How to Practice Fulcrum Drum Exercises

Learning how to play the marching snare drum can be a fun and exciting experience, but it requires hard work, patience and commitment to master this skill. Getting the playing down is only half the battle. Being required to march in formations on game day is a whole other story. But you have to start with practicing fulcrum drum exercises first.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Know how to properly hold the drum stick. For the right hand, this should be resting lightly between the first and second knuckle of the index finger with the thumb wrapped around the other side. The bottom three fingers curl lightly around the stick. The index finger and thumb are referred to as the front fulcrum, while the other fingers and pinky finger are the bottom fulcrum.

2. Understand the purpose of this exercise. The fulcrum exercise teaches your hand to allow you to use the same relaxed motion every time to create the same path for the stick to travel with each stroke.

3. Use only the front fulcrum at first to hold the stick and play the drum. Notice how it is one fluid motion over and over. With each hit, slowly add one of the bottom fulcrum fingers. You will notice the sound and movement change a little. Each time you add a finger, you will notice your grip will tense slightly. Fight against this, as the point is to maintain a relaxed hold.

4. Practice this exercise over and over until you are comfortable with the exercise and the differences in holding the stick. The object of the exercise is to learn to keep the stick in a relaxed grasp, while still acquiring a good sound.