Snare Drum Pedagogy:
Effective Strategies for Teaching Beginning Adult Students
A Multi-Case Study by Natalie North
Abstract
The purpose of this multi-case study was to learn more about how undergraduate percussion professors effectively teach beginning snare drum. Research questions were: 1) How do collegiate-level percussion instructors in the United States describe effective strategies of teaching beginning snare drum? and 2) What are these strategies, and how did these instructors learn them? I collected data through a 17 question online survey and a 10 question self-recorded video ethnography (methodology designed by Littleton & Sole, 2023). Through a sample of convenience, I worked with five participants: collegiate-level instructors I had either studied with or are colleagues with in Oregon and New York. Their ages ranged from 24 to 71 years. Before starting the interview phase, previous literature (Ludwig, 1934) informed me that professors taught snare drum in one of three “camps:” 1) through only rudiments and exercises, 2) through only repertoire, or 3) through a mixture of both. Results disproved this belief. Through data analysis, three effective strategies emerged. My research demonstrates a contemporary synthesis of effective strategies for teaching beginning snare drum.
Introduction
Typically the snare drum is the first percussion instrument beginning percussionists learn. In my opinion, this probably has something to do with the instrument's staccato sound with rhythm reading as the primary focus. Upon my acceptance to NYU's percussion department, I was offered the opportunity to teach beginning snare drum to non-major students in the Fall of 2023. I was interested in this prospect, as I had had some experience in teaching, and through teaching others, I would develop my own snare drum playing. However, as Fall term approached, I started to have some anxiety as to how I should instruct beginning adult students. I was never given a curriculum to follow, and given my unique musical upbringing, I did not have any beginning snare drum repertoire, work books, or resources. In my efforts to become a great snare drum pedagogue, I started on my research journey. Thus, the purpose of my multi-case study was to learn more about how collegiate-level percussion professors in the United States effectively teach beginning snare drum.
Methods and Data
Effective Strategies (Results)
Snare Drum Pedagogy Canon
From the survey answers and video ethnographies, I found that professors use the same method books to teach beginner students. Thus, I coined the term, "snare drum pedagogy canon," to encompass all of the shared repertoire.
Making Your Own Exercises
40% of professors stated that they use their own exercises to instruct students. Furthermore, one professor noted that he adopted his teacher's exercises, to then pass down to his own students. Recycling hand-crafted exercises emphasizes the use of learning snare drum via the oral tradition.
Monkey-See, Monkey-Do
With regards to teaching true beginners of the instrument, 40% of professors said that they do not use method books at first. They demonstrate a motion then ask the student to repeat after them.
Discussion
Previous literature (Ludwig, 1934) had me believe that snare drum professors instructed students in one of three "camps:" 1) through only rudiments and exercises, 2) through only repertoire, or 3) through a mixture of both. However, all of my data disproved this belief with three effective strategies emerging: the snare drum pedagogy canon, making your own exercises, and monkey-see, monkey-do.
Michelle Conda, in her article, “The Joys Of Teaching Music: What I Have Learned From My Adult Students,” explains that “[she] still need[s] to show Paul and Jason how to practice and to include every step in their notebook” (Conda 31). In my own teaching, I implement the same strategy: I teach how to practice.
References
Conda, Michelle. “The Joys Of Teaching Music: What I Have Learned From My Adult Students.” American Music Teacher, vol. 59, no. 2, 2009, pp. 30–32. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43539659.
Learned, Ryan. Video ethnography. 1 December 2023.
Ludwig, William F. “The Technique of Drum Playing.” Music Educators Journal, vol. 21, no. 1, 1934, pp. 31–32. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/3384913. Accessed 23 Oct. 2023.
Udow, Michael. Video ethnography. 28 November 2023.
Researcher Biography
Natalie North
Master of Music in Percussion Performance
Graduation Date: May 2025
Email: njn2021@nyu.edu
Website: natalienorthmusic.com