Vorticity

Vorticity (2021) (∇ x v) is an ensemble chop-out exercise that hits lots of big legatos, some doublestrokes, some rolls (and even some flam accents, snares!), and some more big legatos, so your line can jam out, get a work out, and stretch out, all in one warm-up. This piece would be suitable for a committed high school or university drumline, and I think the vibe, the vocabulary, and the vivacity of the music would make this a hit in any parking lot or pre-show warm-up.

The title is an obvious nod to the Bluecoats warm-up that inspired the person who asked me to write something like this to ask me to write something like this.

Vorticity
Matthew Lemieux
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Chow Down

Chow Down (2021) is an all-around and all-in-one ensemble warm-up targeting the high school level. It consists of five “movements”: 1. Legatos, 2. Bucks, 3. Doubles I, 4. Doubles II, and 5. Triplet Rolls. Each movement could be used as a standalone warm-up, and you can gradually work each movement into the full sequence as the season progresses, so that you have both a warm-up book, and a cohesive ensemble warm-up, however you are able to deploy it. It may be beneficial for the snares to learn the tenor part in some places, as some passages involve the snares playing a fundamental exercise pattern while the tenors play an even more fundamental breakdown of the motion involved in that pattern.

This warm-up was originally conceived for tri-toms instead of quad or quint tenors, so that is the arrangement you will hear in the Virtual DrumLine (VDL) recording. I am providing the score to both arrangements here:

Chow Down
Matthew Lemieux
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High Five (Onfield)

This High Five (2007) is the original exercise that the paradiddles warm-up was based on. This version is an onfield warm-up that I wrote while I was in high school. It has a sort of Ditty vibe to it, and it’s big, choppy, and nuts. This was my pride and joy on the very first incarnation of fatmattdrums, and I think it still stacks up pretty well against the rest of my work.

High Five (onfield)
Matthew Lemieux
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