Toronto based drummer/percussionist Brian Barlow recently hipped me to this great John Riley tutorial on switching from sticks to brushes, or vice-versa. Check it out!
I have to admit, I'd never thought about switching implements in this fashion, and started practicing this concept of doing all the work of the switching within the hands and using the feet only for normal timekeeping functions. We can also try this while soloing for an extra challenge..
As well, we can….
1. Practice various lengths and tempos of trade with timekeeping and soloing..
2. Practice doing trades where we use ONLY our feet in the last bar before each switch. ( Basically the opposite of Riley's approach. )
3. "" " RF,LF, and LH.
4. Same as 3 but use RF,LF, &RH combination.
4. Trade where we only use bass drum in the bar before the switch.
5. Same as 4. but substitute hi-hat for bass drum.
Obviously, some of these approaches to trading implements will feel more natural and comfortable than others. All we're doing is increasing our options and creating variety in how we make these transitions. Good luck, stay safe, and have fun.
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This is really great! As an aside, I recently saw Joe Farnsworth play and he took a fantastic solo where he essentially traded with himself, going back and forth between sticks and brushes every 8 measures. And apparently he's known to do the same thing except trading choruses between his hands! ie. 32 measures with his right hand then 32 measures with his left. Why not?
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