Snare Drum Methods Update: Post Spring Break

 

Spring break was amazing! I did a lot of work preparing for my senior recital, and I finally got my date finalized! April 21 at 7:30 pm is my senior recital date as of now. Outside of that, I was able to write another Etude, as well as edit all of my past etudes. So, a productive two weeks, and now reality hits.

What am I doing?

I am creating a compilation of 10 original etudes for a beginning to intermediate snare drummer. The goal of this book is to assist band directors and private instructors teach their intro level students. The reason I want to pursue this is that when I was in the early stages of my career I relied solely on YouTube videos, Drum Forums, and a lot of method books. When I got my first full-time teaching job at a high school in south Tucson, I noticed 2 things that were not working right and affected their education. Their band director, who is truly a great musician and teacher, probably one of the best in the world, did not know how to play percussion. When I first came up with this idea it was with that program in mind. The one thing I wanted to do was help programs like that who have incredible directors, and all they need is the right tool.

Etude 6

Etude 6 was an attempt at making the snare drum feel like a melodic instrument. While I see etudes as a way of learning, they can also be used as a piece of music. All the best percussionist learned through music, so why not create music while learning here? That was my approach to this etude. The first 5 etudes where to solidify technique, now its time to start playing music. This Etude goes between 9/8  and common time to help with transitions. It also uses very expressive dynamics. A lot of softs and louds. In the interpretation section, I wrote about playing zones on the drum. That can be a very weird topic for young players. Most players are taught to play just off center on the head and now we are talking about using the edge of the drum for expression. Any young player would be confused. The goal for this Etude is to be that bridge from beginner to intermediate drumming. This piece has hard rhythms in it, and that’s good! It also has easy rhythms, just adding ornaments such as grace notes, and accents. A lot is happening in this etude and that’s good! I wanted this to be a harder etude to learn.

This is a very fun etude! I encourage you all to check it out when I am finally complete with this project.

What’s next?

I have been lacking really hard on the text write up and this week I am dedicating myself to getting that fixed! I will make sure all my explanations are written out, making sense, and relevant.

Other News?

Not really. The high schools I teach at both compete this weekend and I am very excited to see the outcomes. They are both working extremely hard! Sabino will be in Phoenix, and Sahuarita will be in Oro Valley. I will be traveling to Phoenix to meet Sabino and hopefully, they bring it!

Arizona’s Day of Percussion is coming up this next weekend on the 22^nd and 23^rd! Stay tuned for more on that!

How can you help?

I am still accepting applicants to join me in this project. The steps are extremely easy. Just go to my projects page and scroll to the bottom. Follow the steps and you are all set! Have any questions? Fill out my contact form and I will get back to you as soon as possible.