New Beats!

We have just completed uploading the first of the "Essential Skills" series of exercises.  These exercise packets will each focus on a variety of skill sets that should be mastered by every rudimental percussionist.  Essential Skills for Battery Percussion: Volume 1 can be found under the new Beats section of the site.  This is also the new home of the Transcription Library.

Please download and share Volume 1 with your friends and look for more material in the near future!

Feeling the Beat

Feeling the music you're playing is something that's hard to teach but important to the progression of your performing. Feeling the groove, the rhythm, the beat of songs in your body means you are becoming part of the music and that is a sign of your maturity as a musician. There are some basic things we can all do to practice feeling the beat over a groove pattern...

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How to play with a metronome

Playing with a metronome is essential for any musician.  Since percussionists are often the keepers of tempo it is important that we know HOW to keep tempo.  I’ve already written about how to play with your feet, and the importance of being able to keep tempo without a metronome on.  This is more fundamental than that.  This is simply how to play with a metronome.  Sure it seems easy, but more often than not new players do it wrong. I’d like to point out that for the sake of this discussion we are using a little personal metronome, not a Dr. Beat hooked up to a Long-Ranger.

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Making the Line: What Staff Look for in a Player

The season is upon us! Rehearsals are starting, people are chopping out, and instructors/educators around the world are gearing up for the WGI season. Arguably one of the hardest parts on both staff and members is the audition process. For staff we worry about making the right choice to fill out the line as we see fit and how we need it for our show. For students it is almost always about getting the instrument that they have worked so hard to play. There are three main areas that the staff look for when placing a student on an instrument: Attitude, Improvement, and Ability.

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Bad Habits - WATCH OUT!

Everyone has them. No one likes to talk about them. In fact, most people don't KNOW that they have as many.... bad habits.

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Rhythm vs. Sticking (the eternal struggle)

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!

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Building good practice habits

To maximize your individual progress it is important to go into each practice session with a goal beyond merely "choppin' out." By creating a basic structure to organize your practice time around you will be able to learn more in less time and improve faster than someone who hacks for a few hours a day.

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