Here is another timpani roll exercise that involves moving between four drums instead of two.
Left hand and Right Hand Lead Drum Rolls
When you roll between drum and you’re looking for everything to sound smooth and legato you have to be able to switch from a RIGHT HAND LEAD drum roll to a LEFT HAND LEAD drum roll.
What does this mean?
A RIGHT HAND LEAD ROLL means that you’re thinking that your RIGHT hand is dominant or R l R l R l R l.
A LEFT HAND LEAD ROLL is just the opposite and your LEFT hand is the dominant hand.
When you are playing an exercise like the one below where you are switching to the drum to your Right and then to your Left you have to change how you are thinking about the roll.
This Video Will Help You Understand the Difference Between Right Hand Lead Rolls and Left Hand Lead Rolls
Here’s how you do the exercise:
- Switch from Right hand lead to Left hand lead
- Shift your body quickly
- Move fluidly between the drums
- Tune the drums A C D F
- Practice at all dynamic levels from ppp to fff and beyond
- Don’t play any unwanted accents
