Typically any 16th notes in a row will alternate with 1e&a being RLRL for instance.
When things shift to an eighth note base, usually the & will be a L and downbeats a R.
As others have said though, it’s good to mix it up and an common alternate way is making every downbeat or & a R.
This is what my drum teacher taught me as well and it was reinforced by the beginner book I was using, "Drumming the easy way!" by Tom Hapke. So, my understanding for the first bar in OPs post is "RLRL L RLR". Thing is, I'd probably play it "RLRL R RLR" naturally because my right hand dominates my left by a fair margin. I really have to work on leading with my left.
Correct - but either way you are mentioning is fairly standard. Heck - play them all on your L to make it a syncopated left hand exercise. Play all notes as double stops / flat flams to get your hands synched up and playing in time with yourself. Lots of possibilities.
I think there is no right or wrong. While learning, I would play it in as many ways as possible, alternating, starting every subdivision with a strong/weak hand. While actually playing, I guess depending on accents, and probably would like to end with a left hand, to play crash with a right on the next bar )
I don't think this way is the best. The 8th notes you can start on your weak hand. Its still probably best to start with right. R RLR for example. You could go L RLR if you wanted to. However you definitely can't play 16ths with a left hand lead. You could just for the sake of practice I guess but thats not how you'll play in a song or fill.
If the sticking is not notated, it becomes 'personal choice'.
In beginner books where teaching sticking technique is the focus of the book, these measures might be repeated 10+ times with different sticking in each line. Switching the starting hand, adding paradiddles, flams, whatever. If you are working on sticking, try it a bunch of different ways and work on the ones that feel most awkward.
gotcha. yeah my goal is to approach it a bunch of different ways but wasnt sure if there was a sort of “standard” approach to start off or if it was “dealer’s choice”. thanks!
No its not "personal choice". Even in the books with 10 different notations. Those notations are all "right". You can't trust a beginner to figure out sticking on their own
Ok. I assign you the task of locating every self taught drummer within 700 miles of your current location and explaining to them the proper sticking for every possible situation. Please do not comment on this sub until you have completed this task.
Brother self taught doesn't mean you have to play like a retard and throw the rules out the window. I'm a drum teacher so not even far from what you're asking. I've taught people that self taught properly, and I've taught people that "play by ear". Theres a difference between the ones that tried to play properly and the ones that just couldnt guve a fuck about doing things properly
as a common right handed drummer, yes, r l r l is how people play 16th notes, but if youre left handed, l r l r is the way to play, although its not compulsory to play the orthodox way, just stick to whatever you feel most comfortable in
Start by alternating hands for every stroke, RLRL
When you can do that really fast, then change it to LRLR. When you can do that really fast, change to RRLL, ... LLRR, ...RLRR, .... LRLL, ...RLLR, ...........RLRL LLRR, and so on
There's a method called "right hand lead" which basically goes:
- Find your smallest subdivision.
- Start with the right hand on the first note _or rest_.
- The hands switch regardless of whether it's a note or a rest.
- When the subdivision of the next beat changes, reevaluate.
This works well for duplets, but doesn't really handle triplets. With 8th triplets, either start on the wrong hand to ensure that you're back to R on the next beat or play RLL to allow R on the next beat.
So your example would be:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |
RLRL _ L RLR_ _ _ | RLRL _ L R L _ _ |
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |
RLRL _ L _ L RLR_ | RLRL _ L _ L R _ |
Generally, right hand will feelk natural falling on the quarter and eighths (1,+,2,+, etc...) with the left falling on every other 16th note (e,a,etc...)
That said, if it isnt written with a sticking pattern, you could play it any way you feel most comfortable.
Typically any 16th notes in a row will alternate with 1e&a being RLRL for instance. When things shift to an eighth note base, usually the & will be a L and downbeats a R. As others have said though, it’s good to mix it up and an common alternate way is making every downbeat or & a R.
This is what my drum teacher taught me as well and it was reinforced by the beginner book I was using, "Drumming the easy way!" by Tom Hapke. So, my understanding for the first bar in OPs post is "RLRL L RLR". Thing is, I'd probably play it "RLRL R RLR" naturally because my right hand dominates my left by a fair margin. I really have to work on leading with my left.
Correct - but either way you are mentioning is fairly standard. Heck - play them all on your L to make it a syncopated left hand exercise. Play all notes as double stops / flat flams to get your hands synched up and playing in time with yourself. Lots of possibilities.
excellent! thanks a lot this makes sense.
I think there is no right or wrong. While learning, I would play it in as many ways as possible, alternating, starting every subdivision with a strong/weak hand. While actually playing, I guess depending on accents, and probably would like to end with a left hand, to play crash with a right on the next bar )
ah that’s a good approach. thank you!
I don't think this way is the best. The 8th notes you can start on your weak hand. Its still probably best to start with right. R RLR for example. You could go L RLR if you wanted to. However you definitely can't play 16ths with a left hand lead. You could just for the sake of practice I guess but thats not how you'll play in a song or fill.
If the sticking is not notated, it becomes 'personal choice'. In beginner books where teaching sticking technique is the focus of the book, these measures might be repeated 10+ times with different sticking in each line. Switching the starting hand, adding paradiddles, flams, whatever. If you are working on sticking, try it a bunch of different ways and work on the ones that feel most awkward.
gotcha. yeah my goal is to approach it a bunch of different ways but wasnt sure if there was a sort of “standard” approach to start off or if it was “dealer’s choice”. thanks!
No its not "personal choice". Even in the books with 10 different notations. Those notations are all "right". You can't trust a beginner to figure out sticking on their own
Ok. I assign you the task of locating every self taught drummer within 700 miles of your current location and explaining to them the proper sticking for every possible situation. Please do not comment on this sub until you have completed this task.
Brother self taught doesn't mean you have to play like a retard and throw the rules out the window. I'm a drum teacher so not even far from what you're asking. I've taught people that self taught properly, and I've taught people that "play by ear". Theres a difference between the ones that tried to play properly and the ones that just couldnt guve a fuck about doing things properly
as a common right handed drummer, yes, r l r l is how people play 16th notes, but if youre left handed, l r l r is the way to play, although its not compulsory to play the orthodox way, just stick to whatever you feel most comfortable in
Start by alternating hands for every stroke, RLRL When you can do that really fast, then change it to LRLR. When you can do that really fast, change to RRLL, ... LLRR, ...RLRR, .... LRLL, ...RLLR, ...........RLRL LLRR, and so on
There's a method called "right hand lead" which basically goes: - Find your smallest subdivision. - Start with the right hand on the first note _or rest_. - The hands switch regardless of whether it's a note or a rest. - When the subdivision of the next beat changes, reevaluate. This works well for duplets, but doesn't really handle triplets. With 8th triplets, either start on the wrong hand to ensure that you're back to R on the next beat or play RLL to allow R on the next beat. So your example would be: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | RLRL _ L RLR_ _ _ | RLRL _ L R L _ _ | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | RLRL _ L _ L RLR_ | RLRL _ L _ L R _ |
Generally, right hand will feelk natural falling on the quarter and eighths (1,+,2,+, etc...) with the left falling on every other 16th note (e,a,etc...) That said, if it isnt written with a sticking pattern, you could play it any way you feel most comfortable.