• I just finished a jazz method book for Alfred Publishing that should be released fairly soon. It’s been an absolute pleasure (and honor) working with Dave Black from Alfred. What a great guy!

• I just wrote a full-length article (with accompanying notation) for Drum! Magazine. That piece will be included in the July 2013 issue.

Many of my students throughout the years have been interested in learning how to play double strokes. Although learning to play this rudiment (and all of the related double-stroke rudiments) can be relatively easy for some, it can also be very challenging for others.

The technique required to play controlled doubles involves releasing/squeezing or pushing/pulling the stick with the fingers. This gives you the clean sound that you need at many different tempos and playing surfaces.

Students who struggle learning to use their fingers in this way, often benefit from playing doubles as flat flams and/or leaving a little bit of space between each attempt.

The following exercise is not only a great warm-up, but will also provide the player with the opportunity to build their doubles and displaced doubles technique.

Extra Challenge: Whenever you see an eighth-note rest, insert two bass drum hits. Place the flat flams, doubles, and displaced doubles melodically around the drum kit.

Note: For more instruction on double stroke technique, check out my new book, Drumcraft,  and Bill Bachman’s book, Stick Technique. You might also want to invest in a pair of Sam Ruttenburg’s invention, Vic Firth’s HingeStix. Another one of my books, Daily Drum Warm-Ups, has countless exercises involving doubles. Finally, if you don’t already have one, find a qualified drum teacher!

More content is coming real soon. Thanks for tuning in!

Download Sheet Music

About the band:

Panic! at the Disco was formed in 2004 in Las Vegas while its members were in high school. The band sent a link to their demo songs to Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy, who quickly signed them to his new record label Decaydance Records, even though the band had never played a live show. Panic! uses a broad range of unconventional instruments and musical styles in their songs, drawing inspiration from vaudeville, disco, electronica, pop and rock.

The band’s debut album received mixed reviews from critics, but was very popular with fans, eventually selling more than two million copies. The line “Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off, but it’s better if you do” delivered by Natalie Portman’s character, Alice, in the film Closer was used to name two songs on the album.

Verses:

The drummer plays a repeating single measure pattern. The hi hat and snare are used to punctuate the end of each line (4 bars). A honk tonk style piano helps to create the atmosphere of the cabaret.

Pre chorus:

Syncopated snare/tom notes stab over a bass drum pulse before a triplet based fill played in the fourth bar leads us into the upcoming feel change.

Choruses:

The choruses are played with a swung eighth note interpretation (skipping sound). All other parts of the song are played with straight (even) eighth notes.

Bridge:

The guitarist and drummer play the eighth and sixteenth note based rhythms in unison. After 4 measures, the drummer adds the bass drum in a quarter note pulse. After another 4 bars, the drummer adds the hi hat to the mix, splashing on the back beats. At bar 67, the guitarist breaks away, accenting chords on the off beats. The bass player joins in, contributing a busy counter line. The song reaches its climax with the A cappella line “I wouldn’t be caught dead in this place”.

D.S. Al Coda:

The term D.S. Al Coda is used to instruct the musician/s to repeat a portion of music, in this case the chorus. At the end of measure 44 the instruction “D.S. Al Coda” sends us back to the Sign at measure 13. After replaying the chorus, the instruction “To Coda” propels us to the Coda at bar 45 – the point we had previously played to.

Tag ending:

From bar 87, the last line of the chorus “Praying for love and paying in naivety” is sung 3 times to conclude the main part of the song.

Outro:

An accordion and tuned percussion feature in the last 32 bars of the song. A cellist plays a counter melody which segues into the next song on the album, I write Sins Not Tragedies.