Rhythm vs. Sticking (the eternal struggle)

(originally posted on DRUM LIFE: December 1st, 2009)

Rhythm is the lifeblood of all music, it creates that urge to tap your foot when a song comes on the radio and gets you out on the dance floor when a wedding DJ fires up the Electric Slide.  Without it your symphonies would lack the structure to create melodies or harmonies, and there would be nothing for you to dance to in the club!

For the percussionist, stickings add a personal touch to a familiar sound and keep rhythms from becoming mundane and repetitive.  Combining unique stickings with a common 16th note phrase can transform it into something more interesting for performer and audience alike!  However, there is a fine line between the benefits of using unusual stickings and the negative effect it can have on a performers interpretation of the rhythm underneath.

For example, when new drummers are introduced to paradiddles (or any alternate sticking pattern) they inevitably have a stutter flowing from the end of the pattern into the beginning of the pattern again.  The sticking for a right paradiddle is RLRR and for a left paradiddle is LRLL .  The trick isn’t to think of this as “right left right right…” but as the actual 16th note pattern it represents.  So in a 16th note pattern we have our 1, e, &, a, 2, e, &, a.   Moving through this pattern slowly while concentrating (and listening to a metronome for time) will solidify the RHYTHM while playing the STICKING. The same process here is true for other longer phrase stickings patterns like paradiddlediddles ( RLRRLL ) or doubleparadiddles ( RLRLRR, LRLRLL ).

Once that is mastered at the lower and middle heights (typically referred to as 3”, 6” and 9”) we can move in to some accented phrasing of the pattern. Start by adding accents on the first note of each pattern and have the heights be 12" to 3" from accent to tap respectively.  This adds another element of control and chops to the mix, and allows for new sounds within the rhythm. Once you have mastered the basic flow, move the accent(s) around.  Another thing to toy with is starting with a double stroke roll and adding paradiddles, singles, paradiddiddles, and pudadas ( RLL or LRR ) and making sure that the notes are all consistent and flow together.

 The important thing to remember through all of this is to play with a metronome and make sure the RHYTHMS are correct, not just the stickings...  Now use your imagination and see what you can come up with!

~Mike