Question: I have a score that calls for suspended cymbals (fast rake). What does this mean and what is the technique?

Also, the percussion music has a suspended cymbal (roll) tied directly to a piatti which I’ve never seen before. Does this mean I will need two people? One for the suspended and one to play the crash cymbal on the 1st beat of the measure after a 2 beat suspended cymbal roll? Or does this simply mean the suspended cymbal player does a crash after his roll?

Thanks, Don

Answer: Hi Don,

To be honest, "fast rake" is not a common term. I assume it means a sliding motion across the cymbal - what I would call a "scrape" - with possibly a metal coin or the back end of a wire brush (the kind of brush that has a metal piece to push and pull the wires in and out). I'd use a large suspended cymbal for this as a bigger area to scrape would provide a louder sound.

Piatti should be a pair of crash cymbals. If the directions clearly differentiate between the use of suspended and crash cymbals, yes - you'll need two players for the part.

Question: What method do you use to introduce and teach flams to middle school aged students?

Thanks-
David

Answer: I think it's very important to make sure that the student is dropping the sticks onto the drum rather than forcing them down onto the head. In general, if the sticks are dropped from the proper distances above the head, a good sounding flam can be achieved. By proper distances, I mean that the grace note is released from a distance significantly closer to the head than the principal note. The actual distances will change depending on the volume desired.

If the student has trouble controlling the sticks, it is often because he/she is pushing to hard, and the downstroke is not responding smoothly to the upward bounce off the head. Make sure that the student is lifting the stick off the head - rather than hammering into the head - in order to maintain control.

I would start students off playing all right hand flams, then all left hand flams. With these stickings, make sure that the sticks return smoothly to the original position. The grace note motion is a very small wrist motion. Have them play each hand separately for a while then put the two strokes together.

After they have gained control over this sticking, I would introduce alternating flams. Played hands separately, they will see that the hand that starts close to the drum will end up in the higher position, and vice versa. They may have control problems keeping the stick at the lower level after dropping it from the higher level. Again, tell them to relax, to drop the stick instead of pushing it, and to keep the relaxed third and fourth fingers on the stick so it doesn't pop up (see Drumming Basics: The Snare Drum Grip for my approach to holding the sticks). The stick should stay close to the head and in position for the next flam.

I do have a lot of information on the Website on playing flams. Take a look at Approaching Flams and the accompanying exercises.

Question: I've been told that to play a double stroke roll all you have to do is catch the stick after the second bounce. I've also been told that you should make two motions of the wrist. How would you teach/play a double stroke roll?

Mike Davies
Martingrove C.I.

Answer: There is confusion about the double stroke roll because you can get away with simply bouncing the stick twice, but by making a second wrist movement when playing slow to medium-fast rolls you will achieve much greater intensity and control.

Students should start off practising double strokes slowly, making two even taps with each hand. It’s a good idea to practise this on a pillow or any object that doesn’t bounce in order to build up the wrists. As the roll gets faster, the student begins to redirect the energy coming back off the drum after the first stroke – the bounce – into the second wrist stroke. As a result, the wrist begins making a smaller motion for the second stroke. As the roll gets still faster, the second wrist motion will ultimately disappear, but not until the double strokes are quite fast.

Open rolls are played at different speeds. For example, if your students are playing 7-stroke rolls on an eighth note and you’re rehearsing a piece at 60 clicks on the metronome, he/she will be using a lot more wrist on the second stroke than if you’re playing at 90. When students begin to bounce double strokes too soon, they will be unable to play open rolls cleanly and evenly at slower tempos.