In this section, we’ll explore the history of snare drum rudiments and why they exist in the first place.
We’ll also explore the importance of understanding how different nationalities or styles might approach rudiments and why this is so important when trying to recreate history military music.
What are drum rudiments?
Drum rudiments are specific sticking patterns, usually with inherent rhythms and sometimes dynamics. Military drummers had to memorize music in order to perform while marching or on the battlefield. For this reason, the music needed to be uncomplicated and pattern-based – though not necessarily without challenge or virtuosity! This rudiment-based form also makes it easy to learn from listening to other drummers.
Today, most North American drummers are familiar with the 26 Standard Rudiments. This list of rudiments is usually one of the first things taught to young drummers.
At its core, the list can be broken down into Roll Rudiments, Flam Rudiments, Drag Rudiments, and Paradiddle Rudiments.
Most drummers will even be familiar with a lot of rudiments off the 40 Percussive Arts Society (PAS) Rudiments. This is an extension of the 26 Standard Rudiments that includes additional American rudiments as well as imported foreign rudiments and hybrid rudiments.
A word of caution
When it comes to historic drumming, we must remember that the 26 Standard Rudiments are an American invention.
Following the American Civil War, Strube’s Drum and Fife Instructor listed 25 lessons.
Strube’s manual became a foundational drum instructor for drummers in the late-19th century and early-20th century. For that reason, his list of rudiments became the foundation of the 26 Standard Rudiments. The National Association of Rudimental Drummers (NARD) made this list popular in the 1930s.
Today’s American drummers are used to standard names, sticking, and (to a certain extent) style. 18th and mid-19th century drum manuals, however, use a variety of rudiments and approaches to them.
The American drumming style is, of course, heavily influenced by American’s heritage as British citizens.
During the French & Indian War, British soldiers trained American colonists to be provincial soldiers. Therefore, American musicians learned to perform British music in a British drumming style. The Americans maintained this style into the American Revolutionary War and into the 19th century.
To truly perform an English or old American beating in an historic manner, we must take time to the history of snare drum rudiments. This includes alternative historic performances.
What about foreign styles?
The Swiss were the first army to utilize Fife and Drum signals in battle in the 1480s to defeat the Burgundian army. Following these victories, other nations hired Swiss mercenaries to train their men in this new style, including fifers and drummers.
For this reason, we know that all snare drumming styles share a common Swiss origin.
But we also know that every nationality has their own rudiments and their own style. To approach them with a modern 26 Standard Rudiment mentality is a mistake.
Knowledge of these rudiments and their associated symbol is necessary for understanding the beatings that follow.
Rauscher, Marchen en Signalen, p. 3
Instead, we should make every effort to learn the rudiments of that nation’s style. This includes the history of these foreign drum rudiments.
why is it so important to know foreign rudiments?
A good way of thinking about this is to imagine drumming from a linguistic standpoint.
Imagine that a piece of drum music is actually a story – a paragraph.
18th century drum music breaks down into two lines (sometimes three or four). Let’s imagine that each line is a sentence.
These lines are independent thoughts with some kind of musical punctuation separating them, just like two sentences in a paragraph.
Words and phrases make up sentences.
So are lines of drum music. In drumming, we have rudiments, which make predictable and distinct sounds like words.
Each line of drum music is easy to memorize and play because of its rudiments (words). Lines have strings of rudiments that commonly go together (like common English phrases), to form a complete musical thought (sentence).
To be even more technical: what are words made up of? Phonemes, or sounds, or letters.
Rudiments are the same way. There are a number of different types of strokes. For example, a stroke that starts high and ends low is a down stroke. This is different than a stroke that presses into the drum to make a “buzz” sound (buzz stroke).
Each rudiment mixes together specific types of strokes on specific hands. Words are also sounds strung together by forming your lips and tongue in different ways.
Why does this matter?
When we realize that drum music is like a paragraph, we can understand its ability to be lyrical and dynamic.
Imagine pronouncing French with a strong American accent? This would be the same as approaching French rudiments with an American style.
Or, consider trying to speak French to a Frenchman by speaking Franglish? That’s the same as just playing an American styled drum beating with French rudiments tossed in.
So, if you want to speak in French, you have to make an effort to understand French. You need to learn how to pronounce its words and how to form a French sentence.
The same is true for learning to play French drumming. Or Swiss, or German, or whichever style of drumming you’re interested in.
Want to learn more about the History of Snare Drum Rudiments?
If you’d like to know about the history of specific rudiments, check out these next sections:
My goal is to uncover the rudiments used by different nations at different periods in time. I also want to explore how they use them stylistically.
How can you help?
If you have access to any drum manual / drum instructor / drum tutor that isn’t listed in my References Page, I would love to know about it! If you can send me a pdf or direct me where to download / purchase it, even better.
I’m interested in amassing a collection of English, French, German, Swiss, Dutch, and other nationalities’ drum manuals.
Do you have any German manuals pre-1900 or French manuals from 1750-1850? Please contact me if you’re willing to share!