Stick/mallet/hand control and position
- Develop a range of simple, rudimental sticking patterns, e.g. single strokes, double strokes (not buzzed or bounced) and single paradiddles, developing hand-to-hand sticking technique
- Produce a clean sound (no buzzing) consistently at a regular pulse on all instruments
- Play stick/hand patterns accurately at a range of different stick heights to vary dynamic range
- Play with an appropriate instrument grip when playing handheld instruments
Ask learners to imitate simple rhythms played by the teacher, maintaining good hand/stick technique and (where applicable) instrument grip.
When playing with sticks, teach learners to play simple exercises across different surfaces, using single strokes, double strokes and paradiddles with more fluency and at different tempi.
To prevent buzzing, the sticks should not remain on the drumhead at any time. Encourage learners to avoid the sticks accidentally touching each other.
When playing with hands (e.g. on djembes), encourage learners to develop an appropriate hand shape.
On the djembe, refine the technique of playing tone sounds with 4 fingers together and releasing them to play the bass sound.
Ask learners to play through exercises and pieces with only the weak hand/foot. Then ask them to repeat with both hands, but leading with the weaker hand.
Pay particular attention to the weaker hand/foot, ensuring that a relaxed action is used whilst maintaining a good clean sound.
Play, using double strokes:
- copycat games, i.e. ask learners to copy notes or short phrases played by the teacher
- call-and-response games, i.e. answer a short phrase with a different one
Introduce fun competitions, e.g. ‘Who can play paradiddles the fastest?’; ‘Who can keep going the longest without making a mistake?’ Apply the technique to pieces being learnt.
Hold another competition to see how many clean single strokes learners can play in a row at different tempi. Discuss the musical effect.
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