The snare drum is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used in orchestras, concert bands, marching bands, parades, drumlines, drum corps, and more. It is one of the central pieces in a drum set, a collection of percussion instruments designed to be played by a seated drummer and used in many genres of music. Because basic rhythms are very easy to learn to play on a snare drum even for children, the instrument is also suitable for the music education for young children and a rhythm band.
In rudimental drumming, a form of percussion music, a drum rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drumming patterns. The term "drum rudiment" is most closely associated with various forms of field drumming, where the snare drum plays a prominent role. In this context "rudiment" means not only "basic", but also fundamental. This tradition of drumming originates in military drumming and it is a central component of martial music.
Open, closed, open is a technique of playing snare drum rudiments, especially used during auditions or classical practice routines.
Sanford Augustus Moeller (1878–1960) was an American rudimental drummer, national champion, educator, and author. He was born in Albany, New York on February 16, 1878, and he began his music education by studying the piano.
Bob Becker is an American percussionist and composer known primarily as a founding member of the Nexus percussion ensemble, as well as a performer in the Steve Reich and Musicians ensemble. He primarily performs as a keyboard percussionist, but is also skilled in tabla and concert snare drumming. As a composer, Becker employs a multicultural approach by mixing the style of western military drumming with North Indian Hindustani idioms, such as raga scale patterns and tabla drumming. This fusion of compositional practices is the main focus of works like Lahara and Mudra. There are also traces of influence from the music of minimalists like Steve Reich, which can be attributed to Becker's experience with that composer's music.
Mitch Markovich is an American percussionist, composer, educator, and clinician in the areas of rudimental drumming, marching percussion, drum and bugle corps, and marching band. He is best known for his intensive marching snare drum solo compositions and record-setting performances, entitled "Tornado" and "Stamina", and for his percussion quartet composition entitled "Four Horsemen". Markovich's contributions to the style, notation, composition, and performance of percussion have endured over the last five decades.
Frank Arsenault was an internationally known American percussionist, teacher, and clinician in the areas of marching percussion, rudimental drumming, drum and bugle corps, and marching band. He was a full-time Staff Clinician and Educational Field Representative for the Ludwig Drum Company. He is also well known in his field for his signature playing style, for his many championship titles, and for his recording of The 26 Standard American Drum Rudiments and Selected Solos.
Charles "Charley" Wilcoxon was an American drum teacher and drum method book writer. He wrote several influential books on rudimental drumming that are still used by drum teachers today. He is a member of the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.
The Percussive Arts Society (PAS) is a non-profit organization for professional percussionists and percussion educators. It was founded in 1961 in the United States and has over 5,000 members in 40 American chapters, with another 28 chapters abroad. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Since 1976, the organization hosts the annual Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) which is the largest convention for drummers and percussionists in the world.
Charles Stewart Ashworth was drum major of the United States Marine Band in the early 1800s and the author of an influential rudimental drum manual.
Fritz Berger was a Swiss drum teacher and drum method book author. He wrote several influential books on Swiss rudimental drumming, or Basler Trommeln, that are still thought of as the authoritative sources for Swiss drumming in America.
William F. Ludwig was an American percussionist, drum-maker, and founder of Ludwig Drums. He helped to create the National Association of Rudimental Drummers and is a member of the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.
Gardiner A. Strube was an American drum major in the New York National Guard and the author of a fife and drum manual.
Joseph Burns Moore was a champion rudimental snare drummer, member of the Connecticut National Guard, instructional author, and founding member of the National Association of Rudimental Drummers.
Percussion Creativ is a non-profit organization founded as a network for German-speaking drummers and percussionists, based in Freiburg im Breisgau. Their goal is to promote the music for percussion instruments and their interpreters through exchange, and networking, regardless of stylistic orientation. The association currently has around 1,000 members who come mostly from Germany. Percussion Creativ is the only association of its kind based in the German-speaking area and is similar to the Percussive Arts Society in the United States.
Alfons Grieder was a Swiss rudimental drummer who spread awareness of the Basel Drumming style in America during the mid to late 20th century through his traveling, teaching, and publications.
Jay Wanamaker is a percussionist and the president and CEO of Roland Americas and formerly held executive positions at Fender and Guitar Center. He also worked for Yamaha, Alfred Publishing, and the University of Southern California, and was chair of the Percussive Arts Society rudimental committee that published the 40 PAS Drum rudiments. He has also published over 50 music books and instructional DVDs.
John Sterling "Jack" Pratt (1931–2020) was an American Army drum instructor at West Point as well as a celebrated rudimental book author. Pratt produced several volumes of rudimental solos and instructional materials and was also the founder of the International Association of Traditional Drummers (IATD), a member of the National Association of Rudimental Drummers (NARD), a member of the United States Association of Rudimental Drummers (USARD), and was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) Hall of Fame and the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame.
Edward B. Straight was an American drummer, founding member of the National Association of Rudimental Drummers, and author of several instructional drum books in the early days of drum kit playing.
Roy Cecil Knapp known as "The Dean of American Drum Teachers" was an American drummer, music educator and sought-after studio musician skilled as a tympanist, percussionist and xylophone soloist. He was a longtime network orchestra member on shows broadcast during radio's golden age in Chicago, Illinois. And he was a founding member of the National Association of Rudimental Drummers (N.A.R.D.).
