Sweet Sixteenth

Many drummers feel “uneasy” when having to read a piece in sixteenth time. The uneasy feeling has to do simply with the fact that there’s not much in the way of reading exercises when one is first developing the skill to read rhythm. And the music can look a little frightening if there’s a lot of sixty fourth notes. But you can think of sixty fourth notes in sixteenth time as no more than sixteenth notes quarter time. The following etude, SWEET SIXTEENTH, is in 3/16th time. It's full of sixteenth notes, thirty second notes, and sixty fourth notes to be played between the snare and bass drum. My advice is to simply get used to playing the snare and bass part separately-- play them slowly at first. When you feel comfortable reading the rhythm play them together as written and try to increase the tempo. With just a little practice you’ll find the etude much easier than it looks.