OCPD: Obsessive Compulsive Percussion Disorder Question 1 Tenors

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First of all you're very welcome, I'm glad I could inspire you through my response in the Q&A section to another question. The whole purpose of my website is to educate and inspire higher thinking in the world of percussion so it's very good to hear that I've achieved my goal with at least one person. Now to answer your question:

The first concept that I teach and that Bill Bachman also talks about is that you need to get a good grasp of how things are played on the Y axis (vertical) before you try and move around on all of the drums. The whole idea behind this is that if you cannot play it good on the Y axis, there is no way you're going to make it sound good when moving around on the X axis (horizontal) as you have 4-6 drums to think about rather than one. The fact that you have played snare for a couple of years will help you out as you've played on just the Y axis for a good amount of time and presumably worked the basic rudiments and fundamentals on just the Y axis. Once you have consistently mastered playing something on the Y axis, the only thing you need to change is moving your forearms around on the X axis to create the split, heights and technique stays the same. This is probably the first thing I look for whenever I check out a tenor line or an individual tenor player: whether or not they can keep their taps down when moving around on the drums. If they do not have the well controlled heights of a snare line when moving around on the drums I usually walk away and find a drumline in the lot somewhere else that can control the taps around the drums. This takes a long time to master; however, this is one of the main things that can separate the amazing tenor lines/individuals from the good tenor lines/individuals. For more information and a demonstration of what I'm talking about with the Z and Y axis on tenors click the following link to view a video of Bill Bachman: Vic Firth: The Leader in Percussion Education!

As far as the X axis is concerned, you need to discipline yourself to play in the proper playing zones all the time, every time. The playing zones themselves are on the edge of the heads so that the drum can resonate; not in the center as it creates a dead stroke, and not too far on the edge as it creates harmonics (multiple pitches instead of a pure tone). One way to think of the playing zones is how you would play on a set of timpani, only they're much smaller and the drum setup is different. You can technically play on the outside edges of the drums as the only thing you need to worry when playing on the same drum is to make sure both beads of the sticks or mallets are equidistance from the lugs (assuming you have perfect tuning on the tenors it doesn't matter which lugs you play by as long as the distance is the same). Although it will sound good, it's not very efficient movement; so, when moving from one drum to the next on the X axis, pick the shortest path in a straight line so you're using efficient movement. An excellent example again comes from Bill Bachman's book "Quad Logic" that has great pictures of the most efficient playing zones. Row Loff Productions Logic Series Another great reference is Bill Bachman's DVD titled "Reefed Beats" that explains more in detail his concepts on how to move around the drums. This is the best tenor DVD I've ever seen so I highly recommend you getting it as it will provide tons of knowledge and his playing is very inspirational as it shows you the true potential of a master tenor player. Bill Bachman's "Reefed Beats" Video Feature This does not apply directly; however, if you read through Leigh Howard Stevens book titled "Method of Movement" for marimba you can apply a lot of the approaches he takes with moving from one interval to the next and his discussion on different mallet strokes to rudimental tenor drumming. It will require you to use your imagination and think of ways to apply it; however, it's very effective for learning about efficient movement across surfaces such as tenors or timpani and of course mallets. Most important thing you can do when playing around the drums is listen and breathe. I say listen so that you are actively listening to the sound quality and rhythms you are producing rather than just going through the motions around the drums. I say breathe so that you remember to relax your mind and body so you do not play with any tension.

If we simplify the pedagogical world of tenor drumming, there are basically two schools of thought on how to play tenors: those that teach to play thumbs up, and those that teach to play thumbs to the side. I happen to be strongly against playing thumbs up for a lot of reasons I will explain; however, there are many performers that play thumbs up that are absolutely amazing tenor drummers. One reason I do not like thumbs up when playing tenors is that you do not play that way on any other percussion instrument except for playing French grip on Timpani. If you cannot directly or indirectly apply the techniques you're learning in the rudimental world to every other instrument from drumset to marimba I think you're missing the point. If you're trying to master 100 different variations on how to play match grip on 100 different percussion instruments, you're going to slow down your learning curve and potentially wreck your hands. Another thing with playing thumbs up is that it forces you to use almost all fingers and no wrist motion. Although you can get amazing speed playing with fingers, you will produce tense sound quality and limit the vibrations of the stick because the thumb and forefinger are forced to pinch the fulcrum to hold onto the stick. Whenever I play I try to make the stick vibrate so I can hear it hum, if it's doing that and your hands are relaxed then odds are you're producing a good sound quality. Another thing with playing with thumbs up is that it usually causes white knuckles and thumbs. If you don't know what white knuckles are, squeeze your thumb and forefinger as hard you can together and you'll notice that they will turn white because of the pressure and tension you're putting on them. This is one of the main things I look for when teaching, if I notice a student is playing with white knuckles then they are probably damaging their wrists from the amount of pressure they're putting into the grip and they're probably playing with a choked off sound quality which is not good. So next time you are practicing, look down and make sure your thumb is relaxed and not white from pressure; if it is white, then lay your index finger on top of the stick to force yourself to hold on with the back fingers for a little while to get used to not applying thumb pressure. After a while of playing with your index finger laying on top of the stick, gently wrap it around again and check to see if you're still applying too much thumb pressure; if so, keep trying this or other variations until you can relax your thumb. The final problem I have with thumbs up is that some tenor players who play this way will rotate their wrist when doing scrapes/sweeps and thus create two different tones out of the drum as you're hitting the drum at different angles with the bead of your stick/mallet. If you keep your thumb to the side of the stick it forces you to use your forearm to travel which can be slower than rotation until it's further developed; however, it creates a more consistent sound as you're not changing your technique's approach to the Y axis.

Now as far as literature goes, try and find as much tenor and snare music as you possibly can to expand your vocabulary. Once you've learned a snare part, make up your own split for it so you can develop your creative process for composing tenor splits. Good references for music is my sheet music page, concert snare books by DeLacluse or Cirone, Quad Logic as mentioned before and Julie Davila's book "Modern Multi Tenor Techniques and Solos" that can be obtained here: Row Loff Productions Modern Mult Tenor Techniques and Solos If that's not enough music for you I recommend exploring my links page to find other publishers that print out tenor books or exercise books I have not mentioned.

Another thing that will help you out as a tenor player is to play drumset. This helps you establish a groove, develop a consistent tempo, further develop moving around drums, and will help improve your independence between your hands and your feet for marching and playing. I also recommend checking out great tenor players like Bill Bachman at Bill Bachman.net or at Vic Firth Artist: Bill Bachman and also I&E clips off of some of the video links found in my links page so you can see the potential of a tenor player. If you can look for videos from Sean Vega, Colin McNutt, Murray Gusseck, or Tim Jackson RLRR.com - Tim Jackson This is all the tenor specific stuff I can think of at the moment, I recommend that you go back and reread the other Q&A I answered regarding how to get better through practice habits and apply those to some of the information above.

I hope that helps to answer your question. If the information and resources provided do not answer your question, please feel free to contact me again and I'll do my best to help you out.

Good luck and best wishes,

Jared O'Leary