Let’s face it. Everyone knows that timpani sound incredible! They have a wonderful sound that supports the ensemble both with rhythm and with pitch. But, if the timpanist doesn’t play their drums in the right spot on the head timpani don’t sound good at all. If you play too near the center your drums will […]
Advanced Cross Sticking with Kung Fu Action
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In the last lesson on timpani cross sticking technique, I talked about learning to cross stick and gave a rather simple exercise to practice. It’s necessary to start slowly and work up speed so once you’ve become comfortable with the basics it’s time to kick it in to a higher gear. Cross Sticking with Kung […]
Timpani Roll Practice Exercises: Roll and Control
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This exercise is tricky because you need to maintain the roll on one drum while playing the individual notes at the same time. Your ability to shift from right and lead to left hand lead will improve by practicing this carefully. This exercise continues to develop your rolling technique and it helps you to develop […]
How to Play a Fortissimo Piano Roll with a Crescendo on Timpani
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What do we do when we see the following dynamic notation in a piece we’re playing? The trick is to play the drum loudly with a single note and to be patient. Let the sound almost die away to nothing and then start your roll at that very quiet level of sound. Then take your […]
What’s the Difference Between Legato and Staccato for Timpani?
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Legato and Water Water flows and never stops moving. Legato passages in music flow from one note to the other. Staccato and fire Fire flashes with speed and is hot to the touch. Staccato passages in music sparkle and leap from one note to the other. These two concepts are difficult to understand without seeing […]
How to Change a Timpani Head
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Changing the heads on your timpani is a necessary fact of drum maintenance. If you are playing your drums regularly you should really change the heads a least once per year or more often if they become damaged with dents or holes. It’s really not that difficult to change the head, but it does become […]
