Moeller technique: Full, Tap, Down and Up Stroke

Moeller method strokes - The drum sheet of this lesson dedicated to drum rudiments and fundamentals, introduces the four different movements and strokes that are the Moeller technique, Full Stroke, Tap Stroke, Down Stroke and Up Stroke.

Video drum lesson preview   Moeller method strokes

Introduction to the drum lesson: Moeller method strokes

Full Stroke - Accented stroke that comes before another accented stroke.
In a Full Stroke the drum stick head starts and ends in up position and the movement is determined by the wrist; just after the stroke, hand and fingers simply have to follow the drum stick natural bounce, until they reach the initial position. You don't have to lift the stick up, just have to pull it down, as if it were a ball, and take the maximum advantage of the bouncing on the drumhead. The drum stick fulcrum must be held by thumb and medium finger, with a tight and relaxed grip. The drum sticks stops in up position, so a Full Stroke can only be followed by another Full Stroke or by a Down Stroke.
Tap Stroke - Unaccented stroke that comes before another unaccented stroke.
In a Tap Stroke the drum stick tip starts and ends in down position, with a light movement of the wrist; also in this case, hand and fingers, just after the stroke, must follow the natural bounce of the stick and reach for the initial position. The drum stick stops in down position, so a Tap Stroke can only be followed by another Tap Stroke or by an Up Stroke. Unaccented Tap Strokes and Up Strokes are also called "Ghost notes", meaning the almost imperceptible strokes that link one accented stroke to another.
Down Stroke - Accented stroke that comes before an unaccented stroke.
In a Down Stroke the drum stick tip starts in up position and stops in down position, the movement is determined by the wrist while fingers, immediately after the strokes, wrap the stick and stop the bounce just over the drumhead, without actually gripping the stick with the palm; the hand should remain slightly open. The drum stick stops in down position, therefore a Down Stroke can only be followed by a Tap Stroke or by an Up Stroke.
Up Stroke - Unaccented stroke that comes before an accented stroke.
In the Up Stroke the initial position of the stick is the same as in Tap Stroke, starting in down position and ending up, raised by the above described whip-like movement; first you raise the back of the stick, the wrist bows, the elbow comes forward, hand and forearm form for a moment a 90 degrees corner. In Up Stroke the drum stick movement ends in up position, therefore it can only be followed by a Full Stroke or by a Down Stroke.

The exercises in the drum sheet must be played for a long time, very slowly at the beginning, with the maximum relaxation and being very careful about the correct position for every stroke. You have to reach the feeling of playing only the accented strokes, taking the maximum advantage from bouncing for all the other strokes.

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This drum lesson dedicated to Moeller technique strokes is a part of the published basic drum lessons.
The basic drum lessons, the first part of this method for drums, deal with the right posture, which is the basic condition to develop speed, endurance and precision with your playing. The style and the role of drumming have evolved with time, but the basic drums technique hasn't changed much, and all the great drummers still build their own style from the same basis of musical theory.

Topics in the basic drum lessons and in the online drum lessons published drum sheet music are: Rudiments & Fundamentals, Coordinated independence, Basic drum beats, Snare drum studies, Drums grooves, and Songs drum parts, with transcriptions of songs and grooves by John Bonham, Phil Collins, Stewart Copeland, Steve Gadd, Ian Paice, Jeff Porcaro.