Spice Up Your Three Camps Solo With Historic Variations
Did you know there are 8 unique historic variations on Three Camps? The modern version comes from Strube (1869), but earlier manuals show a Three Camps with different rolls (7s,…
Ave Maria: The Origin of The Retreat
The Retreat, or La Retraite for the French, is the opposite of the Reveille. Whereas the Reveille is beaten at the break of dawn to signal the sentries to cease…
Evolution of Drummer’s Call in the American Army
The American army, quite understandably, took most of its original drum music (and military tradition!) from the British. Thus, it’s no surprise that the American’s original Drummer’s Call was taken…
The Rolls in Reveille: Where Do the Long Rolls After The Dutch Come From?
By the American Civil War, we see a fairly fixed sequence of tunes for the American Reveille. To transition from one tune to the next, manuals instruct the drummer to…
High Hand or Grace Note: How Do You Name a Flam?
When you play a flam, both sticks strike the drum at nearly the same time. One stick will always be the high stick and the other the low stick, or…
Why Was Old Drum Notation Up-Down?
And why was the left hand on the top line? Have you ever looked at 18th and early-19th century drum manuals, like Charles Ashworth’s A New, Useful and Complete System…