The open stroke roll is played by bouncing your sticks twice RRLLRRLL but it’s a common problem for the snare drummer to sound like RrLlRrLl which is very uneven. In order to develop a more even sounding open stroke roll you need to practice playing it like this with an accent on the second R […]
How to Play a Ruff on the Snare Drum
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Like all rudiments for snare drum the word “Ruff” is onomatopoeic. The word sounds like the action or the sound of the rudiment itself. It’s important to remember this so when you’re learning to play your Ruffs you will know how they’re supposed to sound. If you can roll your “R’s” when you say the […]
How to Play a Four Stroke Ruff on the Snare Drum
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The Four Stroke Ruff can be a tricky thing to learn but no more tricky than a lot of snare drum rudiments. I think as long as you practice you can play anything. The Four Stroke Ruff is comprised of 3 grace notes that precede the main note. There are several ways to play the […]
How to Play the Flam Tap
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The Flam Tap is another one of those onomatopoeic words that early drum teachers used to teach their students how to play the rudiments on the snare drum. It’s simply a Flam then a tap and they are played with alternate sticking. Before you go any further with this lesson, make sure you understand what […]
How to Play a Flam
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Flams can be tricky! But they are very important for every percussionist to learn how to play correctly. What is a flam? A flam is a pair of notes played on the snare drum where one note is played ever so slightly ahead of the other note. The first note is a grace note and […]
How to Wrap Timpani Mallets
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With a little practice and patience you will be able to wrap your timpani mallets with ease. Just remember to take your time and everything will work out just fine. My suggestion is to start by re wrapping some worn out mallets that you might have first and then graduate to building your own pair […]
How to Play Orchestral Castanets
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Orchestral Castanets are fun to play but they take a bit of practice to learn how to play well. To play the castanets, hold them by the handles and keep one finger touching the top castanet. You then strike the castanet against your knee. You can play the castanets one at a time or together. […]
