When I started to considered what I would do for my inquiry project I found myself remembering some wise advice given to me by a past teacher. He constantly spoke of the importance of running towards your weaknesses when you have the intention of growth. This feels like a perfect time to do just that and try something new, even if it is a somewhat challenging concept for me. For my free inquiry I will be entering the world of percussion, specifically through the exploration of snare drum rudiments.

The world of percussion is extremely daunting to me. I am a wind player, and have done that majority of my musical study throughout my life on the flute. But when I think of my future as a music educator I know that I need more skills beyond just that. I have had opportunities to learn and explore other concert band instruments but my schedule in my final years in the UVic School of Music unfortunately inhibited me from taking any courses to improve my knowledge of percussion techniques. To start my free inquiry I began by first acquiring a quality practice pad and set of drum sticks. Having quality equipment will surely make a difference in this type of performance/skill based learning. Then I moved to looking for resources on snare drum rudiments. This part felt a little intimidating, upon some research I discovered there is 40 different snare drum rudiments out there. That feels like a ton of things to learn, especially for a little old flute player like myself. I knew that I needed to narrow things down so that I felt my goal was challenging but also achievable.

Here are some resources I found in my search that I plan to review and use throughout the process:

Vic Firth – 40 Essential Rudiments

Percussive Arts Society 

My practice pad and sticks

My practice pad and sticks

As luck would have it I have a live resource living in my house, my roommate! She took a percussion techniques course at UVic this past year, and has both resources and experiential knowledge that she can share with me. After discussing with her what she did in the class I have narrowed that looming number of 40 rudiments down to a basic and beginner set of 10 techniques. Throughout my inquiry journey I plan to learn the following snare drum rudiments: single and double strokes, paradiddles, single/double/closed roles, flams, drags and ruffs. Considering some of those words sound like they are from a different language, this will be an interesting journey. But I am determined to run head first into my weakness and better my knowledge of the world of percussion. Before I begin learning these rudiments I will begin the week by developing proper grip and stick control. Wish me luck!!