basics, daniel-san
"Wax on... wax off. Wax on... wax off."
Mr. Miyagi was on to something! By waxing countless cars and painting countless fences, Daniel's body motions became engrained into his muscle memory. These same practiced motions became very important when it came time to perform in karate matches. As snare drummers, we must do the same thing. We need to practice the fundamental motions so that we can apply them to more complex combinations of motions.
The big three
In my opinion, there are three key exercises that provide us with the fundamental motions used in snare drumming.
1) Eight on a hand uses the basic legato velocity stroke.
2) 8 and 4 uses the accent-to-tap and tap-to-accent stick motions. At higher speeds, 8 and 4
will use the Moeller technique which is important for many inverted rudiments.
3) Sanford double beat / triple beat will teach you to play solid double and triple
strokes, both VERY important for rudimental snare drumming.
Almost every drum rudiment can be broken down into the basic mechanics taught by these exercises:
- Flam Taps = Triple strokes (Sanford)
- Flam Accents = Accent-to-tap stroke + low triple stroke (8 and 4 + Sanford)
- Double Stroke Roll = Double strokes (Sanford)
- Paradiddles = Accent-to-tap stroke + low double stroke (8 and 4 + Sanford)
- Single Stroke Roll = Eight on a hand
- etc...
If you are serious about achieving a high level as a rudimental snare drummer, these three exercises (or exercises equivalent to them) will provide the foundation to your drumming chops. I would recommend at least 1/3 of your practice time is focused on these basics.
Variations
One thing these basics exercises do not address is hand-to-hand coordination. We can take care of this by playing equivalent two-handed exercises. Instead of the stock eight on a hand, play it as:
Instead of the stock 8 and 4, play it as:
Instead of the stock Sanford play it as:
or this fun one, shifting the left by one 32nd note:
For people that are just beginning to play snare drum, I would recommend focusing on the 'one hand at-a-time' exercises. This will allow you to better analyze what your individual hands are doing and what you might need to fix.
"But these exercises are so boring!"
They don't have to be. Challenge yourself to push the limits! Play the exercise faster than you have ever played it. Play it more times in a row than you have ever played it. Max-out the stick heights, both higher and lower. Play along with your favorite music - Play 16th notes on your left hand for an entire song. etc etc etc. There are many creative ways to make these basics exercises fun. Also, if you practice these exercises consistently you WILL notice an increase in your drumming ability. For most people, seeing real progress in your ability is a great motivator to get even better. This is a positive-feedback mechanism that will snowball into better and better results.