Snare drum technique: the Paradiddle.

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!

…et in Arcadia ego.

© David Valdés

Snare drum technique: the roll.

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!

…et in Arcadia ego.

© David Valdés