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9 - The Moeller stroke

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9 - The Moeller stroke = accents

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Details: Written by Henrik

The Moeller stroke - playing accents

This technique is named after drummer, author and educator Sanford A. Moeller. In 1925 he wrote the book "The Art of Snare Drumming" which covered this subject.

The Moeller technique is in it's basic form quite accomplishable for the beginning drummer, even though it is highly complex if and when you continue to explore it's possibilitys. Check out the DVD "Secret Weapons For The Modern Drummer" by Jojo Mayer.

However I find it extremely useful, and even essential for all levels of drumming.

Basically, this technique uses a small movement of your arm to play accents, instead of "beating harder" with your wrist. Imagine the movement of a whip, and you'll get the picture.

Tekniken innebär enkelt uttryckt att du - istället för att "slå hårdare" med handleden för att spela en accent (starkt slag) - gör en "piskrörelse" med armen.

Accented stroke
Lift the arm starting from the elbow and - by being totally relaxed - let your wrist follow the movement. When you lower your arm, your hand moves in a wipping motion, and you'll get the "power" as a result of the movement of the arm - not by muscle force. A small movement of the elbow ("the whip handle") ends as a big movement in the tip of the stick.

Unaccented stroke
Use a small wrist movement without using your arm.

Check out this video: (Coming soon ), check out others covering this subject on You Tube.

Stokes in 4 flavours

Full stroke -a loud stroke ending in a high position (leading to a loud)

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Tap stroke - a soft stroke ending in a low position (leading to a soft)

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Down stroke - a loud stroke ending in a low position (leading to a soft)

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Up stroke - a soft stroke ending in a high position (leading to a loud).
Drop your hand when raising the arm to play the soft note.

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