Strain - A Dictionary for the Modern Percussionist and Drummer

Since 1997, James A. Strain has been professor of music at Northern Michigan University, as well as timpanist and principal percussionist of the Marquette Symphony Orchestra. He holds a B.M.E. degree from Arkansas State University, an M.M. degree from the Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music, and a doctor of musical arts degree from the Eastman School of Music. Prior to his appointment at NMU, Strain was on the faculties of Indiana UniversityBloomington, Kansas State University, Fort Lewis College, and NW Mississippi Junior College. In addition to being a respected soloist as well as orchestral and chamber performer, he has served as a contributing editor for the second edition of AmeriGrove, the Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, and Percussive Notes magazine, and he is the historian for the Percussive Arts Society, the worlds largest organization of percussionists and drummers.

I could not have brought this book to fruition without the support of many individuals, who deserve my thanks. First and foremost are Bennett Graff and David Daniels, for their initial invitation and confidence that I could broach such a project, and for their guidance in the initial stages of the preparation of the content of the book within the series. My thanks also to Natalie Mandziuk, Jo Nardolillo, and the staff at Rowman & Littlefield, who so patiently and kindly guided me in the final manuscript preparations and production stages. Without the support and understanding of the above four editors, I would never have been able to focus the content and scope of this book into a meaningful creation.

My sincere gratitude goes to my employer and colleagues at Northern Michigan University, who allowed me release time from my teaching duties in order to research and prepare the books contents. Without the dedicated time and support from Sam Bacco, who opened his instrument collection and freely shared his years of experience with me, and Rob Cook, who freely shared his extensive collection of historic catalogs, I would not have been able to assemble this project. Others who routinely fielded my questions, offered words of encouragement, and graciously allowed me permission to use their materials in the content of this book include Russ Girsberger, Chris Deviney, Emil Richards, Randall Eyles, Garwood Whaley, Norman Weinberg, Cort McClaren and the NCPP, Steven Hemphill, Rodney Newton, Richard K. Jones, Rob Knopper, Nicholas Ormrod, Jeremy Esposito, Lance Pedigo, Glenn Paulson, Rich Thompson, William L. Cahn, Dan and Abby Savell, and MakeMusic, Inc. I was always so humbled when each of the above said yes to every request I had of them.

Lastly, to Jeff Hartsough, Hillary Henry, and the staff of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) and their Rhythm! Discovery Center, my greatest thanks for granting me permission to include a wide range of materials from the vast resources of the PAS instrument collection, their archival materials, and excerpts from numerous PAS publications, all of which truly bring this book to life. In addition, I would like to thank the following publishers and individuals for their permissions to reprint material:

Cook, Rob. Leedy Mfg. Co., Keyboard Percussion Instruments. Unpublished manuscript. Used by permission.

Eyles, Randall. The Percussionists Pencil: Aid to Marking Percussion Parts. Percussive Notes 24, no. 4. Urbana, IL: Percussive Arts Society, 1986. Copyright Meredith Music Publications. Used by permission.

Marimba Performance Standards. Greensboro, NC: NCPP, 2014. Copyright National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy. Used by permission.

PAS 40 International Drum Rudiments. Lawton, OK: Percussive Arts Society, 1986. Copyright Percussive Arts Society. Used by permission.

Percussion Equipment and Facilities Standards. Greensboro, NC: NCPP, 2006. Copyright National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy. Used by permission.

Savell, Dan, and Abby Savell. Emil Richards Collection. L. A. Percussion Rentals. Emil Richards Collection. https://www.lapercussionrentals.com. Accessed JanuaryJuly 2016.

Weinberg, Norman. Guide to Standardized Drumset Notation. Lawton, OK: Percussive Arts Society, 1998. Copyright Percussive Arts Society. Used by permission.

Wheeler, Mike. J. C. Deagan, Percussion Instruments, compiled by Hal Trommer. Percussive Notes 31, no. 2. Lawton, OK: Percussive Arts Society, 1992. Copyright Percussive Arts Society. Used by permission.

James A. Strain

Private lessons must be a working relationship with two-way communication between teacher and student. A teacher should attempt to aid students in whatever way possible, always recognizing each students individuality. This requires the teacher to use a multitude of approaches to teaching every aspect of percussion with dozens of analogies and explanations for each topic encountered. A teacher should be flexible and observant enough to recognize what direction a student desires to go and humble (honest) enough to admit when she is unable to assist a student with these goals. A teacher must also be persuasive in order to mold a student into the right frame of mind, so that the student has proper goal/achievement desires in focus.

The student should be made to understand why he is taking lessons, what any specific teacher is able to help him with, and that the teacher is not a magic cure-all for what ails him. The student should understand that what results after months or years of private lessons is all his own achievement, not the teachers. The overall student/teacher relationship should be understood by both as merely an hour (half-hour) a week spent discussing and/or sounding out ideas related to what the student has prepared, or what the teacher is presenting.

A mature student should weigh many factors when selecting a teacher. What does the student expect to gain from study with this person? Does she admire this persons performance ability? If so, then the student should commit to learning how this teacher performs, and not rely on this person to show how someone else does it. If a student wants to know how someone else does it, he should study with someone else. What type of personality does this person have? Will the student be able to communicate honestly and/or question the teacher, and how will the teacher react to this? If there is any dissension or disagreement between the student and teacher, will this hinder or aid the learning process? One is sometimes put in a situation where disagreement is a viable catalyst for learning. Many teachers are excellent sounding boards for new ideas or approaches. The student should discuss his ideas, and present his prepared material with enthusiasm and respect and weigh whatever might be brought out on any aspect of his presentation. Only when absorbed and understood may the student decide to reject or retain the advice or criticism, and still gain from the experience. A closed mind (the students or the teachers) will seldom cause a working relationship to have productive results. Many teachers learn valuable lessons or approaches from the most unlikely student. Likewise, something is learned from even bad teachersif it be only to recognize how not to do it when the student assumes the role of teacher!

The correct way and approach to practice should be in-grained as early as possible, allowing the teacher the ability to guide a weeks progress in a student with only minutes spent together. Practice should be consistent, second nature, and most of allproductive. Daily time schedules work for some, hourly or smaller work for others. Practice is hard work. It is often tedious and results are not always immediately apparent. Young students should use parental guidance to supervise their practice time, whereas serious older students develop their own practice habits. One topic (piece) should be concentrated on at a time. Little is accomplished if a students mind is on other items or multiple topics.