Part 4: Up-Tempo Studies Welcome to the fourth and final installment in our series on Stick Control drumset applications. This month we’ll explore ways of interpreting author George Lawrence Stone’s exercises while playing up-tempo swing rhythms. As you practice the following applications, it’s important to remain as relaxed as possible, allowing the sticks to rebound naturally. Try working out these examples in front of a mirror to ensure that your wrists, forearms, and fingers are moving together in a natural way. Practicing with a metronome is also strongly suggested. The following variations can be applied to any of the “72 Single Beat Combinations” found on pages 5–7. Let’s begin by reading each sticking as whole notes, with each R on the bass drum and each L on the snare. A good starting tempo for these is 220 bpm. Here’s a phrase that incorporates the first measure from Examples 5–8 from […]

March 2014 Issue