Eighth Note Triplets

Eighth Note Triplet

Triplets are a funny little grouping of notes. They find themselves throughout all musical genders from rock, to the blues, and jazz. This material presented here is based on the notes that were presented to me by my drum instructor Jack Hall on May 22^nd, 2013 at his studio at the Willis MusicStore on Hurstbourne Lane here in Louisville KY.

To quote the book “The Total RockDrummer” by Mike Michalkow published by Alfred, “Lots of songs by Elvis Presley, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ray Charles and other use triplets beats. One very popular song using this rhythm is “Hold the Line” by Toto, featuring Jeff Porcaro on drums.”

Another rock song that utilizes triplets in the main groove of the song after the into, according to the book is “Hot For Teacher” by Van Halen featuring Alex Van Halen on drums.

Steward Copeland of the Police, using triplets on the “Walking on the Moon” for the main groove of the song.

If you have not heard these songs or it's been a while, I would recommend going back and taking a listen to assist understanding this lesson after you have finished reading. I have provided the links to the song videos below that are on YouTube.

Toto - Hold The Line

Van Halen - Hot For Teacher

The Police - Walking on the Moon

The notation for triplets are a grouping of three notes together with a beam above it with a "3" (refer to above image Eight Note Triplet).  For common time signature (4/4) there will be 24 notes to a measure (refer to the below image Eighth Note Triplets - Exercise 1).  If you do not know music notation or need a refresher take at my Music Theory and Applying The Theory articles that I have previously developed.

Eighth note triplets are counted, 1-trip-let, 2-trip-let, 3-trip-let, 4-trip-let and 1-trip-let-&-trip-let, 2-trip-let-&-trip-let, 3-trip-let-&-trip-let, 4-trip-let-&-trip-let.

Now that you know what triplets are, let me present to you some exercises that will help to get you playing them on the drum kit.

Lesson Objectives

To introduce triplets in a 4/4 time signature and provide exercises that assist in developing the technique to play this grouping of notes to the drum kit.

PDF document is now available for downloading: Eighth Note Triplets

Exercises

The first exercise introduces the eighth note triplets by playing triplets on all the eighth notes.  It starts out with 1-trip-let-&-trip-let with the first note played on the hi-hat, then two beats of the snare drum which completes the first eighth note triplet. It is then followed another triplet that starts on the & of 1 and counted &-trip-let with again the hi-hat on the & and two snare drum beats on trip-let.  This pattern repeats for the remainder of the measure; remember to count them 1-trip-let-&-trip-let, 2-trip-let-&-trip-let, 3-trip-let-&-trip-let, 4-trip-let-&-trip-let.

IMPORTANT: All Notes are equality spaced.

Eighth Note Triples - Exercise 1

The second exercise (refer to Eighth Note Triplets - Exercise 2) is more in line with what you will find in a song.  It starts out with two eighth notes (1, &) with hi-hat and kick drum played together, the count of 2 is hi-hat and snare played together, the &-trip-let is hi-hat, followed by a snare and another snare, 3 and & of 3 is the same as beat 1 and & of 1 and the measure ends with the count of 4 with a hi-hat and snare played together follow by a hi-hat on the & of 4

Eighth Note Triples - Exercise 2

The third exercise (refer to Eighth Note Triplets - Exercise 3) uses the second exercise as the basis but adds another triplet on the count of 3 with a hi-hat and kick drum, trip has a snare beat, let has another snare beat followed by the & with the hi-hat and kick drum combo.

Eighth Note Triples - Exercise 3

The forth exercise (refer to Eighth Note Triplets - Exercise 4) uses the third exercise as the basis but adds another triplet on the count of 1 with a hi-hat and kick drum, trip has a snare beat, let has another snare beat followed by the & with the hi-hat and kick drum combo.

Eighth Note Triples - Exercise 4

The fifth exercise (refer to Eighth Note Triplets - Exercise 5) changes things up.  This measure starts out with a triplet on the count of 1 with hi-hat, then snare, then another snare beat, followed by a triplet on the & of 1 with again a hi-hat, snare beat and another snare beat.  The second beat is a hi-hat and snare beat and the & of 2 is a hi-hat.  The count of 3 and 4 are subdivided (repeated from count of 1 and 2) to end the measure.

Eighth Note Triples - Exercise 5

The six exercise (refer to Eighth Note Triplets - Exercise 6)again changes things up by replacing the triplet kick drum and place it with the snare drum with starting out with hi-hat and kick on 1, snare on trip and let, followed by the same triplet on the & of 1 with hi-hat, snare, snare combination. Again the reminder of the measure is subdivided for the count of 3 and 4 (repeated from count of 1 and 2).

Eighth Note Triples - Exercise 6

The final exercise (refer to Eighth Note Triplets - Exercise 7) starts out with a triplet on the count of one with hi-hat, kick drum and kick drum, the same is applied to the & of 1, the count of two repeats the count of one the final two beats are the count of 3 with a hi-hat and snare combo and the count of 4 repeats the count of 3.

Eighth Note Triples - Exercise 7

This wraps up this lesson, which focused on introducing eighth note triplets, triplet notation and some exercises to get you going on the kit.  Now take these to you kit and start applying what you just learned (PDF version of the exercises here). Remember to start these out slowly and gradually increase your speed when and only when you can play them without errors and comfortably.  Use a metronome when you are practice so that you can hear the spacing between the notes and make sure that you play them evenly.  Prefect Practice Makes Prefect!  Bad Practice, just makes bad. Also, try and come up with some beats of your own take those to you the kit.  Keep it about the music and if you have any questions, visit my contact page and use one of the methods to reach me.  Have a great day and thanks for reading!

Resources

The Total Rock Drummer by Mike Michalkow

The Total Rock Drummer is a unique and exciting journey through the diverse world of rock drumming. Start with basic lessons in keeping a beat, and end up playing sophisticated fills and solos. This book features many of the styles that make rock drumming so challenging, yet rewarding, and is meant for all drummers from beginners to advanced players. Learn everything from rockabilly and reggae to funk and progressive rock, plus actual drumbeats from famous rock tunes by Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, The Police, Tool, Green Day, and more! This is the one place to get everything you need to make you a great rock drummer. A CD demonstrating the examples in the book is included.

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Linear Patterns - Do you have Independence and coordination?

Independence you maybe asking? You may have answered, "Sure, I have independence!" I'm sure that you do, you can independently do things on your own such as putting in practice toward your art (drums) and maybe able to play basic drum beats, among other things.  But do you truly have "Drum Independence?"  This maybe one of the important, if not the one the most, aspects of being a drummer.  Is your left hand as good at playing the hi-hat as your right hand, is your left foot as strong as your right in playing a rhythm on the hi-hat or kick drum? Independence, or coordination, with drummers is about limb development so that each is as strong as the other.

Marvin Dahlgren said in the introduction of his book (4-Way Coordination by Marvin Dahlgren and Elliot Fine), "This book was written for the drummer interested in developing coordination between both hands and both feet.  The development of this technique will lead to complete independence."

In today's world of drumming, it is vital to the drummer that he have independence in order to play the best that he can and be as versatile as possible.

Jack Hall, my drum instructor told it to me like this, "You may have to continue to play a rhythm with your right hand and right foot, but you may also have to move over to play a tambourine with your left hand, or hit electronic sensor that will play an audio track. All while not interrupting the current groove of the song."

Today fellow drummers, musicians and followers, I present the eighth drum lesson that covers the topic of Linear Patterns that when practiced the right way will increase your technique, independence and coordination between your hands and feet.  The exercises presented here are re-produced from the lesson taught to me by my drum instructor, Jack Hall, at his studio on May 22nd, 2013 at the Willis Music Store on Hurstbourne Land here in Louisville KY. Also check out the resource section of this article that includes some great books on drum independence / coordination. 

What are Linear Patterns?

Linear, as I was informed by my drum instructor, means "One" and by definition it says, "Having only one dimension".  

Patterns, I know what this is, something that repeats in a predictable manner.

So Linear Patterns for the drummer is a set of patterns that will focus on one limb beats.

Lesson objectives:

Present a group of exercises that when applied, will work the limb independence. The below exercises, use the right hand on the hi-hat and left hand on the snare drum.  After completing a measure and getting accustomed to the pattern to be played, you will want to play the it a second time without stopping, but this time switch the right hand to play the snare part and the left hand to play the hi-hat. For me, this took some time to get accustomed too and still working on.

Notes: "Speed Kills" is the warning that my instructor provided to me with these exercises and I can testify to this fact working through the exercises so far.  I normally recommend that you work with a metronome with the work that I present, but this has been the exception so far, work on just getting the patterns down with the right hand as the lead, then work on trying to do them with the right hand as the lead then switching to the left hand as the lead.

PDF document is now available for downloading: Drum Lesson 8 - Linear Patterns

Exercises:

The first measure starts off with a kick drum on the 1, hi-hat on the e, snare on the & and another hi-hat on the a.   On the beat of two, there is a snare drum, followed by a hi-hat, snare on & and hi-hat on a. For three and four, one and two repeat to end the measure.  If you don't know how to read sixteenth notes, take a look at this lesson as each of the measures are in sixteenth notes: Drum Lesson 1 - Musical Theory.

Linear Patterns - Exercise 1

The second measure starts off like the first, except there are changes to the second and forth beats.  The & of 2 changes from a snare drum to a kick drum and same applies to the & of 4.

Linear Patterns - Exercise 2

The third measure maintains the first and second sections of the measure and replaces the e of 2 and 4 with a kick drum.

Linear Patterns - Exercise 3

The forth measure we change up the whole measure by replacing the hi-hat on the e of 1 and e of 3 with a snare drum and replacing the snare that was on the & of 1 and & of 3 with a kick drum.  On the second and forth beats, the kick drum on the e of 2 is moved to the & and replaced with a hi-hat on the e; same changes apply to the beat of 4.

Linear Patterns - Exercise 4

The fifth measure carries forward some of the notes from the above such as the first and third beat phrase. The second set of notes the kick drum is moved to the e of 2 and replaced with a hi-hat on the &; same applies to the forth beats.

Linear Patterns - Exercise 5

The sixth measure we mix it up again, this time we move the hi-hat from the a of 1 to the e of 1, move the snare to the & of 1 and the kick drum to the a of 1; same applies to the 3rd set of beats.  The second and forth set of beats, the kick drum in moved to the & and the hi-hat that was on the & is moved to the e.

Linear Patterns - Exercise 6

The seventh measure keeps the setup of the first and third beats, but moves the kick to the e of 2 and replace it with a hi-hat; same applies to the forth set of beats.

Linear Patterns - Exercise 7

The eighth measure keeps the same first and third measures that the previous two introduced, but again changes the second and forth to replace the kick on the e of 2 with a hi-hat and the hi-hat & of 2 is now has a snare drum replacement.

Linear Patterns - Exercise 8

The ninth measure mixes things up again.  The measure starts out with a snare on 1 and 3, hi-hat on e, snare on & and kick on a; same applies to the third set of sixteenth notes.  The second and forth have a snare on the 2 and 4, hi-hat on e, kick drum on & and hi-hat on a.

Linear Patterns - Exercise 9

The final measure is a slight modification of the ninth measure.  The second and forth set of notes say the same.  The first and third measures start out with a hi-hat, kick on the e, hi-hat on the & and another kick on the e.

Linear Patterns - Exercise 10

This is a challenging lesson!  I was introduced to this set of exercises about three weeks ago and I have only gotten through the first six exercises with both the right hand as the lead and then switching to the left hand as the lead.  As I mentioned before, "Speed Kills" and should not be the focus of doing these exercises, speed will come in time, this is about developing independence.

My challenge to you know is to download the Linear Patterns for Drums PDF that includes the exercises presented above, take this take this to your kit and get started today on improving your independence and coordination!

Also, take a look at the resource section below and see about getting one or more of these great resources for more exercises to assist you.

If you have any questions, reach out to me through the various ways that I have listed on my Contact page.  Remember to have fun, keep it real and about the music!

Resources:

Here are some great resources that will assist you in developing more independence within your drumming.  Each of these books have been listed as essentials to learning to play the drums and to take your skills to the next level.

Gary Chaffee - Linear Time Playing

An introduction to linear time playing. The first section contains basic exercises for linear playing skills: voice coordination, dynamic balance, accenting, and more. The second section deals with the development of time feels in the linear style, including 4/4, half-time, shuffle, and odd meter feels.

4-Way Coordination by Marvin Dahlgren and Elliot Fine


Proficiency as a drummer has always come from great hand dexterity. However, with the introduction of modern drumming techniques, it has become increasingly necessary to gain complete independence of both the hands and feet. With various rhythmic exercises in easy-to-read notation, 4-way Coordination is designed to guide the drummer from simple patterns to advanced polyrhythms. Through the study of this method book, the student will gain invaluable listening skills and techniques that will provide insight to drumming in all styles.

 Master Studies by Joe Morello

This is the book on hand development and drumstick control. Master Studies focuses on these important aspects: accent studies, buzz-roll exercises, single and double-stroke patterns, control studies, flam patterns, dynamic development, endurance studies, and much more!

The New Breed by Gary Chester

This is not just another drum book, but rather a system that will help you develop the skills needed to master today's studio requirements. By working with this book, you'll improve your reading, concentration, coordination, right and left-hand lead, and awareness of the click.

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Technique - Take Your Stick Control to the Next Level

Hello again fellow drummers, musicians and followers. I came across something that I had to include in my daily practice routine and thought so highly of it that I wanted to pass a long to you as well.  I hope that it will assist in improving your drumming technique and allow you to get the best out of the time that you are spending during your practice sessions. 

This technique improvement is based on the book Stick Control for Snare Drummers written by George L. Stone published originally back in 1935.  You can order a copy of the book from Willis Music Store or from Amazon.com: Stick Control for Snare Drummers written by George L. Stone. 

This book is one of the most highly recommended drum books ever written in order to improve your technique; no matter what type of drummer you are. Here is the description of the book on Amazon:

"George Lawrence Stone's Stick Control is the original classic, often called the bible of drumming. In 1993, Modern Drummer magazine named the book one of the top 25 books of all-time. In the words of the author, it is the ideal book for improving ""control, speed, flexibility, touch, rhythm, lightness, delicacy, power, endurance, preciseness of execution and muscular coordination,"" with extra attention given to the development of the weak hand. This indispensable book for drummers of all types includes hundreds of basic to advanced-level rhythms, moving through categories of single-beat combinations, triplets, short roll combinations, flam beats, flam triplets and dotted notes, and short roll progressions."

My drum instructor informed me that I will be working out of this book in the future. Okay, enough about the book, lets get to the meat and potatoes of why I'm writing this, the exercise that inspired me.  This repost is from jazzsnob on the DrummersMagazine.com Official Discussion Form posted on 09/08/2006 (see resource STICK CONTROL (george L stone) your experiences and suggestions) in which he describes how he was taught to use the exercises that are in the book:

"This is an awesome thread, and I hope it gets stickied. I'll add the way I learned.

This is by no means the only way to do stick control, but this is a proven way to get some serious technique together. It requires A LOT of patience, and I don’t suggest starting it if you aren’t going to finish it. It’s EXTREMELY difficult sometimes. And also, the method takes about 3-5 years to complete. And you only practice the first page of the book. 

THE JIMMY SAGE/CHUCK BROWN/BILLY GLADSTONE METHOD FOR STICK CONTROL. 
Set your metronome to an 8th note of about 100. Most drummers should be able to do anything on the first page at that tempo after a few minutes of messing around. Now spend an entire week working(I’m sorry, I don’t have my book with me, so I don’t have exact numbers) on the . Just singles, doubles, and the first paradiddle exercise. Only those two , extremely slow. The doubles and paradiddles should sound EXACTLY like singles. It’s good to go over this method with a teacher, or to record yourself doing it on a snare drum to make sure everything is perfect. Then, one week later, you practice single, doubles, and the next exercise, inverted paradiddles(RLLRLRRL). If it takes you two weeks to get it perfect, fine. Give youself time on these excercises.

Another difficult part of the exercise is that every minute or so you should raise your stick to at least a 12-16 inch height and play at that height for 8 measures. Then you bring in back down. You must do this perfectly in time and make sure all the strokes are still uniform in dynamic and tonal quality and all that jibba jabba. This will give you “good pain” after a while, your muscles WILL get sore, but they will never give you terrible pain.

Remember, just like G.L. Stone said, stay relaxed 100% of the time, even when you go up. You should be putting at least 30 minutes a day into these excercises.

So you spend 2 months, going through excercises 5-24 or something at tempo 100. Done now? Great! Now you do it all over again at 104! and 108! and 112! and 116! and so on!. Never go up more then one click on a metronome when starting the page over.

The reason this exercise method is so difficult is because you have to be so patient. A lot of younger drummers especially want to start faster, speed up the next day, blah blah blah. If you do that you WILL NOT IMPROVE AS QUICKLY. This exercise really seriously does require patience. It apparently takes an entire year to get from 200 to 208.

The reasons this exercise is GREAT are numerous. First of all, you are always working on singles and doubles. Singles and doubles are what most of drumming is made of. Second of all, spending a couple weeks on only one combination of 8 notes makes you completely intimate with the pattern, and you will be able to interchange it in time with any feel you want. I guarantee you that by the time you finish this exercise(in 2112 or so) you will have some SERIOUS technique. One of my drum teacher’s older students is on 176 or something(he's been doing for 3 1/2 years) and has some crazy technical abilities. 

Good technique means you can learn parts faster.

Yay for good technique!

p.s. do these excercises on a practice pad with LOTS of rebound. Don't worry, you won't need a pillow to "feel the burn" once you get to about 138 or so."

This is a great technique of the application of exercises the book has to offer that will help build your technique as I quote the book, "control, speed, flexibility, touch, rhythm, lightness, delicacy, power, endurance, preciseness of execution and muscular coordination,"

I have been using this technique now for about two weeks and I already have seen improvement in playing singles, doubles and the paradiddle as it relates to grooving these with the metronome. I have also turned on my instructor onto this method and maybe one day he will be using it with his other students.

 

Resources:

Top 25 Timeless Drum Books by Modern Drummer Magazine:
http://www.moderndrummer.com/site/2013/04/25-timeless-drum-books/#.UZr7oUmv9mI

STICK CONTROL (george L stone) your experiences and suggestions:

http://drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17751&highlight=stick+conrol

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Drum Lesson 7 - Alternated Patterns Part 3

Hello again fellow drummers, musicians and followers. This is the seventh edition of my drum lesson series which covers the third and final part of the Alternating Patterns that introduces Ghost Notes. This notes are created from my lesson occurred on May 8, 2013 at my instructor's studio at Willis Music Store on Hurstbourne Lane here Louisville Ky. This lesson builds upon playing on the Hi-Hat and snare (Alternating Patterns Part 1) and playing on two surface patterns (Alternating Patterns 2); I recommend that you take a look at those to lessons before tackling this one.

Some great news! 

Starting with this lesson, I am going to provide a link to a PDF document that has all the practice measures for the lesson.  I believe this is valuable and easier for anyone that wants to practice the exercises at the drum kit; you will be able to print it or pull it up on screen.  I am using Google Docs to share these documents, so it's safe and secure.  The link will be provided in the Lesson Objectives section.

What are Ghost Notes? 

Ghost notes are notes that are played around the drum knit just as you would normally, but you play them at a lower volume. This is done by tapping the voice (cymbal, snare, kick, etc) such as in the case of the snare, hitting it more toward the outside of the head. This is one way of adding another dimension to your playing.  Ghost notes are indicated in music notation by placing parenthesis around the note that is to be played ghosted.

Lesson objectives: 

Play alternating strokes with the left and right hand's with ghost notes on the snare drum and improve coordination between the left hand and the right-foot.

PDF document is now available for downloading: Alternated Patterns Part 3 - Ghost Notes

Practice Tips: 

Play slowly, with a metronome, one measure at a time until you're able to play the measure without errors, then move on to the next measure and repeat the process. Once all measures have been completed, start over and increase the tempo of the metronome. Also, if you have not worked with sixteenth notes, please take the time to review this lesson: Applying the Theory.

Exercises: 

The first measure that is presented below starts out with a hi-hat and kick drum on 1, ghost note on the snare on e, hi-hat on & and ghost note on the a. The count of 2 has a snare hit at normal volume followed by a ghost note on the e, hi-hat on & and a ghost note on the snare drum a. The measure is sub-divided so that this repeats on the 3 and 4 counts.

Note:

The right hand will play the hi-hat and the left hand will play the ghosted snare drum parts, but the right hand will need to drop down on the count of 2 and 4 to play a full stroke on the snare drum and then move back up to the hi-hat for the count of &.

The second measure is the same as the first but a second kick drum is added to the & of 1, the & of two the & of 3 and the & of 4. Nothing special here, but again be mindful of the sticking in that you will be dropping down the right hand to the snare drum on the counts of 2 and 4.

The third measure again just adds another kick drum, this time on the e of 1 and the e of 3.

The forth measure is where we move a couple of things, we move the kick from the & of 2 and 4 to the e of 2 and 4; you will notice that they are now converted to an eighth note. This helps to work and build the coordination between the left hand and right-foot.

The fifth measure builds upon the changes that occurred in forth measure by adding back the kick on the & of 2 and 4.

The sixth measure moves the kick drum again on the 2 and 4 beats this time to the a of 2 and the a of 4. This again exercises the left hand and right-foot coordination.

The seven measure, the kick on the beat of 1 is removed and likewise the one of the beat of 3.

The final measure (eight), the kick is added back to the beat of 1 and 3, but we removed the one on the count of e and a of 2 and 4 and move it to the beat of & for 2 and 4.

And there you have it, the seventh edition of my lessons in which Ghost Notes are introduced along with accompanying exercises. Like I mentioned in the Practice Tips above, start playing slowly, with a metronome, one measure at a time until able to play the measure without errors, then move on to the next and repeat the process. Once all measures have been completed, start over and increase the tempo of the metronome. Then try playing all the measures in succession. I hope that each of you were able to take away something useful from this lesson and to add yet another set of exercises to you drumming toolkit. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me and I will provide any assistance that I can to help you with this lesson. Keep it real and keep on making it about the music.

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Drum Lesson 6 : Alternating Patterns Part 2

Lesson six occurred on April 24^th, 2013 at my instructor's studio at Willis Music store on Hurstbourne Lane in Louisville Ky. This is the continuation of the Alternating Patterns (See Drum Lesson Five – Alternating Patterns Part 1) with a slight modification as discussed below in the objectives.

Here's the objectives: To use both hands playing alternating strokes with the left and right hand's applied to two surfaces (Hi-hat and Ride Cymbal) and also to work on getting the left hand and the right-foot to work together. Play slowly, with a metronome, one measure at a time until able to play the the measure without errors the repeat for the next measure. Once all measures have been completed, start over and increase the tempo of the metronome. The pattern to use here will be as follows: K (Kick), L, R, L then R, L, R, L then K (Kick), L, R, L.

The first measure below, starts out with a the kick drum on beats one and three, snare on beat two and four and alternating hi-hat and ride on e, & and a of beats 1, 2, 3, 4. Note: Apply the pattern discussed in the objectives above.

The second measure below, builds upon the first, but adds another kick drum on the & of 1 and the & of 3.

The third measure below, adds another kick drum, this time on the & of 2 and & of 4.

The fourth measure below, adds yet another kick drum on the a of 1 and a of 3.

The fifth measure below, changes this up and moves the kick to the e of 2 and 4. This will work that left hand and right-foot combination.

The sixth measure below builds from the fifth measure and adds another kick on the & of 2 and 4.

The seventh measure, again moves the kick drum, but this time to the a of 2 and 4; again working on the left hand and right-foot.

The final measure adds a little twist, can you see it? It is on the e of 3, another kick is added.

This concludes the lesson six and the second in the series on Alternated Patterns. To recap this lesson built upon the alternating patterns that were introduced in Alternating Patterns part one and applied it using two surfaces on the drum kit; Hi-hat and Ride Cymbal.  I hope that you found some value and if you do, drop a comment below.  Like always, if you have any questions leave a comment below or drop me an email from the contact me page.

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Drum Lesson 2 - Introduction to Drum Kit

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Wow, a little over a week has flown by since my first drum lesson on Monday, March 11, 2013.  Since that time, I have practiced about two hours a day on the musical theory and applying the theory to the snare drum based on the the instructions that my instructor provided. I believe that I have done a great job in getting down the basics from the first lesson; as I will need to in order to progress forward in the next lesson. I included two posts on the first lesson, if you missed either of these post, you can find them here: Drum Lesson 1 - Musical Theory and Drum Lesson 1 - Applying the Theory.

Down to business, my second drum lesson! Today Jack and I met at his studio inside the Hurstbourne Willis Music Store here in Louisville, KY. We jumped right into the lesson with what we had discussed that we would tackle from the end of the previous lesson: Hi-hat, kick drum and snare. Properly named, Introduction to the Drum kit.  But he also informed me there will be two additional items that this lesson will focus, the first is that I will be introduced to the most basic note combinations that I would encounter during a session, either live or in studio, second is that the musical sheets that will be provided will assist with my limb independence.

Note Ledger

Jack pulled out his classic yellow sheet music paper and proceeded write "Intro to Drum kit" on the first measure and the identifiers for the hi-hat and the kick drum on the second measure along with the snare drum (introduced in the first lesson). This would just be for reference, but also a reminder as to items that will be included in this lesson.  The hi-hat sits on the first line of the bar for and the kick drum is on the last space of the bar and the as in the previous lesson, the snare drum sits on the second line of the bar.  I have diagrammed these out on a measure bar to the right labeled Note Ledger..


He told me that we are going to start with eighth notes on the drum kit, then proceeded to write out five measures.  He then had me work through them, making sure that I count each of the notes in sixteenth note form (1, e, &, a, 2, e, &, a, etc..See Drum Lesson 1 - Musical Theory a refresher or to get familiar with keeping time).   I had trouble at first getting my timing down, but once I did, it only took me a couple tries while Jack and I counted out loud and I played the notes.  Below is the full sheet of eighth note combinations that he wrote out for me walk through.

Intro to Drum Kit - Eighth note Exercise

Since I did so well with the eighth notes, he wanted me to get the best of my time, so he pulled out another sheet of his classic yellow sheet music paper and on the first measure wrote, "Addition of Sixteenth Notes." He told me that this would have been my next lesson, however since we had time and I did not seem to have trouble with the eighth note measures, onward we shall go.  I must say, this compared to the first sheet of music, sort of blew my mind. Below is the sheet music that he laid out for me to walk through.

Intro to Drum Kit - Addition of Sixteenth Note

I had trouble at first, but after a couple of start and stops, I was able to get through each line a couple of times. Something important that I did, that I just naturally did, was if I missed a note I was able to get right back on track with the next note.  He informed me that this is a very important trait that a drummer has to have, as he pointed out, if playing a gig and a stick breaks, cymbal comes loose or something else happens, I need to be able to pick up in the song where everyone is at in the song.  THEY WILL NOT STOP FOR ME! This applies to whether you are playing in an Orchestra, in the studio or in a local pub playing live.

Well there it is! The second drum lesson of my journey and it was packed with a lot of vital insight into playing the drums.  It starts out a good introduction to the drum kit with playing various notes on the hi-hat, snare and kick drum. The provided exercises will assist in developing is a solid understanding of the majority of the basic notes that a drummer will encounter while playing a gig live or in the studio. Finally, the exercises above will also assist in developing your limb independence.

If you learn nothing else from this lesson, but the various notes from the exercises and learn to play them well, put in enough practice, you can be well on your way of playing the drums well. I wish you the best on your own musical journey, until next time when I'm sure my drum instructor will build upon this lesson like the last. I'm off to continue my practice to in hopes to get this nailed before my next lesson! As always, if you have any questions, leave me a comment below or you can send me a message on Google+.

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Drum Lesson 1 - Applying the Theory

Sunday, March 17th, 2013

This second part of my post in regards to my first drum lesson that occurred on Monday, March 11, 2013 with my new drum instructor Jack I. Hall at Willis Music Store here in Louisville, Ky. This part of the lesson focused on the application of the Musial Theory with a series of practice measures that included a mixture of sixteenth, eighth and quarter notes. If you missed the first posting on in this series, check it here: Drum Lesson 1 - Musical Theory.

Here are the important points that these series of practice measures are going to help teach and re-enforce.  First, it helps to get the student reading the various notes to ingrain them into memory so that he/she can learn the new language of musical notation. Second, is to keep time by counting in sixteenth notes for the duration of the measure (1,e, &, a, 2,e,&,a, 3, e, &, a, 4, e, &, a) and by practicing the measures with a metronome.

Let me first list out the worksheet that he prepared for me to study and practice until my next lesson and then I will break each of them down and provide what notes and the keys to each.

The first measure below starts with two eighth notes, followed by four sixteenth notes, two eighth notes counted and ends with a quarter note. The key to this measure is keeping the time by keep counting in sixteenth notes.  Notice that in the first, third and fourth sets of notes, we have count in sixteenths, but wit do not play on the e and a of the first or second set of eighth notes, and we don't play the e, &, a for the quarter note in the fourth set of notes.  Remember that keeping time along with playing the beats of the various notes are goals of this exercise..

Measure 1

The second measure below starts with with a set of four sixteenth notes, followed by two eight notes and then two sets of sixteenth notes. Nothing really out of the ordinary here, these notes where introduced in Measure 1 above. Somewhat straight forward, just keep counting in sixteenth notes the whole measure.

Measure 2

The third measure below includes two groups of four sixteenth notes, followed by two eighth notes then another group of four sixteenth notes.  The first thing to watch out for in this measure is the first sixteenth note, it is one of the two variations that I mentioned in part one of this lesson.  The key here is that the e note (second sixteenth note) is not played and I included a sixteenth note rest there, however most of the time it is written with no rest. The second and third set of notes are basic, but notice that the last set of sixteenths are the same variation as the first in this measure; again the e note is not played.

Measure 3

The fourth measure below includes four sets of sixteenth notes.  The key to watch out for in this measure is the first set of sixteenth notes, which is the other variation that I talked about in the first part of this lesson with the a note (fourth note) not being played.  I included a rest here, but usually it is written without the rest.  The other thing to watch out for is the third and fourth sets of sixteenths, they are the other variation of the sixteenth note with the e note played (second note) not being played.

Measure 4

This last measure below starts off with three sets of sixteenth notes followed by a quarter note.  The key to this measure, the first sixteenth note is a one of the variations and the second is the other variation of the sixteenth note. The third set of sixteenth notes are straight and the quarter is just of course played on the beat of four.

Measure 5

There is nothing to complicated about these five measures, however they provided a good set for practice, getting your coordination going and visual learning on the various musical notation that you will encounter.  The keys to these are to watch out for the two variations of the sixteenth note and keeping time by counting in sixteenth notes (1, e, &, a, etc.) for the whole measure. I hope that you find this article useful and if you have any questions or comments, pass them along to me and I will give you the best answer that I can. Until next time!!!.

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