Free Books
152 Variations All In 15/16 • 7/8 • 13/16 • 7/8
An entire curriculum in one exercise! This book demonstrates 152 variations of a standardized, mixed-meter pattern for fitting rudiments, rudiment combinations, and fundamental strokes. Not only will these variations challenge your brain and hands, but they provide a sound demonstration of how to generate useful variations of an exercise, as well as novel ways to work on different rudiment applications. This one’s a lot of fun; take as much or as little as you can handle.
Mark Time Mark! — Holistic Exercises for the Hands & Feet
A modern approach to the quintessential drumline training packet, these ten exercises are designed to establish and reinforce the fundamentals of drumming mechanics while also strengthening performers’ sense of timing, rhythm, and groove. The twist is that every exercise includes a written “Mark Time” part to be performed by the feet. In practice, these parts could be performed as marching exercises that extend the training program into the physical and “simultaneous responsibility” demands that are characteristic of contemporary marching percussion.
Mantras For Rudimental Snare Drum — Repetition Regimens to Promote Muscular Awareness, Sonic Enlightenment, & Musical Excellence
Leveraging the benefits of extensive repetition for your musical development, these forty-two exercises will stretch and challenge your capabilities while also forming a larger progression that gives you a top-to-bottom examination of your rudimental drumming abilities. Much of this material will be well-suited to rehearsal in a group or clinic setting, with or without advance preparation, on drums, pads, or even just hands!
Twelve Eight-Bar Exercises in 12/8 to Stave Off Cabin Fever — w/ Practice Recordings
These are twelve exercises designed to help you get better at drumming, all the same length and with roughly similar feels. The monotony is broken up by two sets of play-along practice tracks: a standard set and a laid back set. There are separate tracks for each of twenty tempo markings from 88–240 BPM. This book is like a “shareware” version of the technical treatise Quality Control for Rudimental Drummers ($20.00 digital download from MarchingMonk.com), so you can explore some of the basic ideas behind that book—as well as introduce your friends and students to the same—at no cost.
Rudiment Control — Rudiment Combinations & Rhythmic Variations
A favorite of educators everywhere, this collection of exercises explores the connections between similar rudiments and applies rudiments with different speeds and interpretations to build greater command over the space between notes. This mastery of stroke timing facilitates easier learning and better performance of all manner of rudimental fare, so that your students may more effectively teach themselves.
NCSU Drumline Exercises 2011 | The Study Guide | Unused Battery Audition
These collections of exercises from my time at NC State provide a great many useful ways to work on the various musical and rudimental challenges that you will encounter in most drumline music.
fatCHOPS Packets
These collections of exercises explore selected rudimental vocabulary as a vehicle for strengthening core fundamentals in intermediate-to-advanced players. The thorough examination of different rudimental challenges will highlight the relevant playing mechanics, allowing you to both master the rudimental content and improve your understanding of fundamentals writ large.
Game Day Grabbers: Grooves Good-to-Go
This collection showcases ten stadium grooves arranged with an eye toward brevity and ease of use, with special consideration for the month of October in football season: a time when it might be nice to throw something fresh into the rotation of beats, but when you don’t have all the time in the world to rehearse new music. If you’re looking to spice up your line’s repertoire, grab something off the shelf that’s ready to go!
Premium Products
Please consider supporting this website by purchasing some premium sheet music from our various publishers! Fat Matt’s Street Sliders — From FatMattDrums: Six quick and tasty cadences, each arranged with beef (a more challenging arrangement) and with chicken (a more accessible arrangement) so that you can always find something that works for you!
Quality Control for Rudimental Drummers (Digital Download Edition) — From MarchingMonk: Thirty-two exercises—accompanied by groovy and original recordings—that will take your knowledge and application of drumming fundamentals to the next level!
Beats for the Street — From Marching Monk: Fifteen cadences in three volumes (or individually) whose vocabulary is broadly accessible to lines with a wide range of skill levels, so you never have to compromise creativity for playability!
$10.00 Digital Download, Individual Pieces
$30.00 Digital Download, Volumes of 5 Pieces
To The Snap — From mtn-land: Twelve high-octane stadium/arena grooves to really get your audience moving. Whether you've got time to kill, or you're trying to sneak in something quick between plays, these are sure to make a statement!
Track & Burn — From Tapspace: Eight street beats and six stadium grooves that you can chew on. This book includes the six groovy street beats I wrote for the NC State drumline, and then some! If you like fat beats, and you’ve got some hands to show off, you will love this collection from Tapspace!!
$50.00 Hardcopy
$19.00 Digital Downloads of Individual Pieces
The subtitle of this collection is Streetbeats and Stadium Grooves You Can Chew On. I agree with that description, as these pieces contain some of the most advanced rudimental rhythmic content in print today. It will take considerable individual and ensemble rehearsal time to put these pieces together with the consistency and accuracy required. The demonstration Virtual Drumline (VDL) recordings provided have been expertly mixed and are excellent representations of the compositions. All pieces are scored for snare, tenor, bass drum, and cymbals. Individual parts (pdf) and the audio recordings are included on the accompanying CD-ROM. All bass drum parts are scored for 4-9 players in order to fit any size bass line.
In spite of the high level of difficulty, these pieces really groove and create inventive, funky feels that can be used by advanced drumlines. In addition to their use as marching cadences and stand grooves (the collection includes eight cadences and six stadium grooves), they can be played as ensemble pieces at the conclusion of a warm-up session. These pieces are also worthy of study for expanding rhythmic vocabulary and for licks that are suitable for section features and individual solo composition.
If you are looking for contemporary advanced rudimental compositions that will push your technique, concentration, and rhythmic subdivision skills, this is the collection for you. I really enjoyed playing through these pieces and found them inspiring for both performing and composing. I give this collection my highest recommendation.
—Jeff Moore
Percussive Notes
Vol. 51, No. 1, January 2013
