temmyway

What if I told you that you could double, triple, or even quadruple the efficiency of your drumming? Is that something you'd be interested in? Would you do more for that than for a Klondike bar? (I would.)

Well, you absolutely can, using a technique called the Moeller Stroke. This stroke allows for multiple bounces of the stick at a consistent speed with only one motion. The motion is a whipping motion. When one strikes a whip, a wave of energy moves down their arm into the whip, and then through the whip, transferring the energy along. This is exactly what we're looking for with this technique.

The motion of this stroke is initiated in the elbow. From the starting position of where it naturally hangs at your side, move your elbow outwards. This will cause your forearm to raise, and the stick will follow. The tip of your stick should still be very near to the drum head at this point - just like the whip, the tip is the last part to experience the motion. Once your elbow is out far enough to create a 45 degree angle at your armpit, pull it back in towards your side, and allow the motion to continue through your forearm, then the shaft of the stick, and finally reaching the tip with a strong stroke.
Practice this single stroke repeatedly. It will allow you to reach much greater volume levels with less effort, due to the momentum generated. Once this is comfortable, let the stick bounce an additional time, so you're getting two strokes, and then a pause before you try it again - it's important to regroup, and not try to jump into this too fast, as it will get confusing and frustrating quickly if you don't focus on getting the motion comfortable slowly first.

Once you've got the feel for it, try linking a few doubles together as eighth notes with the accent on the beats. You could play 8 strokes per hand, again with accents on each beat. It's extremely important to make sure you're developing this technique and everything you learn with each hand. It will just make you a better, more balanced drummer - trust me.

When your doubles feel comfortable in this repeated fashion, try a triple stroke. Just ONE triple stroke, like when we first attempted doubles. Once it's flowing and makes sense to your muscles, then go ahead and start connecting them. Go for the same pattern - 4 groups of three bounces per hand. Do it until it's easier to do it wrong than it is to do it right - until you don't have to think about the motion, and you could do it automatically while watching tv or having a conversation. Once you've got these triples, solid, then go for four strokes, following the same method of 1 group of four, then a few, then the patterns of 4 per hand. Also, get good at doing each hand for an extended period of time with these.

Now that you've begun to get comfortable with this technique, you'll quickly see it's usefulness. It allows us to more easily and fluidly play accent patterns, create phrased ostinatos (repeated patterns) on one instrument, or get a much greater volume with less effort. You can also increase the speed of this technique dramatically by initiating the motion in the smaller gears of your arm, i.e. the wrist.

As always, practice, practice, practice, and you'll reap the rewards.

P.S. If you're interested in the wax on/wax off version of this, learn to do the dance move called the arm wave. Check out the expert village tutorial video on YouTube to get the idea.