Supplement 22D: The Closed (Buzz) Roll & Tempo Guidelines | Part 2 of 3

As a review, control of the buzz comes mainly from the fulcrum or grip — on striking the drum, relax the fingers underneath so the stick can move freely. Depending on tempo, base the roll’s speed on the 8th-note, 8th-note triplet, 16th-note, 16th-note triplet or 32nd-note count, and at times you may need artificial groupings (quintuplets, septuplets) to play the roll musically; open double-stroke rolls may use a different tempo than closed rolls for a given exercise, so choose wisely (Supplement 22D). Develop good control with each hand separately to produce a long, smooth buzz sound — don’t force the sticking onto the same hand; let the note value determine the outcome. Use this tempo guideline for both open and closed rolls:

• 50–70 bpm → 32nd-note rolls
• 72–90 bpm → 16th-note triplet rolls
• 92–140 bpm → 16th-note rolls
• 142–200 bpm → 8th-note triplet rolls
• 202 bpm and up → 8th-note rolls