Video transcript
The Arts Unit @home Art Bites - 1. Sticking to the basics with David Lockridge

[synth music]

[drumsticks tapping]

DAVID LOCKRIDGE: Hello, everyone. I'm so excited you could join me today. My name's Dave.

We're going to look at a bunch of things in this video. We're going to look at how to hold the drumsticks, how to do some basic strokes like this, how to do some exercises to help us develop technique, which is really important. That's why I call this video, Sticking to the Basics.

[drumsticks tapping]

We're going to need a couple of things to help us. We need a set of drumsticks, like this. We're also going to need something to play on. This is a practise pad.

If you don't have one of these, that's OK. You can use a drum if you have one. You can also use a table. You can also use a couch, a pillow, anything like that, anything that you can hit with a drumstick.

And the most important thing we need is one of these. This is called a metronome. They're really important, especially when you're a young percussionist. And even when you're an older percussionist like me, they are one of the most important things to own. It can be like this, an old one, or it can also be just one on your phone.

So we're going to get into this video, and I want you to listen really closely because we're going to do some really cool stuff, really important. OK. So let's start off with how to hold the sticks. Holding the sticks, this is one of the most important things you need to be able to do as a percussionist. Because if we hold the sticks correctly, we can get really loud.

[loud strike]

We can get really quiet.

[quiet tap]

And we can get a lot of control, which means we can do all sorts of things. So I'm going to give you a bunch of ideas and show you some thoughts on how to hold the sticks correctly. The first thing you need to look at is how you hold between your thumb and your first finger.

If you have a look at your finger, your first finger, there's a gap there and knuckles, so the top, the bottom, the middle. The thumb should sit in the middle perfectly like that, so the fingers around and thumb's down. It's like a crab grip. I call it the crab grip.

The next most important thing is where to hold the stick. If we hold in the middle, it kind of stay still. If we hold here, it drops.

So we want to hold it as far down the stick as possible because this helps throwing the stick up and down, up and down. So take that crab grip I talked about and take your hand like that, hold it all the way to the end of the stick. And that is exactly where we hold it. Have a look there, see that, perfect.

So now that we've got the crab down, where to hold it on the drumstick, down here, remember, not there, down here, the next thing is that all the fingers wrap around the stick like that. Now that we've got how to hold the drumstick down, let's have a look at some of the basic strokes we can do when we're playing. One thing I would like to mention is we actually have names for when we put the stick down and when we bring the stick up.

When we put it down, we actually call it a front stroke. And when we bring it back, we call it a back stroke. Remember those names, front stroke, back stroke. Here we go, the single stroke, one of the most important strokes to be able to do.

Basically a single stroke is right hand, left hand. So let's have a look at the stroke. So remember that fulcrum or the front of the fingers, which hold the stick like that, the crab grip, fingers around. Basically what we're going to do is we're going to lift the stick up and go down like that.

Now the most important thing is that the fingers never leave the stick. So if I do this, as a little example, you can see my fingers never leave the stick. So remember, if you're left-handed, you got to do your right hand. If you're right-handed, you got to do your left hand as well.

So let's look at an exercise that we can use to help strengthen our single strokes. Now, the most important thing is to turn on that metronome. I'm going to set mine at 80, 80 BPM.

And the exercise we're going to do is basically just playing single strokes as crotchets. Now one of the most important things you need to be able to do as a percussionist, as a musician, is to subdivide. Subdivide means counting the beat. The first one is going to be crotchets, so I'm going to turn on the metronome.

[metronome clicking]

1, 2, 3, 4, that's the subdividing. The exercise is basically going to go between the right and the left hand. Ready, here we go.

1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4.

Now we're making sure the sticks are coming back with the back stroke. 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. Last time, 2, 3, 4.

Excellent. Metronome off. So you can see there, my fingers were never leaving the stick, like we talked about before. And my crab grip was holding on really well. And the sticks were flowing really comfortably.

These are all really important. This is actually something you should do every day before you practise. Start with that metronome, turn it on, and you're going to subdivide the crotchets. And you're just going to play single strokes, like this.

1, 2, 3, 4. Always focusing on the back stroke and the front stroke. The subdividing is helping us play in time. 3, 4.

Don't be lazy. Don't get lazy with this. Don't kind of like this, none of that. Always attacking, always focussing on that front and back stroke, really important when we're warming up. OK.

So another thing I love to do with this exercise is I love to practise it with music I really like or music in movies I really like.

[music - Miranda, Foa'i, Mancina, 'Where you are']

3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. So you can see, I'm focusing on that front and back stroke.

3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. Crab grip's on. Fingers are never coming off. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1.

So now we're going to look at the double stroke. You've learned the single strike, which is just right, left, right, left. Now the double strike, I'm pretty sure you can guess what it is. Instead of being right, left, it's going to be right, right, left, left. So let's put our metronome back on, so it's still at 80.

[metronone clicking]

2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. Subdividing, and we're going to look at the double. 1, 2, 3, 4.

Right, right, left, left. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4.

Let's start with our left hand. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. Focusing on that height of the back stroke and the front stroke.

1, 2, 3, 4. See, my fingers are never leaving the stick. My crab grip's in place. The proper name for a crab grip is called a fulcrum.

1, 2, 3, 4. It will come up later, trust me. 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, last time. You can also practise these doubles while watching 'Moana.'

[music - Miranda, Foa'i, Mancina, 'Where you are']

Right, right, left, left, right, right, left, left. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. Why not start with the left hand? 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4.

Now it's time to put both of those strokes together, the single stroke and the double stroke. And I'm going to give you guys an exercise that you can use as a warm-up every time before you practise and every time before you perform. It's really important to remember, always have that metronome there.

So the single strokes are going to be crotchets, and they're going to look like this. The double strokes are going to be quavers, and they're going to look like this. So the exercise is going to be a bar of single strokes in crotchets, a bar of double strokes in quavers. So let's practise the subdivision first. Metronome on, 80 BPM again.

[metronome clicking]

So the crotchets, 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. Now to subdivide quavers, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. OK, let's try that.

[metronome clicking]

1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and, that's our quavers. So we're going to do a bar of crotchets, that's single strokes, and a bar of double strokes, which will be quavers, and it will look like this. Here we go. It's time to do the exercise.

Now let's remember a few things. First, importantly, the crab grip or the fulcrum there on the stick, fingers on. Remember how we practised with 'Moana'?

Front stroke and back strokes, always moving upwards and down, fingers are never leaving that stick. This is important because we've got to warm up our fingers as well. So let's try the exercise, so metronome on at 80.

[metronome clicking]

1, 2, 3, 4. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and, right, left, right, left. Right, right, left, left. Right, right, left, left, right.

Excellent. Now we're going to try this same exercise again, except we're going to start with our left hand. Remember, that's important. 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and, 1, 2, 3, 4.

1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and, left, right, left, right. Left, left, right, right, left, left, right, right, left. So I'm going to turn that tempo up.

I like to go up in 10 BPMs. So if we're at 80, that's now 90. Let's see what it sounds like now.

[metronome clicking]

2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and.

Now one thing you need to think about is, before you increase the speed, you've got to make sure you're playing it correctly. Remember, holding the stick correctly, fingers always on the stick, front stroke and back stroke are comfortable. There's no pressure, then you can move it faster. OK. So that's 90, let's move up to 100.

[metronome clicking]

Moving up in 10s. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. 1, 2, alternate.

Left, right, left, right, left, left. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1. So you notice, every time I'm subdividing, I'm practicing the 1, 2, 3, 4. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. Excellent.

Let's do it one more time a little bit quicker. I'm going to break my rule. I'm going to take it to 120. 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, and 4.

And 1, 2, 3, 4. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1, 2, alternate. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1, 2, 3, 4. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, and 1.

I'm really starting to feel warmed up. So to wrap up everything from this video, we've got to remember how we hold the sticks are really important, that fulcrum, fingers on the stick, never coming off. Remember that little exercise? The front stroke, the back stroke, subdividing.

1, 2, 3, 4, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. Using the metronome, I mean, this is the most important thing. It will get you so in time.

Always have it turned on. You can practise all these patterns with different songs, find the beat. And then you can practise these different stickings. The single stroke, which is alternating right, left, right, the double stroke, which is right, right, left, left, right, right, left, left, and obviously our exercise, a bar of single strokes, a bar of double strokes.

If you do this all the time before you practise, so your warm-up, if you do it once a day, twice a day, you'll find that your control will become better. It will feel more comfortable when you hold the sticks, and you'll be able to hit and play for longer. All the things that we need to do as a young percussionist. Even as an old percussionist, we need to do it.

I had a lot of fun putting this video together. I really hope you got lots out of it. Remember, all these things are really important, especially if you're a young percussionist. I can't stress that enough.

You can always go back to the start of the video and go through all those steps again to help you. But, remember, take this warm-up, use it all the time, and you'll find everything will get a lot easier. I look forward to making more videos and seeing guys develop even further as percussionists. Thanks so much. Bye-bye.

[synth music]