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PERCUSSION
THE EMBELLISHMENT ETUDE | Mark Shelton
Back in the days of antiquity, drummers realized they needed to step up their game. These ancient musicians started playing sounds at various volume levels while tossing in some decorative licks. Before long, the drummers began giving descriptive names to these ornamental elements.
Boom! The arrival of embellishments.
An important part of our musical toolbox, embellishments provide variety and are vital to expressive playing. Common embellishments for percussion instruments include the flam, buzz, and diddle. Due to its expressive power, I consider the accent a member of the embellishment family.
After learning to play isolated embellishment figures, the next major step is developing the ability to place them accurately in context.
The accompanying one-page etude can be adapted to develop embellishment placement skills on a variety of percussion instruments, including snare drum, congas, cajon, timbales, djembe, and more. Various permutations of marked and unmarked notes within four-note and three-note groupings are contained within the exercise.
Choose a single embellishment( buzz, flam, accent, diddle) and apply it to all the marked notes(+) as you practice the etude. Play the unmarked notes with a regular single stroke.
The two measures in Exercise 1 provide an example of how to insert an embellishment into the etude. The first bar contains the marking shown in measure three of the etude, and the second bar shows the same measure with accent embellishments inserted on the marked notes. ü ü ü ü ü ü ü ü « « « « « « « « « « « « « « « «
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4 ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ > « « « « ˆ ˆ ˆ > ˆ > «
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Exercise 1
Start the exercise with either hand, and play with alternating strokes through measure five. Begin measure six with the same hand that started measure one, and continue to the end with alternating strokes.
Accents Controlling accents is among the chief means of expression on percussion instruments. The ability to play a broad range of dynamics coupled with the skill to shift rapidly among different volumes are fundamental ingredients for mastering control of accents.
Start practicing at a slow tempo and exaggerate the volume differences between the accented and unaccented notes. When playing a passage containing accented and unaccented notes, I use positioning to assist in producing the volume differences. Accented notes are played from a greater height than the unaccented sounds.
Diddles( Double Strokes) Producing two sounds in quick succession with the same stick( or hand) is fundamental for performing both a double stroke roll and rapid diddle figures.
A double stroke can be executed with a controlled rebound or by using the fingers to bring the stick to the playing surface twice. I recommend developing both methods.
• Listen for proper rhythmic subdivision as you insert diddles into the exercise.
• Both notes of the diddle should be of equal volume.
Buzz( Multiple Bounce Strokes) Develop the skill to control the duration of a multiple bounce stroke so the buzz can be used as a rhythmic element in the etude.
Flams The mighty flam enjoys status as a rudiment on its own, but the two-note combo is also the essential element of a rudiment subgroup containing the flamacue, flam tap, flamadiddle, flammed mill, and a bunch of other flamdependent licks.
Before you dive into a flam version of the etude, make sure you have control of both the right flam and the left flam, along with basic technique for alternating flams.
Improve your brush technique by playing accent, diddle, and flam versions of the etude with the sweeping motion.
After gaining proficiency with the etude, keep it handy and use it as a warm-up exercise.
Do you need a free printable version of The EmbellishEtude? Contact me at markshelton @ verizon. net
© 2025 Mark Shelton Productions / Percussion For Worship
Mark Shelton Mark is a freelance musician, educational consultant, and content creator based in Dallas / Fort Worth. Mark’ s percussion work has been heard with North Carolina Symphony, Tin Roof Tango, Daystar Television, Gateway Worship, Stonebriar Church, Wichita Falls Orchestra, Victory Channel, Strata Big Band, TALEA, and Dallas Wind Symphony. www. marksheltonmusic. com www. percussionforworship. blogspot. com
102 August 2025 Subscribe for Free...