• The Hot Stove Exercise: for mastery of wrist turn motion

  • Beyond this, timing and legatos exercises (like 8 on a Hand) will be most applicable to the mastery of wrist turn.

  • Quickness of wrist turn will be especially useful in double-beat applications; however, the quickness of wrist turn must be matched by a quickness of rebound to make the most efficient use of your energy.

• The Fulcrum Exercise: for mastery of grip/fulcrum

  • Beyond this specialized exercise, rolls and diddles exercises will most challenge your fulcrum control and raise your awareness of fulcrum construction.

  • Many exercises do not challenge your fulcrum very much; by maintaining a strong fulcrum while performing such patterns, you will develop a grip that is always ready for higher demands. Think about The Fulcrum Exercise when you play Legatos exercises like 8 on a Hand, and you will reinforce habits that will have you ready to play quick rolls too.

  • Exercises that compare patterns that are most different from each other in terms of the application of fulcrum pressure will especially test your fulcrum control and build your mastery of the finer muscle groups.

• The Velocity and Buck Exercises: for mastery of rebound

  • Beyond this, double beat exercises provide a convenient vehicle for striving for maximum rebound, as the demand for quickness of wrist turn is often compounded by the demand for quickness of rebound.

Mantras For Rudimental Snare Drum — Repetition Regimens to Promote Muscular Awareness, Sonic Enlightenment, & Musical Excellence
Leveraging the benefits of extensive repetition for your musical development, these forty-two exercises will stretch and challenge your capabilities while also forming a larger progression that gives you a top-to-bottom examination of your rudimental drumming abilities. Much of this material will be well-suited to rehearsal in a group or clinic setting, with or without advance preparation, on drums, pads, or even just hands!

This book is a great starting point because there is a lot of very accessible material in addition to the more challenging stuff, and many of the patterns would be great foundational ideas for the “canonical” exercises in the typical drumline warm-up repertoire (e.g., double beat, paradiddles, legatos). For having such short exercises, this one really packs a punch.

Rudiment Control — Rudiment Combinations & Rhythmic Variations
A favorite of educators everywhere, this collection of exercises explores the connections between similar rudiments and applies rudiments with different speeds and interpretations to build greater command over the space between notes. This mastery of stroke timing facilitates easier learning and better performance of all manner of rudimental fare, so that you (or your students) may more effectively teach yourself (or themselves).

This book is a great starting point because the patterns range from fairly simple to fairly complex, and the challenges range from simple timing modulations to those of precise fulcrum control; you should have a very real sense of what aspect of the technique triangle is challenging you most for a given pattern.

It’s not the only idea behind this book, but a prominent idea in drumline education is that “if you can do it wrong, you can do it right.” I.e., if you can rehearse two different interpretations of a rudiment, then you will be able to mentally separate the correct approach from the incorrect approach and call for the correct approach in context. This book is a great way to cut your teeth on that notion and really learn how to teach yourself. This idea extends beyond rudiment interpretation, too, however. For example, maybe you grip the stick too hard when you play. To examine this problem (in order to correct it), try playing legatos while gripping even harder. Then, try playing legatos while gripping absolutely not hard enough. Put both challenges together in an assignment; for example, a measure of legatos too tight, a measure too loose, and then a measure just right. A common phrase in the materials on this site is “muscular awareness,” and that is the essence of what these kinds of personal examinations can give you. Your playing apparatus is a system, and the more you understand your system, the more you can make improvements to it.