THE DOWN STROKE & UP STROKE

Once you have got the Rebound stroke going, the next aspect is to understand dynamics of the Down Stroke and Up-Stroke. Understanding these will help you develop a nice consistent rhythm as you start playing multiple strokes and accents (soft notes) moving forward

So what is a Down-Stroke? The common aspects of this stroke are, 

1. Everytime you strike the drum we start with stick up, hit the drum once ending in the ‘down’ position (about 3 inches from the head) hence the name..
2. The Down stoke sounds LOUD & CLEAR
3. There are NO bounces involved. Squeeze your back fingers to prevent multiple bounces

See a demonstration of this here. Practice this on alternate hands for 1 minute each multiple times till you are comfortable playing this stroke

The Up-Stroke is the opposite of the Down stroke,

1. It starts down and end’s up. So start with stick 3 inches above ahead and play the stroke
2. Naturally you will notice the sound is soft and low for this stroke. This stroke imitates action of our hand/palm when it touches a hot plate – a downward action with a quick snap back up as the stick touches the pad/drum!
3. Finally combine this with a Down-stroke motion to get a full smooth stroke

See a demonstration of this here. Practice this on alternate hands for 1 minute each multiple times till you are comfortable playing this stroke

Tips: Practice these strokes in front of the mirror while observing your motion. This will help you correct yourself and learn them quickly!

The Essential Music Terms

1. The STAFF - Has 5 lines & 4 spaces

2. BAR LINE – Divides the musical staff  into measures

3. MEASURE – Is the space between 2 bar lines

4. DOUBLE BAR LINE – Denotes you have reached end of a piece of music

5. QUARTER NOTE  - Notes we play & typically counted as 1,2,3,4 

6. REST – A place where we ‘rest’ ie: do not play a note in the measure

7. TIME SIGNATURE – Denotes how to count the music

a) So 3/4 means there are 3 beats per measure

b) 2/ 4 means that there are 2 beats per measure

This lesson is excerpted from Mark Wessels' book, A Fresh Approach to the Snare Drum

L1 - Eight on a Hand

So you have now perfected the rebound stoke and ready to start your first technique exercise '8 on a hand' Like i will be emphasizing on ALL exercise's moving forward - START SLOW !

For this exercise let's perform the following routine,

Day 1 & Day 2 :
a. Set the metronome to 90 bpm (beats per minute)
b. Play 8 rebound strokes with the left hand - LLLLLLLL
b. Then alternate & play 8 rebound strokes with the right hand - RRRRRRRR
c. Keep repeating these steps until you can play consistently for 2 mins non stop on each hand

Remember to take it slow, play each beat clearly and with equal sound/impact

Day 3 & Day 4:
a. Set the metronome to 120 bpm
b. Play 8 rebound strokes with the left hand - LLLLLLLL
b. Then alternate & play 8 rebound strokes with the right hand - RRRRRRRR
c. Keep repeating these steps until you can play consistently for 2 mins non stop on each hand

Day 5 & Day 6:
a. Set the metronome to 150 bpm
b. Play 8 rebound strokes with the left hand - LLLLLLLL
b. Then alternate & play 8 rebound strokes with the right hand - RRRRRRRR
c. Keep repeating these steps until you can play consistently for 2 mins non stop on each hand

At the end of the week you should be proficient on playing these rebound strokes with each hand consistently ! If not repeat the process till proficient. See a video demonstration of this technique here

Day 7 : Game time with a FUN Exercise!

1. Set the metronome to 90 bpm and play the following pattern
2. Eight rebound strokes with each hand -  LLLLLLLL , RRRRRRRR
3. Seven rebound strokes with each hand - LLLLLLL , RRRRRRR
4. Six rebound strokes with each hand - LLLLLL , RRRRRR
5. Five rebound strokes with each hand LLLLL , RRRRR
6. Four rebound strokes with each hand LLLL , RRRR
7. Three rebound strokes with each hand LLL , RRR
8. Two rebound strokes with each hand LL , RR
9. Single rebound strokes with each hand L, R
10. Back to step 9 then step 8, step 7, step 6, step 5 , step 4 , step 3, step 2
11. Repeat steps 2-11

It will take you a few weeks of practice to complete this game correctly & consistently at 90 bpm, so have patience and keep at it ! Here's a video demonstration of the great Peter Erskine using this as a warm up routine

Tip - to get more proficient post above stage increase metronome speed to 120 bpm & then 150 bpm !