Rudimental Drumset Solos for the Musical Drummer

Drummers all around the world try to out do each other on who can play the fastest paradiddle. If you go to any music competition or percussion recital, one would hear a dozen snare drum solos played at blazing speeds. That's what comes to mind when talking about the drum rudiments and technique - speed and how can I play them faster! I like to look at the rudiments in a different way. I learned them so I could play interesting ideas and phrases around the drum set with ease. It is not necessarily about playing fast. If you think back to your school days and having to learn vocabulary words, the more words you learned the more intelligent you were able to speak. You were also able to communicate your ideas easier. If you think of the rudiments as words, then the more of them you know and can play, the more interesting your music and drumming will be. And if you need to be able to play something at a fast tempo then you will have the technique to play it. After many years of teaching drum set to young drummers, I find the most enjoyable way for the student to learn the rudiments is through solos. The student is able to hear and perform the rudiment in context. Sort of like using that new vocabulary word in a sentence. In this book, I have written 12 drum set solos built around the rudiments. Each new solo will use a new rudiment with some containing more than one to learn. The solos will also list and use rudiments played in previous solos. This repetition will embed the "stickings" into the mind of the student. The last solo is a combination of all rudiments used and the student gets to create his or her own rudimental solo in four measure phrases. I hope you enjoy playing these solos and learn to create some new musi­ cal drumming ideas in your own playing.