Student
Evaluation Criteria
Effective drumming emerges as a synthesis of three essential
attributes: the ability to keep accurate time, good
listening skills (taste) and an ongoing commitment to improved
technique in one’s playing. Drummers at all levels must
continuously challenge themselves in these areas to maintain and
enhance their proficiency. Within these general categories the
following criteria form the basis of my evaluation of student growth
and development:
TIME (Counting)
- Ability to play in sync with a metronome:
Student catches his/her own drifting and compensates their
speed accordingly - Student can approximate the correct BPM of
a song by ear
- Can play a range of tempos comfortably without rushing or
dragging
- Handles breaks in music and rests (silences)
without rushing
- Can consistently identify and
play a variety of time signatures, including:
2/4 - 3/4 - 4/4 - 5/4 - 7/4 - 5/8 - 6/8 - 7/8 - 9/8 -
12/8 - cut time and half time - Can
identify and execute a variety of rhythmic
treatments, including:
rock, funk, jazz, shuffle, swing, hip-hop, R&B, metal, disco,
samba, tango, reggae, others
TASTE (Listening)
- Recognizes the need to serve the song
as a priority in their playing
- Ability to emulate musical phrasings and accents
- Can identify and play common syncopations such as:
“And of four” grooves; upbeat bass
drum; downbeat
snare - Ability to identify sections within an arrangement and
show
contrast between them:
Intro, Verse, Chorus, Break, Bridge and Coda - Ability to
utilize silence - knows when not
to play
- Appropriate identification of downbeats: can find the
“one”
- Understands the general use of hi-hat for verse &
ride for chorus
- Applies and responds to dynamics - can play quietly or
loudly with precision
- Can count off a song clearly - finishes strongly and
accurately with the music
TECHNIQUE (Form)
- Able to play a variety of rudiments with proper sticking
- Ability to incorporate rudiments efficiently into
fills and grooves
- Overall limb independence and coordination:
Hi-hat pedal consistently marks time during ride grooves and
fills
Can synchronize bass drum and hi-hat pedal articulations
such as
“disco” groove
Can play nonlinear patterns in the ride cymbal or hi-hat - Demonstrates
effective use of crossovers,
“show” stickings or twirls
- Smooth, fluid movement from fills to crash cymbals and
the
downbeat
- Proper stick grip and body posture (matched grip emphasized):
All fingers making contact with stick,
stick making contact with palm
Wrist movement over forearm movement
Wrists are flat (horizontal), not vertical or angled;
thumbs on sides
Knees over the heels; back straight and not counterbalancing the legs
- Bass drum - can play consecutive 8ths and at
least two
consecutive 16ths
- Double bass technique shows coordination and symmetry
between
the feet
©
2009 by John Hargis, all rights reserved