Stick Clicks

While stick clicks or stick play has become a standard in modern drum corps, there is a lot of argument about whether or not it’s appropriate for historic drumming.

Based on my research, stick clicks appear definitively in early-19^th century drum manuals of several different nationalities, with strikingly consistent explanation of how to perform the clicks.

There is also reasonable evidence to interpret one march in Philidor (French, 1705) as containing stick clicks.

Stick Click Notation:

In Philidor’s “Marche des Boulonnois (1^st version)”, he places a plus sign over a couple of notes.

A plus sign in music can have many meanings, though most often it indicates playing a note a half-step up or some other minor tonal shift. This, obviously, does not apply to drummers.

Tremblement in drum music

In French baroque music, the ‘+’ indicates a tremblement – a trill or similar embellishment (see Stephanie Henke’s dissertation for more information). The tremblement was meant to be indicated by a ‘t’, but, according to Pignolet de Montéclair,

“negligence in curving the base of the t resulted in the small + or x”

(qtd. in Henke, 49; for more details, see Montéclair 80-84)

Since Philidor was an accomplished musician and composure, he was certainly aware of the proper meaning of this symbol. Based on this, we can assume that Philidor meant for the drummers to play some sort of ornamentation here.

Tremblement in British drum music

Most likely, based on the use of the ‘+’ in drum music across cultures in the 19^th century, Philidor was indicating a stick click.

Potter (British, 1815) uses the same notation – a plus sign over a note – to mean:

“the left hand Stick to be Struck with the right inside Room of Strikeing the Drum Head”

Potter (17)

Later, mid-19th century American manuals also use this notation. Bruce & Emmet include several beatings with sticks clicks which are marked with plus-signs over the note. The Girl I Left Behind Me (p. 52) has the first use of the notation; above the first line, there is a note saying “+ sticks” to indicate that the plus-sign indicates stick clicks.

He also uses the symbol for Quick Steps, for Drum Corps No. 8 Stick Beat (p. 55), Ned Kendall’s, Governor’s Island (p. 60), The Muffled Drum (p. 77), and Dixie (p. 79).

Howe utilizes ‘x’s over the note, which he explains: “This mark, thus, X over a note depicts a beat on the Stick” (71). He also uses the notation for the beatings Quick Step for Drum Corps and German Drum Corps Beat, or March.

Tremblement notation in 19th C. Swiss music

The Swiss also use the “+” over notes to indicate stick clicks in some of their 19th century marches. In the 1819 ordonnance, it states:

“The notes marked with a cross are struck with the right stick on the left stick” – “Die Noten mit kreuz bezeichnet werden mit dem rechten auf den linken Stock geschlagen”

(24)

Summary: Stick Click notation

Based on this usage, the ‘+’ clearly has a long history of indicating stick clicks and other ornamentation, probably extending back to Philidor in 1705, and therefore even back into the 17^th century.

The only exception to this rule I have been able to find is Hart, who uses dots above slurs. While important to note, we should also remember that Hart’s manual is an attempt to standardize his fairly unique shorthand.

Performing Stick Clicks:

Without significantly more information, we can’t say how complex historic stick play ever became. It’s entirely possible that different armies or different corps had rich histories of complex stick play and back sticking.

The beatings that survive seem to indicate a simple stick click, which lacks the flamboyant flipped, back-sticking, and rimshots of the more modern stick play.

The Swiss ordonnance, Potter, and Hart all provide the clearest – and essentially the same – instructions for performing the stick click. Hart notes that his notation:

“indicate[s] that the right hand stick hits the left above the ball as it is held near the head of the Drum”

Hart (46)

This is echoed by Potter and the Swiss ordonnance.

Thus, the left stick should hoover over the drum head, as if it just completed a stroke. The right stick should strike the left stick on the shoulder, just above the head of the stick.

If you’re interested in performing Stick Clicks in a definitively historic manner, this conservative approach is probably best.

If it feels lame or boring, try to shift how you think utilizing this stick click. To me, this simple movement suggests a desire to keep the actual playing – the rhythms – difficult and not succumb to flashy tricks. For examples, check out B&E’s Governor’s Island (p. 60) and The Muffled Drum (p. 77), or Hart’s M. Conklin’s 2/4 (p. 46).

Alternative Performance

Through aural practice, many American drummers interpret 19th century stick clicks as indicating a sort of rim shot.

Like Hart explains, the left stick should hoover just over the drumhead and the right stick should strike the upper shoulder of the left stick.

In doing so, the right stick should strike hard enough that the left stick also strikes the drumhead. This will produce a flam-like sound.

There is some historic support for this description, which might suggest either a French origin to this American practice or a fairly universal application of this stick click.

In one French manual, there is a beating dated to the 1790s with stick clicks. The description is nearly identical to Hart’s description, except that it explains the left stick should strike the drumhead.

“On each note marked by a B, we give a strike with the right hand on that of the left hand, which we hold high two centimeters above the skin, so that we hear the blow from one stick on the other, and the blow of it on the skin.” – “Sur chaaque note surmontée d’un B, on donners un coup de baguette de la main droite sur celle de la main gauche, que l’on tiéndra élevée de deux centimetres au dessus de la peau, de manière que l’on entende le coup d’une baguette sur l’autre, et le coup de celle-ci sur la peau.”

Carnaud p. 32.

Want a visual? Check out the video below to see these two styles of stick clicks performed:

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More Info:

Do you have any additional information on the origin or development of this rudiment? Please contact me and share your resources. Or, comment below!