Full Strokes
Legato, Piston
A Full Stroke, also known as a Legato Stroke or a Piston Stroke, is played full and connected. These strokes start and end in the same position.
Like bouncing a ball, you throw the stick down and let the drum return it to the up position. Don’t make more work for yourself by stopping each note at the bottom and then needing to immediately pick it back up. Nobody likes playing with a flat basketball. Additionally, this can lead to whipping and inconsistent sound quality.
The Tap Stroke could also be considered a full stroke. The tap starts and ends in the same position. Taps, however, start down or low and end down. Both taps and full strokes use the same technique.
The exercises below are designed to build off of each other. Each exercise will help in developing the full stroke while also trying to target such principles as sound quality, attacks, releases, and hand transitions.
Practice each exercise at multiple dynamic levels 1″, 3″, 6″, 9″, 12″, 15″.
Also be sure to practice at multiple tempos. At slow speeds, a full stroke can be produced with the wrist, similar to striking a bell. As tempos start to increase, however, you will need to use your fulcrum and open up the fingers. I typically try to develop the fingers first, then I’ll add wrist and elbow for more power.
Twitch Legatos require you to
Transcript
Practice the above exercises at 12″, then cut that in half to 6″, then again to 3″. Once students have a solid 3″ tap, this lends well to now adding accents. Now you can start looking at Down Strokes and Up Strokes.
Alternatively, since we developed alternating 16th notes, you can stay at one height and head on over to some rhythm studies.
A Full Stroke, also known as a Legato Stroke or a Piston Stroke, is played full and connected. These strokes start and end in the same position.
Like bouncing a ball, you throw the stick down and let the drum return it to the up position. Don’t make more work for yourself by stopping each note at the bottom and then needing to immediately pick it back up. Nobody likes playing with a flat basketball. Additionally, this can lead to whipping and inconsistent sound quality.
The Tap Stroke could also be considered a full stroke. The tap starts and ends in the same position. Taps, however, start down or low and end down. Both taps and full strokes use the same technique.
The exercises below are designed to build off of each other. Each exercise will help in developing the full stroke while also trying to target such principles as sound quality, attacks, releases, and hand transitions.
Practice each exercise at multiple dynamic levels 1″, 3″, 6″, 9″, 12″, 15″.
Also be sure to practice at multiple tempos. At slow speeds, a full stroke can be produced with the wrist, similar to striking a bell. As tempos start to increase, however, you will need to use your fulcrum and open up the fingers. I typically try to develop the fingers first, then I’ll add wrist and elbow for more power.
Twitch Legatos require you to
Transcription
I typically practice the above exercises at 12″, then cut that in half to 6″, then again at 3″. Once my students have a solid 3″ tap, this lends well to now adding accents. Now you can start looking at Down Strokes and Up Strokes.
Alternatively, since we developed alternating 16th notes, you can stay at one height and head on over to some rhythm studies.
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