This month we’re going to work on playing the Fours and Sevens in 7/8 exercise with double strokes. The key is developing the finger control to play well-balanced and even doubles. The rhythmic placement of the doubles in this exercise is very unusual, as many of the second strokes fall on 8th-note downbeats. Mastering the exercise will do wonders for the quality of your double strokes and help you build your rhythmic vocabulary. When you play double strokes very slowly, both notes should be executed as identical free strokes, mainly from the wrist, with the fingers somewhat opened and away from the palm. Opening up the fingers a bit allows the stick to breathe and gives the fingers the opportunity to add a bit of additional velocity to the strokes. With the rebounding free stroke technique, each note should be played with high velocity down toward the drum so that […]

December 2012 Issue