Pipeband Drummer

A drum corps is composed of three types of drummers, none more important than the others. The bass drum provides the rhythmic and harmonic foundation for the band as a whole, the snare drummers provide the drive and dynamics and…

Unison problems plagued my drum corps for my first six years as lead drummer. In my seventh year, however, I discovered (upon much reflection) that there was a solution to my unison issues sitting right in front of me that…

In psychology, the "flow state", also commonly known as "being in the zone", is the mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process.…

Taking criticism is hard. Sometimes it hurts and sometimes your pride and self-worth can take a brutal beating. What is criticism? From whom should we accept it? Why is it hard to take? Let's start with a definition.

What is…

Tempo has been an issue in every pipe band in which I've ever played. There have been tempo discussions at practice, tempo related comments after competitions and I have been yelled at and lectured at for tempo related issues. Tempo…

Chris Thile is an incredible musician. He is without doubt the most talented mandolin player on the planet. His current band, The Punch Brothers, has pushed the boundary of bluegrass to new and unique places using unorthodox chords, complex harmonies…

This past September my pipe band was buzzing with excitement as we made plans to go to Scotland for the World Championships. Adding to this excitement was the fact that three other pipe bands from the Canadian Maritime provinces would…

As a rock drummer, it is helpful to know a little bit about many different styles of music. Understanding, and playing different styles helps drummers to create their own style, based on what they take away from each new one…

The Three RRRs are the elements every drummer needs to fully understand pipe band drumming: Reading, Rolls and Rudiments. To help drummers with these three elements I've created three books:

The Bare Bones introduces applicable music…

There are two mysterious words used over and over by experienced pipers and drummers: pointed and round. Each of the five styles we play are either pointed or round--some are really pointed, others are more round depending on the…

For any of you that follow this blog on a regular basis, you will know that I am an avid NBA basketball fan--specifically the Toronto Raptors. I have been watching the Raptors since the inception of the franchise and have…

Extended roll sequences can add a bunch of musical possibilities to any drum score. When composing a new score, it is always important to include some extended rolls to add dynamics, texture and some interesting syncopation to your pipe band's…

When you go to see a rock band play, a common conversation after the show involves how "tight" the band played. If you see a "tight" band it's a good bet that all their count ins, stops, shots, endings and…

When composing a drum score, the composer has many important choices to make during the process that will determine the musicality of the drum score. The examples below show two sets of musical choices and the differences between those choices…

Now you know where to find the beats, backbeats and offbeats in simple time and compound time, let's begin the process of putting this knowledge to use when writing a drum score. This week we'll be looking at the march…

Compared to offbeats in simple time, offbeats in compound time are much simpler. Compound time uses beat groupings of three notes and the offbeat is located on the second note of these three note groupings. There are only three rhythmic…

We've already discussed beats and backbeats in simple time. Today we'll be looking at the part of the beat that, if emphasized, provides the most effective way to get "lift" into your drum scores: the offbeat. The offbeat is…

Last time we discussed the differences between the beat and backbeat in simple time. This week we'll be discussing those differences in the context of compound time (sometimes referred to as "triple" time). Whereas simple time uses subdivisions of…

The word "lift" has been appearing on pipe band score sheets for decades. It is a mysterious and confusing word! What is lift? How can a drum corps achieve it? In the next several weeks I'll be discussing the issue…

On August 2, 2019, the Dartmouth and District Pipe Band from Nova Scotia won the North American Pipe Band Championships in grade 4. I am fortunate to be the lead drummer. We won every judging category (1,1,1,1) against some very…