Rudimental drumming has its roots in Basil, Switzerland. Drums and fifes were used in battle to signal troops, first recorded at the battle of Sempach in 1386.This practice spread to other countries, being utilized deep into the 19th century. In 1812, Charles Stewart Ashworth first used the term “Rudiment” in his published manual, "A New, Useful and Complete System of Drum-Beating.” Drum and Fife competitions began in the 1870’s, and the American Legion began organizing contests in the early 1900’s.

As several rudimental drumming books were published in the late 19th—early 20th centuries, different interpretations of rudiments were evident. On June 20th,1933, at the American Legion National Convention, a group of prominent drummers formed the National Association of Rudimental Drummers (N.A.R.D) and standardized the “13 essential rudiments” a qualification for joining the organization,

and adds 13 later to form the Standard 26 American Drum Rudiments. In 1961, the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) was founded, and in 1979 PAS formed a committee to revise the standard 26. In 1984, the 40 International Drum Rudiments were adopted by PAS and included drum corps, orchestral, European, and contemporary drum rudiments.

A little history

When do you teach rudiments? Try setting aside a “season” to have students work exclusively on rudiments.

Presented by the Iowa Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society (IPAS)

IPAS Board Members:  

Stan Dahl—Central College Nicholas Hoover—Dowling Catholic Barry Dvorak—Cedar Falls Schools Chris Foster—Quad City Area Schools 

2011 IBA Conference   Effective Methods of

Teaching Snare Drum Rudiments

Why are the rudiments important? 

• Basic building blocks of snare drumming and many other physical elements of percussion.

• Rudiments have a rich history, being utilized since the 14th century, recognized in the 1800’s.

• New Hybrid rudiments are the major driving force behind today’s new solos and literature for snare drum.

• Snare drumming thrives on the physical gratification of performing rudiments.

Inside this handout:

Lesson Idea: Rudiment check-off 2

Rudiment Check-off Pros: 2

Hybrids?? 3

“Unnecessary” Rudiments 3

Method Books and Rudiments 3

Websites/Dates of Interest 4

August – October – Band music, method book, reading 

October ‐ December – Rudiments, physical Development 

January – April (Depending on solo season) – Solo preparation (physical and reading development) 

April ‐ June – physical or reading development 

• www.vicfirth.com - Student goes to the Vic Firth webpage – education resource center – and 40 rudiments.

• Student clicks on rudiment of choice (or by recommendation), where aural and written forms are displayed. The student performs the rudiment at the desired level as a “play along” on their drumpad. The student will see the rhythm and hear it being played on a snare drum.

• To evaluate —if the student can play the rudiment and play along with the track without falling behind, they “pass” that level of a rudiment. Listen for a “clean” sound as it should sound toegther. The tracks will continue automatically until you stop them.

• Once a student reaches their speed limit – you can record their achievement on a spreadsheet for future reference, and if you wish - also use the sheet as as guide for other students to see the progress of others. See attached spreadsheet as an example.

• At the next lesson a student may continue to work on that rudiment (to try to improve their medal rating) or try a different rudiment.

• You don’t have to be an expert or be able to play them. Just simply hear if a student can keep up. Very easy to evaluate.

• Students learn mastery by playing mulitple tempos (sometimes the slower ones are harder!).

• Any development level can do this. • Fits within a typical lesson time frame • Students can practice at home using the website – can be a

motivating part of practicing. • Motivation when students are trying to get “medals” • Will help build a percussionist’s “chops” very quickly. • Students are also learning the ability to listen critically, AND they’re

playing against something that’s rhythmically perfect (better than a metronome)

• Can be used in sectionals/rehearsals with percussionists. • Teachers can do this as a practice tool too! • A spreadsheet can keep track of a student’s progress over the

course of years.

Lesson idea: Rudiment Check-offs

Rudiment Check-off pros:

www.vicfirth.com • Click on “Education” • Click on “Education

Resource Center” • Scroll down, cliick on

“40 Essential Snare drum Rudiments”

Page 2 Effective Methods of Teaching Snare Drum Rudiments

The 40 International Drum Rudiments are a lot to know. Every percussionist would probably say they are all important, but some might be more important than others! There are certainly some basic ones that apply to everything (truly rudimentary), some that are more common in contemporary solos and drumline, and others that are seen in more traditional solos.

“Unnecessary” Rudiments?

Page 3 2011 IBA Conference

Sanford “Gus” Moeller—marching from Mount Vernon, NY to Boston for the American Legion Convention in 1933.

“Rudimentary” rudiments • Single Stroke Four • Multi-bounce roll • Double stroke open roll • Flam • Flam accent • Drag (ruff)

Common contemporary • Flam Inverts • Flam taps • Flam drags • Paradiddle • Paradiddle-diddle • Lesson 25’s • 5-stoke roll • 7- stroke roll • Single drag tap

Common “traditional” • Single ratamacue • Double ratamacue • Triple ratamacue • Flam paradiddle • Flam paradiddle-diddle • flamacue • Single flammed mill • Drag paradiddle 1-2

Hybrids?? Yes, hybrid rudiments have been the cool thing for a long while now. Many different hybrids are very popular amongst drumlines and new contemporary solos. There is very little consistency with names and there is no “official” list, however, new ideas keep coming and the unofficial lists keep growning and growing. Here are some popular ones:

• Cheeses (flam studders) • Flam fives • Patty fives • Grandmas • Hurtas (Hertas) • Shirley Murphys

Recommended Contemporary solo books “The Rudimental Cookbook”- Edward Freytag “Just Desserts” - Edward Freytag “Contemporary Rudimental Studies and Solos” - Lalo Davila “Ziggadabuzz” - Row Loff Recommended “Old School” solo books 14 Modern Contest Solos - John S. Pratt The New Pratt Book - John S. Pratt The Solo Snare Drummer - Pratt, Schinstine, Moore Drum Method (vol. 2) - Haskell Harr

Method Books and rudiments Some method books tend to introduce rudiments early on, yet percussionists can argue over how well rudimental concepts are taught in these books. Some books touch on rudiments a little (if at all) and focus primarily on reading, and other books teach rudiments once a certain proficiency is achieved. What’s right?

Percussionists can (and do) argue over what makes a beginner snare drum method book “good”. Ideas like “when rolls are taught” and “teaching open or closed rolls first” come into play. Do books teach right hand lead “natural” sticking, or alternate sticking? How well do books “teach” correct rhythmic values? And, is the book interesting to the student?

IPAS has submitted a proposal for the IMEA convention in November that will attempt to answer those questions and hopefully to help you know if you’re using the right book!

Stan Dahl—Interim President dahls@central.edu Barry Dvorak—Secretary dvorakb@cedar-falls.k12.ia.us Nicholas Hoover—Board Member nhoover@dowlingcatholic.org Chris Foster—Webmaster fosterdrum@hotmail.com

About PAS

The Percussive Arts Society (PAS) is a music service organization promoting percussion education, research, performance and appreciation throughout the world. The Percussive Arts Society is the world's largest percussion organization and is considered the central source for information and networking for percussionists and drummers of all ages. Established in 1961 as a nonprofit, music service organization, our mission is to promote percussion education, research, performance and appreciation throughout the world. Today, we are 8,500-members strong with 50 chapters located across the United States, and an additional 28 chapters outside the United States. PAS publishes two bi-monthly publications, Percussive Notes and Percussion News, and a website that contains publication archives, research databases, a conference center, museum tour and other features. PAS is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, and includes Rhythm! Discovery Center, which contains rare and unusual percussion instruments and scores. The Percussive Arts Society has been serving all levels of percussion performers as well as the percussion industry for 50 years. Each year PAS hosts the largest percussion convention in the world, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), featuring the top names in drumming and percussion. Now in its 36th year, PASIC features more than 115 concerts, clinics, master classes, labs, workshops, panels and presentations. The top percussion artists from all over the world present and perform in areas that include, drumset, marching, keyboard, symphonic, timpani, world, recreational, education, music technology, new music, and health and wellness. This is very special year for the Percussive Arts Society as it celebrates its 50th Anniversary. Many special events are planned throughout the United States and beyond to commemorate this special event. Check the PAS website for further information and updates. http://www.pas.org

Presented by the Iowa Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society

www.pas.org

http://community.pas.org/PAS/Iowa/Home/

www.vicfirth.com

November 18-19th - IMEA conference, Ames, IA (Proposed snare method book clinic by IPAS)

March 31, 2012 - Iowa Day of Percussion, University of Iowa

Websites/Dates of Interest:

Watch that right hand pinky!

PAS 40 Snare Drum RudimentsBronze Silver Gold Platinum Diamond

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40Albaugh, Bridget 3 2 5 4 4 2 3 4 5 5 2 5 3 4 2 4Albaugh, Ryan 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 5 4 3 5 3 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 4 4Connett, AlecCopeland, Daniel 1Cosgrove, Connor 2DeAngelo, Nick 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 2 5 4 4 4 5 5 4 5 5 5 4 5 5Dehaven, Peter 2 4 3 4 2 4 4 4 4 3 3Devries, Quin 2 2 4 1 3 1 4 3Dickinson, Halie 2 2Eaton, Andrew 1Galioto, Anthony 2 3 1 2Haguewood, Nick 4 3 2Hall, Rachael 3 3 4 2 5 5 5 5 2 1Holtkamp, Isaac 4Jerome, Hannah 2 1 2 4Laughrun, Stephen 2 3 2 3 4 2 4 3 2 5 3 4 3 2 1 2Mattern, James 3Nelson, Zach 2 5 3 4 4 2 4O'Halloran, Conor 4 4 4 2 4 3 1Pigott, Nick 3 5 4 4 5 4 4 2 4 2 3Purcell, Max 3 1Reding, Nathan 4 2 5 4 4 4Reiman, Evan 3 2 1 5 5 5 3 4 2 4 2 4Rexroat, Sean 2Ruzicka, David 3 1Seymour, Nicholas 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 5 4 5 4 5 5 5 4 5 3 4 4 4Tingleff, Patrick 4 1 1Valdez, Sonia 3 4 2 2 3 1Wenman, Katherine 2 4 1Willey, Nile 5 4 5 4 2

I. Roll RudImentsAll rudiments should be prActiced: open (slow) to close (fAst) to open (slow) And/or At An even moderAte mArch tempo.

A. single stroke roll rudiments

1. single stroke roll *

7. five stroke roll *

6. double stroke open roll *

5. triple stroke roll

4. multiple bounce roll

3. single stroke seven

2. single stroke four

8. six stroke roll

9. seven stroke roll *

* These rudiments are also included in the original Standard 26 American Drum Rudiments.

b. multiple bounce roll rudiments

c. double stroke open roll rudiments

19. single pArAdiddle-diddle

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II. dIddle RudIments

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15. seventeen stroke roll

14. fifteen stroke roll *

13. thirteen stroke roll *

12. eleven stroke roll *

10. nine stroke roll *

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Copyright © 1984 by the Percussive Arts society™, 110 W. Washington street, suite A, Indianapolis, In 46204 International Copyright secured All Rights Reserved

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110 w. wAshington street, suite A, indiAnApolis, in 46204 • e-mAil: percArts@pAs.org web site: www.pAs.org

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