From BRMP-Drums - Melodic Motions Studies  - Jeff Salisbury

I was introduced to Jeff Salisbury's unique tonal exercises at the 2010 Kosa Percussion Workshops. I found the motion around the drum set challenging - usually stabbing myself or catching stick tips on the different drum hoops. But it's the different sounds created by the different approaches that I found most impressive. 

The first exercises introduces the drummer to the concept of clockwise and counterclockwise motion of the hands across the different tuned surfaces. Lesson one consists simply of hand-to-hand eighth-notes played on, for instance in the first measure: floor tom  ⇒ snare ⇒ low tom ⇒ high tom ⇒ high tom ⇒  low tom ⇒ snare ⇒ floor tom. As you can see, following this technique, the hand rotation, right-hand counterclockwise, left-hand clockwise is achieved.  The subsequent measures force the same CCW - CW hand rotation but giving different tonal patterns resulted from the instruments selected.

Example: Lesson 1 with audio snippet (from accompanying CD):

Similarly, exercise two produces the hand rotation, but with the right-hand moving clockwise and the left-hand counterclockwise.

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The book has four part each with increasing complexity.

Part One continues with exercises utilizing the hand-to-hand and double-strokes techniques with additional difficulty such as playing in sixteenth, triplets, quintuplets and introducing the bass pedal.

Part Two introduces 12 inversions of the rudiment the paradiddle-diddle executed across the sound capability of the drum-set.

Part Three looks at the many flavors of the single paradiddle as played on the different sound surfaces of the set. Here we see more of the application of the ride cymbal.

Part Four brings much fun and challenge with the application of the rudiment, the flammed-mill in the previously explored motion and sound possibilities of our kit.

This fine publication at this time is exclusively available from Black River Music Plus Drums. Please consider expanding your percussion horizons and purchase Melodic Motion Studies by Jeff Salisbury. 

The video below shows the author performing at tempo the first few exercises from Part One of his book, Melodic Motions Studies:

-Joe