Stravagante is a high school drumline audition étude, written to test the application of fundamentals in a musical context. The rudimental content will provide the listener with an excellent cross-section of the student’s capabilities, and the breadth of the noted tempo range allows students to interpret the piece however they will best shine. At the same time, the frequency of flams and slurred drags may make this piece inappropriate for some students, and Meticuloso would be a more suitable audition étude.
Meticuloso
Meticuloso is a high school drumline audition étude, written to test the application of fundamentals in a musical context. While the vocabulary will provide the listener with an excellent cross-section of the student’s capabilities, the breadth of the noted tempo range allows students to interpret the piece however they will best shine. There should be no pressure to strive for speed: only an emphasis on maintaining commitment to the chosen tempo. Everyone—from your hot shot snares who want to prove they’re the best to your rookies just trying their best to honor the spaces—has their work cut out for them on this one. You gotta be meticulous… or… Meticuloso!
Upstroke March
Upstroke March is an étude for working on comfort and consistency with the quick upstrokes you will encounter in various flam and singlestroke patterns. Often, with quick upstrokes, you either lighten up the taps before the upstroke, and they sound weak, or you smack the crap out of the accent after it, and it sounds more harsh than other accents in the phrase. By putting even more taps and accents around the upstroke, you have something for your ears to compare it to, which should help you to develop better habits with quick upstrokes.
