How to Play Sweeps on Marching Tenor Drums

Because marching tenor drums typically feature either four or five individual drums and the possibility of auxiliary attachments like shot blocks, cowbells and cymbals, the potential for flashy, confusing stick-work is at a premium. One fundamental sticking tricks is the sweep, which looks much harder to execute than it actually is. Just follow these steps to learn the basics and gradually build up your speed.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Quad or quint tenor drums
• Sticks or mallets

1. These instructions are designed for quads or quints with a typical setup consisting of two smaller drums in the middle and two larger drums on either side. The fifth and smallest drum on quints is not used in sweeps. From left to right, with one being the smallest drum and four being the largest, the drums are arranged in a four-two-one-three layout.

2. With your right hand, strike drum one and then drum three. Bring your left hand across your body and strike drum one and then drum three while you bring your right hand over the top of your left arm.

3. With your right hand, strike drum two and then drum four. Raise your right hand to allow your left hand to pass underneath, then use your left hand to strike drum two and then drum four. Again, use your right hand to strike drum two and then drum four while bringing your left arm over your right arm and across your body.

4. With your left arm, strike drum one and then drum three. From here, you should pick up again with step two by hitting one and three with the right, then one and three with the left while bringing the right arm over the top of the left arm.

5. Start by going through these motions very slowly, concentrating on the feel of the arm sweeps and maintaining a steady rhythm while performing some particularly unusual sticking. Continue practicing at a very slow speed until it feels comfortable and natural.

6. Slowly increase your speed as you continue to practice this move. When you can do it very quickly, it makes a dazzling visual presentation.

Tips & Warnings

• If practicing sweeps while wearing the drums is awkward, try practicing with the drums mounted on a stand at first.
• Make sure you’re using sticks or mallets that are of a comfortable size and weight but also appropriate for the types of drum head you’re using.
• Sometimes sweeps will appear in sheet music but will not be specifically labeled as sweeps. Instead, they will just be indicated by Ls and Rs above or beneath the notes to instruct on specific sticking. You need to be able to recognize when the sheet music is indicating sweeps.