Rudiments
Rudiments (also called sticking[s]) are sticking exercises which vary the combinations of left and right hand movements. They are designed to achieve the following:
- Improve stick control - and hence expand the possibilities of speed, dynamics and uniformity (evenness).
- Facilitate greater ease when playing. Potentially difficult ideas become easier when the correct sticking is chosen.
- Improve rhythmical possibilities. Different stickings create different rhythmical effects. Such rhythmical possibilities increase again when a sticking is played between two or more sound sources.
When playing rudiments:
- Use a metronome.
- Keep a continuous quarter note pulse by either tapping the right foot or playing the bass drum as written.
- Vary the dynamics (dynamics are explained in detail at the end of Section 2).
- Vary the tempo.
- Vary the sticking by starting with either the right or left hand.
- Play with and without written accents.
Practicing rudiments can become boring if you let it, so coming up with ideas to prevent this is a good policy. Practicing rudiments along with a recording is one such idea.
Adapting Time Signatures
Some rudiments written in traditional form may look unusable because the time signatures used are %and ). These time signatures can be easily adapted to * time. If a % bar is played twice, the effect is the same as playing one bar of * time e.g.:
If each of the notes in a ) bar is treated as the corresponding triplet of a * bar, * time can be formulated e.g.:
Note: Time Signatures are explained at the beginning of Section 1.
A * version of the traditionally notated ) rudiments has been included where applicable. (Rudiment no’s [R] 4, 8, 10, 12, 15 and 16).
Note: R = Rudiment number
