1. 8-8-16 Overview
Summary
8-8-16 is usually at the top of a warm-up block and is meant to loosen up the hands and focus the mind and ears, all while developing the basic technique for a full legato stroke.
Description
This exercise is a repeating pattern of eighth notes: 8 on the right hand, 8 on the left hand, and 16 on the right. It immediately repeats without stopping, but now starts with the opposite hand: 8 on the left hand, 8 on the right hand, and 16 on the left hand. The exercise ends with a release on the right hand. This makes one rep.
Purpose
A full legato stroke that utilizes rebound is one of the fundamental strokes most commonly used in marching percussion. It works the wrists, fingers, and arms to develop muscle memory and reinforce technique, generates good quality of sound out of the drum, and provides the opportunity to engage the mind and ears of the performers. The exercise is performed on a loop, with a 4 beat tap off between each rep. This can be played for several minutes at the start of a warm-up block to either get the performers “into the zone” or for instructors to observe technique and make corrections, or for 4 reps to “stretch” the hands as a cool down exercise.
Considerations
Each stroke should be a full legato, velocity-driven rebound stroke. The first stroke should be equal in height and dynamic as the last. Here are things you want to consider while running this exercise:
- Attack: Start the exercise with a clean attack. Make sure all of the performers are subdividing vocally the last four beats of the tap off to help with a clean attack. if the attack isn’t clean, cut the exercise, and start again.
- Sneaking In: A lack of confidence can have a student “sneak in” or crescendo into the exercise. Reinforce that it’s ok to make mistakes, and you’d rather them make it loud so it can be corrected and move on.
- Hand Transition: Aside from the attack, the second most common place for error is the transition from the right hand to the left and the left hand back to the right. Have your drummers internalize the tempo and when it comes to the measure before the transition, have them quietly count (1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and…), where the first 4 beats are on one hand, and the “1 and” are the first two eighth notes on the new hand. This successfully navigates them to the new hand and locks them into the tempo on that hand.
- Transition – Rebound to Downstroke:
- Release: The final pain point is the release because it’s a transition to a new hand, a change in stroke type, and the end of the piece. Because of this, a drummer may try to make it extra loud by reaching higher or adding velocity, both of which can cause clarity issues on the release. Reinforce that the last beat should be the same as the first beat.