Tag: musical theatre

Musical Theatre Drum Beats and fills – Sheet 5 – 40 Beats and Fills Book 2

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Here is Exercise Sheet 5 from 40 Beats and Fills Exercises Book 2.

Musical Theatre drumming generally has elements of swing, jazz, big band, blues, pop and rock. Unlike jazz music – which also has the swung hi hats – there is often a prominant snare on beats 2 and 4. Sometimes the time signature changes to 3/4, 2/4 and 6/8. Much of theatre style drumming is played with swing and therefore we use many fills with triplets, because they fit in with the swing rhythm easily.

The drum beats on Exercise 3 are similar to those grand finale type songs where they are a slow to medium speed. For this, perhaps you can imagine the cliché stage show of linked arms and kicking out of the legs together in time with the music (the snare on beats 2 and 4).

Video Demonstration for Sheet 5


Watch on YouTube

In Depth Drag Technique Video Demonstration

We also look in depth on the drag technique in the video during the Exercise 3 drum fill. The video shows the correct technique for performing the bounced drag, including how to hold the stick and how to control the bounces by using varying amounts of pressure to acheive the desired bounce frequency and length.

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Drum beats and drum fills in different time signatures – Sheet 4 – 40 Beats and Fills Book 2

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Here is Exercise Sheet 4 from 40 Beats and Fills Exercises Book 2.

The drum beats and drum fills are played in different time signatures (3/4, 5/4 and 2/4), as well as changing to and from the usual 4/4 bar length.

Time Signature Changes: “Do not panic – they’re quite easy”, as I say in the video!

The time signatures are not too hard And sometimes you don’t even need to worry about counting them. There are situations where you might need to count them and they might be harder depending on what is contained in the bars, but thes have been written for newcomers to time signatures in mind, so there are no real suprises – it’s meant to be a straightforward introduction.

On exercise 3, I have taken away the stepped hi hat so it’s 3 way coordination. The stepped hi hat is included on exercise 3 with the 5/4 bar, so there’s an added challenge there.

Video Demonstration

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Drum Beats and Drum Fills in 6/8 time signature – Sheet 3 Inside the book

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Next Page: Sheet 4 →

Here is Exercise Sheet 3 from 40 Beats and Fills Exercises Book 2.

The drum beats and drum fills are all in a 6/8 time signature. We will be putting emphasis on the beats 1 and 4 of the bar, which is standard for 6/8 drum beats. The counting should be 1 2 3 4 5 6 for 8th notes, and for 16th notes, you could count 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 +. This is unlike 4/4, where the 1 2 3 4 is counting the quarter notes, rather than the 8th notes.

We are playing in a blues style in this sheet, although you could also hear these beats in other styles such as Pop, Jazz and Musical Theatre.

Video Demonstration

As you can see in the video, some of the exercises are quite fun when played quickly. Do start slowly and correctly though, because those fills could sound messy if they are not played with accuracy.

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40 Beats and Fills Exercises Book 2

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This book contains drum beats and drum fills in the styles of pop, rock, blues, musical theatre, jazz, heavy metal, hard rock, punk rock, and indie, as well as covering fundamental techniques such as stepped hi hat, open hi hats, 16th note hi hats, 4 way coordination and  time signature changes. The book ranges from grade 1 to 3.

The last book focused on grades 1-2, so this book is focusing on the high end of grade 1 and up to grade 3 level. The book would be an ideal add on for anyone studying Grades 1-3, and in particular grads 2-3. To achieve grade 3 and possibly grade 4 level, the exercises would need to be played precisely, with correct dynamics, speed and fluidity.

Demonstration Video

There is a video accompaniment with timestamps for every exercise in this book here: https://youtu.be/jMT9UHOBHNM

About the book

This is the second book in the series, following directly on from “40 Beats and Fills Exercises (Grade 1-2)”. There are 40 exercises over 12 sheets, and a bonus sheet 13. There is also a warm up sheet, which can be played at the start of a lesson if you are studying some of the book.

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoy working on this book or teaching with this book. Stick the metronome on and get into each exercise. Aim to repeat each exercise at least 2 times (ideally 4 or more). You could do 4, or keep repeating until you are happy with it. If you have done the sheet a few times before, perhaps 2 times each would be sufficient. Start without the metronome first if you are needing to slow down and learn each one. Slow it right down if it’s tricky and really make sure to play it properly. It’s better than trying to messily play it too fast.

Kind regards to you all,

Theo Lawrence / TL Music Lessons