The Fulcrum - What, Why, Where, When.

There is nothing secret or modern in what
I am writing about, do not think you need an
expensive video to learn what a fulcrum is or
how to use it in your playing.
You simply have to feel it.
You have hands with fingers and nerves to give
your mind all the feedback it needs for
you to be a virtuoso.

All over the internet are videos of drummers
demonstrating the fulcrum as they understand it.
They show you where they have it in their hand,
call it the pivot point and then proceed to let
go of it as they demonstrate what they call a rebound.
If you let go of the stick, then you no longer
have a fulcrum.
For a beginner watching one of these videos
it will be impossible to understand the importance
of a fulcrum or how it functions in drumming as he has
just been told one thing and then had something else
demonstrated
WHAT
So what the heck is a fulcrum?
Most dictionaries have a definition that reads like this.
"The point of support over which a lever changes direction."
WHY
Why do you need one?
Drummers have traditionally used the fulcrum to get the stick to bounce, or rebound on the snare drum to facilitate playing open or closed rolls.
WHERE
Now we arrive at the most confusing part for a beginner
to figure out, because on the drumset you will see drummers
play in a variety of grips and positions, which will all
employ one of three basic fulcrums. So which one is correct,
which one is best?
Everyone says to do it their way, so who's right?
WHEN
When playing the drumset, they all are. The drumset is a collection of percussion instruments that can all employ different playing techniques, so use what is appropriate for playing the instrument you are striking at the moment.

The beginner should first learn a fulcrum which will enable him to play open and closed rolls on the snare drum. The goal of the drummer in playing rolls is to produce a smooth sustained sound,
or what could be called a long tone.
In the video that declares to teach you Secret Techniques, the author Mr. Mayer says the fulcrum is between his thumb and index finger and he then demonstrates open rolls. His concept is to throw the stick down at the drum and then as it flies back up
he pulls it back down with his back fingers for the second strike, declaring that he was using the thumb and index as a fulcrum. This is one of the worst, misleading demonstrations I've ever seen. Mr. Mayer doesn't understand what a fulcrum is, at all, and he doesn't know how to use one to play rebounds on the snare drum.
Time to read that definition of a fulcrum again, "a point of support". If you hold the stick on it's sides with the thumb and index as Mr. Mayer demonstrates then you are not SUPPORTING it you are grasping it. For the fulcrum to function as a fulcrum
you must be underneath the stick, SUPPORTING it on a POINT.
The stick is supposed to rock over the fulcrum point to create the second note. Mr. Mayer's ignorance of what a fulcrum is, force's him to use his fingers to play the second note, instead of letting gravity do it for him, he wastes time and muscular energy to do what gravity can do quicker and more easily. That is the whole idea behind fulcrums, to move things efficiently in the pull of gravity.
If you let the sticks weight lie on the middle finger which is under the stick when your thumb and index are holding the stick, the middle finger is SUPPORTING the stick and the stick can pivot over it and it then functions as a classic fulcrum as defined by Archimedes centuries ago. With the stick resting on a fulcrum all it takes is a turn of the wrist up and down to get the stick moving over the fulcrum. With the stick resting on the fulcrum it is easy to get the secondary attack, and changing the pressure of your middle finger against the stick will alter the speed of the rebound and give you multiple rebounds which are suitable for playing closed rolls.
All it takes is one turn of the wrist up then down, then let gravity move the stick over the fulcrum for the secondary attack. If you are relaxed with the fingers and provide the stick a stable POINT OF SUPPORT the stick will rebound evenly up to four notes for one motion of the wrist. You do not need to pull with your fingers to make the secondary attacks equal to the first. Mr. Mayers rebound is unequal to the first attack because he slams the first note down from a high position.
If he used gravity in a more natural manner instead of fighting it, he wouldn't need to compensate by pulling with his fingers for the secondary attack.

Learning to roll and developing a fulcrum, will enable you use rebounds in your playing and control of rebounds is necessary for mastery of the rudiments.

There is nothing secret about fulcrums or how they work,
but understanding what they are and how you can use them
to manipulate a drum stick when you play will take a little more thought and understanding than apparently Mr. Mayer has given it.

When you bounce the drum stick like a ball and let go of it ,
you have no POINT OF SUPPORT, and when you have no point of
support, you have no fulcrum at all.

Up then Down or Down then Up ?

What is truly fundamental for a beginner to learn,
before any discussion of rhythms, rudiments, grips
or fulcrums is a simple understanding of motion.

This brings me back to my last post, is the drumsticks
basic motion like that of ball or more like a hammer?

If you practice what JoJo Mayer and Dom Famularo
demonstrate as fundamental, Full, Half and Tap
Strokes and practice throwing and releasing your
grip on the drumstick as they demonstrate then
realize that you are doing the opposite
of what Buddy Rich stated was the way to practice.

I quote Buddy Rich from an article in Metronome
magazine in 1942. There is a full reprint of the article here: http://www.cactusjack.com/basics.html

In the article buddy advocates practicing on a pillow, to
strengthen the wrists.

"Technique. to begin with. is the exclusive property of a
drummer with Strong wrists. You therefore should
practice in such a manner so as to compel your wrists
to do most of the work in the execution of your studies."

He then cautions about using the arms,

"The first step is to eliminate completely
the arm motion commonly used in drumming....
The next step is to eliminate completely the bounce."

and then Buddy mentions the grip.

"I might add at this point that it would be a very good
idea for you to maintain a firm grip on your sticks with
your fingers. In this position. you will find it more
natural to play on the pillow with your wrists."

What JoJo and Dom demonstrate and declare to be
fundamental is the direct opposite of what Buddy Rich
clearly states,
"eliminate... the bounce" and "maintain a firm grip".

Well now what? Who's right?

As good as JoJo and Dom are, I would not call them
virtuoso snare drummers and so far the drum world
has not acknowledged them as such. Buddy Rich on
the other hand was a child prodigy
and world renowned as a virtuoso.

Round One to Buddy.

On earth everything moves Up to come Down, so it
would follow that a naturally efficient motion is
the hammer, up then down, not the ball motion of
down then up which cocks the arm in tension between
motions to catch the ball instead of relaxing after
the strike like the hammer does between motions.
This means Up then Down is more efficient as it uses
less effort,less effort equals more endurance for
the muscles as they exert against gravity.

Round Two to Buddy.

Take in to account what I said about grip, attack and
control of the sticks motion in my last blog post and
Round three goes to Buddy too.

Stop and think for a moment about what you do all
day with your own body as you move through the world
and negotiate it's obstacles are you moving with
up then down or down then up motions? Obviously
up then down is where it's at and using it when
you drum would be the obvious solution to a
gifted child prodigy, don't you think?

The Tale of the Ball and Hammer

In the last few years there have been a lot of instructional
drum videos released that promote the idea that the drum
stick functions like a ball and that you throw it at the
drum and then catch it as it rebounds back off the drum head. The latest being JoJo Mayers new videos.

Beginners are advised that this is the fundamental motion
you start with to produce what drummers commonly
refer to as Single Strokes.
This idea is then further qualified by motions called Full, Half and Tap Strokes , where the stick is thrown down at differing heights above the drumhead in an attempt to teach the beginner how to control dynamics.

Good snare drum technique should enable a drummer to play what he wants with as little effort as possible. Have you ever noticed how masters on every musical instrument make it look effortless as they play? So to play effortlessly then, one would have to make motions that are natural for the body and how it moves, so as to use as little effort as necessary.

If you observe how we humans move you will notice that your muscles work by exerting against the pull of gravity and then relax after that exertion. Repeating a motion is what trains the muscle to do the task and adding resistance or weight will increase muscle mass.

So if the goal is to play a Single Stroke Roll, what is the most efficient way to accomplish it.
According to Mayer and others the stick is like a ball and
you throw it down and catch it back as the stick rebounds off the drumhead. I ask you then how practicing this will build any new muscles, where is the resistance? A drumstick only weighs a few ounces so holding it up in the air like Mayer demonstrates is easy enough for the muscles you already posses, so how is throwing the stick down and catching it building any new muscle?
On the other hand starting a Single Stroke low, instead of high and lifting the stick up for each note makes the wrist muscles engage in a natural way and the more you play/practice the stronger your wrist gets as you are lifting the weight of the stick repeatedly and last time I checked that was the way to develop a muscle and developing muscles you don't have is what gives you more control and more control is what will enable you to play Single Strokes.

The Snare drum is a percussion instrument and every
member of the percussion family of instruments is played
by striking with a stick, mallet or hammer, not a ball.
Nothing is gained by pretending a stick is a ball but a total misconception of how a stick is used to produce sound.

Since all this technique stuff is really about
making music in the end, then let's talk about
this from the aspect of sound.
In music we refer to the moment a sound begins as the
Attack. If you throw the stick down at the drum and release your grip as Mayer demonstrates then you are not holding the stick at the moment of Attack. If you are not holding the stick at the moment of attack then you are not in control of your sound. He then advocates using Full, Half and Tap stokes as the way to gain back the dynamic control he is throwing away. In his view the three levels you practice throwing the stick down from will teach you how much attack is occurring and how to control it.

You don't have to practice with the stick in the air at three different levels to learn how to control the attack, it's already built in to your nervous system if you will just use your sense of touch. If you hold your stick instead of throw it away, your sense of touch in your fingers will give you tactile feedback when you strike the drum and you will be able to judge by your ears and touch how much exertion produces a given sound. No more practice is required, you hear it and feel it and it is done.

If you use the metaphor of a hammer instead of a ball for how the stick moves you will come up with a completely different process.
A hammer moves up and then down unlike the ball metaphor where the ball moves down then bounces up.

The hammer is more efficient as it moves with the natural motion of your wrist muscles which is to exert and relax.

exert = lift, move up, turn the wrist
relax = come down with gravity, turn the wrist and strike the drum

Repeated exertions will build the wrist muscles over time
and more muscle will give you more control and more speed.
There is no secret technique to playing Single Strokes it's just muscles and the amount of time it takes you to develop them.

Throwing the stick like a ball has another disadvantage,
which is that the tension of the drumhead is responsible
for returning the stick to your hand, so it works fine on a
tightly tuned snare drum but is problematic on a loose floor tom.

This is where the advantage of turning your wrist and using the stick like a hammer comes into play, as your muscles are in control of the motion of the stick not the drumhead tension.
Since being in control is what technique is for, why practice a technique that gives away control to the drumhead instead of practicing one that builds control
into your hands and sense of touch?

The Percussive Arts Society, http://www.pas.org
does not list, recognize or acknowledge the
Full, Half, Tap or Free strokes as rudiments,
but they do list The Single Stroke Roll as Rudiment #1,
this implies that it is first and fundamental
so make sure you do it the right way.

Practice does not make Perfect,
Practice makes Permanent.

Choose wisely, or suffer the consequences.....

Many Drummers Suffering The Same Hallucination

It has come to the attention of The Hip Rhythm Digest that
many drummers, world wide, are simultaneously having
the same hallucination and are suddenly thinking that the
drum stick in their hand has become a ball,
and when they are informed of the reality that
they are holding a hammer not a ball,
their hallucinations increase and they begin to insist that
they are free of the effects of gravity and anatomy
because the stick is a ball.

Originally it was thought that this hallucination was spread
by personal contact with infected drummers Chapin and
Gruber, but the hallucination has been transfered
to a DVD that drummers merely have to watch prior to
exhibiting this strange behavior.

The Hip Rhythm's staff are trying to
get to the bottom of these alarming reports,
Hopefully these hallucinations can be stopped
before too many drummers permanently lose touch
with reality.