (the instruments I´m doubling). I also want to make contrast with the somber character of the beggining (the last part seems to recreate sun beams trying to get across the clouds, the storm about to finish).
To make the roll easier (which I play with my middle finger), I glued some sandpaper (thinest one) on the tambourine. This way, I always get friction, so I always get a roll, not needing to wet the finger or things like that.
See that I play softer those notes after the rolls so as to phrase like the flutes. Crescendi and diminuendi are difficult, so you better practise them... The good thing is that rolls start with an accent, making them easier to play (the beggining is more secure with the accent). To facilitate the last roll, I situate the tambourine in a vertical position, so the jingles are not stuck on top of each other, they are free to ring, and react better to my finger.
So... A sailing day inspired me to write about an important excerpt of the tambourine repertoire. Weird? Maybe...
