Have I been teaching rolls wrong?

Question

I teach beginning band to first-year players aged 10-12. I have always taught 5-stroke and 9-stroke rolls this way: Assuming that we are in a simple meter like 2/4, 3/4, or 4/4, I first divide the notated roll note into 16ths. There are 4 sixteenths in the quarter note of a 9-stroke roll and 2 in the eighth note of a 5-stroke roll. Then, I teach the kids to allow the stick to "bounce" on each stroke, which results in the correct number of impacts on the head. So, a kid playing a 9-stroke roll will use wrists/arms to play four main strokes (that will sound exactly like 16ths); they will let the stick bounce once on each of these main strokes to fill in the remaining notes (which would sound like 32nd notes). Adding the next quarter note after the roll gives 9 strokes total, which sounds correct. Once they learn how to control the speed of the bounce they can execute pretty decent rolls and they are ready to learn more rolls.

Today, however, 2 different students told me that their private drum teacher instructed them to execute the 9-stroke roll with 9 separate strokes (RRLLRRLL R), and no bounces. I'm perfectly willing to accept that as a "band" teacher I may have it wrong, and I'd happily defer to a "percussion" teacher... But if the kids are trying to execute a roll with 9 full motions like this, how will they ever get it to sound smooth at tempo?

Am I teaching it wrong?

This post here seems related... How can double-stroke rolls be faster than single-strokes?

Answer 1

I wonder if you're both teaching only part of rolls. I don't see anything in your question about grip or technique, and the thing that unlocked rolls for me was using a technique where I change my grip as the roll gets faster.

So for a slow "roll", I do consciously play every stroke (as the private teacher suggested). On your side of things, even when I play a single stroke I am thinking about rebound and bounce as a way to take up the stick at the end of the stroke, even when I'm not playing another stroke with the same stick.

I do slow rolls with a loose grip, and I take up the sticks off the bounce and prepare for the next stroke. Volume is mostly controlled by initial stick height with a bit of Moeller influence in my overall technique. For a mid speed roll, my wrists move less and I'm using my back fingers to take up the bounce and execute the next stroke. My grip at the thumb and forefinger tightens slightly. For the fastest rolls, I move my thumb to the top of the stick and grip the stick firmly, and use more elbow to bring the stick up and down. The thumb takes the first bounce and drives the stick back to the head almost instantly for the second stroke, and then my elbow is lifting to prevent a third stroke.

So I agree with you that managing and using the bounce is not only advantageous, it's critical beyond a certain speed. You just can't roll as fast without it.

However, I also agree with the private teacher that learning to play even, deliberate strokes without using the bounce (aside from uptake), and learning to play them pretty fast, is a great foundation for both rolls and other techniques.

I would tell your students that both are correct, and that they are learning different things that at some point will synthesize and give them the most control over rolls at any speed.