)
6: Kaiko Abe
General mallet brand choice, indicating the grip used/taught/preferred
Aside from specifics mentioned above:
If I left anything out, let me know.
Actually, I did think of a few more....
Drummers (and a bit of my bio-graph, but I needed to give cred to my teachers):
Practice rudiments (build-style; i.e., Start slow, increase gradually to AFAP without pain, then slow back down to ORIGINAL starting tempo; and various steady kick-off tempi; i.e., pick a mm and stick with it for a full minute on all 26 rudiments, pausing for a full minute between each).
Practice various tempi of jazz, samba, rock, funk, shuffle, and shuffle funk beats with 6 bars time, 2 bars fill/solo - as well as chords (M and m and hm), scales, arpeggios of 16th notes even and 8th notes triplet for 3 octaves up to 1/4 note = 90mm through 140mm leading with left, then right hand (depending on rudiments / sticking pattern needed).
For styles, practice going from one style of 2, 8-bar phrases (for a total of 16 bars) into another style of the same length. For instance from Swing to Funk to Swing and repeat, or Swing to Samba to Swing and repeat or continue. Not a new concept, but I need this kind of practice. Recently, I have discovered through reminder as well as me actually listening to recordings of bands I have been in - both past and present - that a small range of tempi (for me, 95 to 102mm), I have a tendency to play the first few beats to a bar and a half a bit rushed - especially when going from swing to samba (not noticing a difference when in reverse). A lot of this is a matter of remembering to keep subdividing or doubling (half-timing) the beat. In other words, feeling the pulse and hearing the time feel, no matter the tuplet.
Toward this success in keeping honest time, I had been reminded of the concept of "Visualizing Time", by Dr. Mike Flack. My personal fave is imagining I am driving a Greyhound bus and keeping the pulse of the white lines in the road as I pass by them. Hmm, the drummer as "Bus Driver" concept, not new, but somewhat ignored in recent years, until lately. You know, where the Bus is the Band and the Drummer is the Driver and the Sound Engineer is the Toll Booth Operator!
Remember, Blues styles can be generally 12-bar OR 16-bar phrases on their own! There are light shuffles and heavy ("Chicago") shuffles. And don't even get me started on The Real Purdie Shuffle!
Try Stone Stick Control as if it were a chart book - using the staves of practice routines as if they were part of a longer chart - per page and even 2 or 3 pages, in order to practice turning pages while playing and keeping the time (by stringing the exercises together into full page excursuses). Do this by playing the single rhythms on just the high-hat, while beating underneath in a style pattern as above. Then move to the ride cymbal. BOTH hands need equal practice (and, once mastered, it will look cool and fool your friends!). Then the Bass drum or Bass drums (i.e., both feet L-R then R-L), then back to the high-hat - this time with your usual HATFOOT!. I was taught this initial concept by Joe Varhula around 1972.
In addition, when using the Stone book in this "chart reading" mode, experiment with stopping the ride time pattern one bar for every 4 or eight bars and playing the rhythms outright as written, moving these "kicks" from drum to drum. Try blocking out completely - with no playing, silence - a bar , 2 bars, or 4 bars at the end of every 16 or 32 bars of playing time/filling/kicking, thus emulating a solo "break" where in a big band chart when written this way will indicate for the drummer to stop everything but keeping time in your head to let the soloist play an introduction. Come back in for the time almost ALWAYS exactly on beat one of the bar indicated on the chart.
And, speaking of superb teachings, Charles "Chuck" Schultz taught me a linear concept - not called "The Linear Concept" yet - back in 1968, re-visiting the Stone and its Holy Grail, only this time, instead of just Right Hand/Left Hand or Right Foot/Left Foot (ala Carmine Appice), Hand/Right Foot and its "eviL" twin: Left Hand/Left Foot, now I think of Left Hand/Right Foot (actually very common in Pit playing) and Right Hand/Left Foot (common, but still skill-raising in Jazz and Gospel) to go alongside the usual, starting your practice day with rudiments in this fashion. Whoa.
Also in your first two years, be able to play on piano, guitar, mallet, or at least rhythmically all of the melodies and forms of every single fake book chart. When you are done with that, then from memory over your Junior and Senior college years.
It wouldn't be until about 1978-79 where I started putting the 2 concepts together in my playing (and about 1983 into my practicing!)
And, remember you can apply all of the hand-to-hand on any instrument - even the keyboards, and not just as a dexterity element either. Speaking of Keyboarding, it was Joe Varhula that taught me the mad keyboard foundation I needed to transfer from CLC into NIU (or anyplace like it). But, I needed rudimentary skills first before I tore into the excerpts or "hard stuff" (excerpts are the gateway to the hard stuff!).
If you have done your "math", you should have calculated a 3 hour practice routine - with a 5 to 10 minute hourly break included - before hitting excerpts, solo, ensemble pieces, and then actual big band charts; one to two more hours, probably.
Rich Holly (his chordal approach to music memorization and visualizing the performance),
Mike Steinel (just listening to him play was enough and for allowing me to play behind his AUDITION to NIU - also thanks to Rich for that as well / Trompeter and Brandt were in that combo),
Clifford Alexis (cursory Pan making - I wouldn't pound a garbage can lid without his approval),
G. Allen O'Connor (who taught me that I must strive and continue to keep my ass from engulfing my head - my words, but his philosophy for me)
Robert Chappell (his accuracy approach to music memorization),
Stephen Duke (the art of cock-blocking and yet not offend),
Jim Ross (yes THAT Jim Ross, for his music memorization approach to music memorization),
Peter Middleton (for allowing me to "hang" with the gang on "free" weekends and really absorb recording techniques)
Tom D. Rossing (without your help, my proposal would have sucked, and through his book, the guts to make it a career:
)
Ann Montzka (how to have "me" time)
Ott (why practicing music reading is more important than anything else in practicing music)
Paul Ross (no relation to JR, except in approach to life in music!),
Dean Groenemier as percussion major (he taught me well, and ye didn't even know it!),
Robert (for his approach to computer programming & World Premiers),
Erich Miller & What-the-hell-is-his-name-? (for excerpt training skills),
Frank Bibb (not taking shit from anyone, but when it really matters - not when I just feel like it most of the time!),
The "Paradox" (get it?): Ron Price, PhD. and Eileen Rexroad, PhD (there is that saying, "gettin' back up on that horse", but, sometimes ya just gotta get another horse!)
Robert Fleisher (Instrumental in getting me out of Theory 3/4 Vocal, because he realized I could sing rings around the "other" percussionists - uh, I mean "other" non-vocal majors, sorry. oops.)
The Guy who invented the T.A.P. system..........HA! Take That! Level 5, baby, yeah!
Steve Squires. Wow. The Legend. The Man. The Pot-sticker CHAMP! (really, though, for being able to conduct a tempo and pattern in one hand, and a complete other in the other hand - and mean it!)
Carl Roskott. (advice to me - granted at a party - that even the "pros" can suck, hello Pittsburgh ! )
Ouch. I'm breaking a sweat just thinking about it.
If I left anything else out, let me know, again.
The following is culled from Rich Holly's NIU Percussion syllabi pages.
Rich's "found" and re-"known" links:
Percussive Arts Society YOU MUST JOIN.
Marc Z's Percussion Information