Two Part Fugue For Drumset by Michael Petiford

Three Part Fugue for Drumset by Michael Petiford

Three Part Fugue for Drumset. Originally published in PAS Percussive Notes journal.

Mind Map

I'm posting this because I know some of you enjoy following the process. This is a mind map that I made to outline the topics for my clinic. I'm just writing notes on there as I think of things. Bach is there because he's the godfather of fugue. FZ is there because he's the king of polyrhythm. The Venus of Willendorf is there because it's a paleolithic fertility fetish and Bach had twenty children. I think Frank would have liked it too. TVOWA stands for "The Venus of Willendorf's Atlatl", that's the last piece I'm planning to play. I have this map hanging up in my studio so all my students can be exposed to J.S. , FZ, and The Venus.

Another Round (video)

Okay, so I know I've already posted this on you tube, but whatever. I've been blabbing so much about canon and fugue on the blog that I thought I should post here too. This is happening, of course, because I'm preparing to teach a clinic on canon and fugue for the drumset and I want people to have an idea of what that is. So, if you don't know, this is a round (the simplest form of canon). In this video each voice (hand or foot) is playing exactly the same rhythm, displaced from the previous voice by one quarter note.

Clinic So Far

Well it looks like this is where I'll be playing next. The Toad Tavern in Littleton Colorado. It'll be sometime in the late afternoon on May 31st, 2008. This is a promo for Po' Boy Drums (very good drums by the way). At this point, I will be teaching a clinic on Canon and Fugue for the Drumset, Polyrhythms, and Ostinati. I'm very stoked about this. Sadly, my band won't be coming along, they just couldn't commit. What the heck, I'll be there reflecting the love of my inner Christ, promoting world peace and connecting with the youth of America, supporting the Dalai Lama, fighting global warming, and drinking a few beers. Maybe those other bums can come next time!

A Simple Canon Exercise For Drums

Obviously, the whole Row Row Row Your boat deal is just intended to convey the basic concept of a canon. What I've added here is a much simpler example that you can probably learn in a few tries and it really brings the idea home.

The first measure is just a dotted quarter and an eighth, i.e. ONE and two AND three and four and. Play it with your right hand on a cymbal (or tap the table, whatever).

At measure two you'll play the same thing, but you'll add your left hand playing TWO and three AND. Probably do that on the snare.

Now at measure three you'll add the bass drum on THREE and four AND.

Finally, you'll add the hi-hat with your left foot on FOUR and one AND. Notice that at this beat, the figure carries across the bar line into the next measure. This is where it starts to loop around.

If you can't do this, you could always cross a bar line and drink a lot of liquor. Then you would start to loop around. It wouldn't be the same but it might be fun.

Canon for Drumset (video)

So I figured since I've been talking about canon and fugue for the drumst, I ought to post some video. This is me playing a canon on the drumset. Yes, Row Row Row Your Boat is a canon. Specifically it's traditionally sung as a round - the simplest form of canon. I think if you try this you'll find that even a simple canon is extremely difficult to execute on the drumset.

Two Part Fugue

Okay, here's what I've been working on, a genuine contrapuntal composition based on imitative polyphony. This is a two part fugue for the drumset. It is complete with an exposition revealing the subject in two voices, followed by a development featuring the subject in it's original state as well as inversion and stretto. I've also used sequence units.

I'm going to use this to round out my presentation on canon and fugue for the drumset. I'm planning to add a little prelude to it just to be really Baroque. This will be Prelude and Fugue for Drumset #1.