The Shed – Snare Drum

Guidelines for Stickings

By Dr. Christopher Butler
As a percussionist, stickings are crucial in determining how our hands will work together to
navigate a tricky musical passage. While this concept sounds simple, determining the correct
sticking can be hard.

Figuring out your desired stickings is important because it shows us HOW we are going to play
something. They are the percussion equivalent of bowings for string players. To further
complicate matters, sticking guidelines change from instrument to instrument. The optimal
sticking on snare drum won't work when playing timpani. When playing four-mallet marimba,
there are even more factors to take into consideration.

When I'm preparing any piece of music, the very first thing I do is write in my stickings. If I
don't do this, I feel like I'm wasting my time. I hate the thought of preparing an etude or solo
and not defining HOW I'm going to play it.

I must also point out that as a teacher, I get really frustrated when a student doesn’t have any
stickings or notes written in his/her music. This single cue already tells me how much work
they have put into this piece. In my opinion, the best percussionists are the ones who have
almost destroyed their music/book with markings and other notes.

With all this being said, here are a few of my thoughts in determining snare drum stickings:

GUIDELINES FOR SNARE DRUM STICKINGS

(Excerpts from Etude #9, Douze Études pour Caisse-Claire by Jacques Delécluse)

Single vs. Double

In my opinion, single strokes are always going to have an inherent heavier sound. Double
strokes are typically lighter (two hits=one stroke). Choose to use single or double strokes in
the appropriate musical setting. FYI, it is possible to play singles strokes lightly or achieve
heavy double strokes, but you must work harder to achieve this. Achieving perfectly even
double strokes at "ppp" is HARD. Achieving consistently light single strokes at “ppp” is HARD.

Singles or Doubles for the 32nd notes?

Roll Speed

It is critical to define roll speed stickings. For example, using duple/triple/odd rhythms to fill
out a buzz roll. Remember, the slightest change in tempo will directly affect roll speed
stickings! If you are practicing an etude at a slow tempo, find the roll speed for performance
tempo.

What is the underlying rhythm of your buzz roll here? What if you go faster or slower?

K. I. S. S.

Keep it simple stupid. Use only one hand for simple rhythms. This helps keep the single hand
sticking in motion, typically leading to better time and feel. Don’t make your music harder than
it already is!

Just keep your right hand as the dominant note…

Dynamic Changes

Find a way to prepare a single hand at the correct playing area in preparation for dynamic
changes. For example, using multiple strokes in one hand at a loud dynamic to get the other
hand ready to play at a soft dynamic.

Try moving your left hand to the rim early and using
your right hand for the last three loud notes.

Ornaments

The addition of a flam, drag or ruff to the easiest rhythm could dramatically change your
sticking. Please consider the example below, where I've added flams to repeating 16th notes.
The first version on the left displays the natural sticking of the primary notes, however, the
addition of the flams causes the right hand to essentially play endlessly. Instead, consider the
example on the right which features the sticking on an inverted flam tap. This sticking will be
awkward at first but is much easier to play at faster tempos.

Which is more consistent? Which is easier?

 STICKING EXERCISE: What sticking are you going to use? Good luck.

(8th note = ~200bpm)

Dr. Christopher Butler is currently a Lecturer in

Percussion at Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale. He is a proud endorser of Marimba One
as an Educational Artist.