Practice materials laid out in any given method book are often validated by the possibilities for musical application that await those who work through the pages patiently of diligently. This article is designed to give you a glimpse of the method outlined in my book, The New Frontier, before moving into some challenging applications that incorporate the abilities acquired by practicing the ideas suggested in the book. STEP ONE: THE BASIC PRINCIPLE We begin by playing two beats of quintuplets with all the strokes on the hi-hat, except the stroke on beat 2, which lands on the snare. The feet play steady quarter notes. You can use single strokes to get this going, but once you start feeling comfortable with the subdivision and begin hearing the sound of the quintuplets, you’re ready to get into some further explorations. My book provides fifteen alternate stickings to get away from basic single […]

October 2012 Issue