Level 1 is geared towards developing first or second year programs with little to no exposure to marching percussion. Your show music will likely consist of repeating patterns and rock beats as your students develop timing and technique. If you are a lone band director or instructor with limited background or resources who is trying…

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…

Summary Accent to Tap is typically the second exercise a drumline will play during their warm-up block. It’s continuing to build upon the development of the eighth note phrase to help with tempo control, but also begins to incorporate stick control and articulations while listening critically and blending sound. Description This exercise is a repeating…

Summary Once basic eighth note timing and accent-to-taps are developed, drumlines typically move into a double beat exercise to work on wrist control and muscle twitch mechanics to develop strong, consistent double strokes with a focus on quality of sound for both the outer and inner beat. Description Likely based on the drum introduction to…

Summary The development of quality open stroke rolls are a great skill to work with on a developing drumline program. Here, we leverage our rebound stroke from 8-8-16 and our diddle practice from Double Beat into a 16th note roll exercise. Description The name “Chicken and a Roll” is a pneumonic to remember the exercise’s…

Summary Buzz rolls can add to the range of musical effects you can utilize in your composition. There is technique specific to producing a quality buzz roll, and this exercise assist with that. Description This exercise is a simple pyramid exercise to develop buzz rolls. We focus on creating buzz sounds with specific hands before…