140

The Next Level

The Next Level

141

SOLO CONSTRUCTION
In this segment, I will talk in depth about how I came up with my championship solo, Tribute and give you some of my
recommendations to help you successfully plan and perform what will hopefully be your own championship solo one day.
Follow these steps to create your own solo and have fun!
The main steps to solo construction are:
I.

COMPILE YOUR IDEAS AND SKILLS

II.

IDENTIFY YOUR STRENGTHS

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sa
III.

FIND A THEME

IV.

WRITING THE SOLO

V.

PACING AND TRANSITIONS

VI.

PREPARATION AND PERFORMANCE

I. COMPILE YOUR IDEAS AND SKILLS

Constructing your solo should begin with a brainstorming process, involving nothing more than notebook paper and a
pencil. Write down everything you can do, whether its a trick, visual, musical idea, rudiment, melody, ANYTHING!
Nothing should be left out in this process. Can you play four mallets but use sticks instead? Can you juggle? Can you
stand on your head and play? Anything goes, so keep your mind open to any idea that comes to you! Work to make the list
as long as possible so you have plenty to choose from later.
EXAMPLE LIST:

I can play: paradiddles, fast rolls, flam accents, old school backsticking, 3 way backsticking, walk the dog, juggle, sing,
fubars, inverts, swiss, flam taps, inverts to sextuplet morph, stick toss a and stick toss b, The Three Camps, backsticked hertas, snare break from last years show, my favorite lick etc.
The only thing that matters in this stage is that you get everything you know how to do down on paper.

Once you have your list done, organize your ideas into categories. List all your rudimental ideas under one heading, all
your tricks under another, all your backsticking ideas, all your rhythmic or melodic ideas together, etc. This way you will
have a menu to choose from when you start to write the actual solo.

II. IDENTIFY YOUR STRENGTHS

Now that you have all your ideas organized find two or three main strengths (what you do the best out of your list), and
three to five sub-strengths (something you do well but may not be the most difficult of flashy thing). My main strengths
are my fast rolls, paradiddles and backsticking. My sub-strengths include playing slow with great heights, my singles,
and a few stick tosses. I chose to showcase each of these main and sub strengths throughout my solo, with ideas that
supported them. I will cover how and where to place your ideas later in the chapter.

III. FIND A THEME

Now its time to find a way to link all your ideas and strengths together. The best way to do this is find a theme or motif you can fit your strengths and rhythmic ideas in to. If you have a strength (main or sub) that fits into some pattern or
rhythm already, that could be your theme.

The Next Level

142
My solo is based on the main theme from Etude #3
from Tony Cirones Portraits in Rhythm:

I modified Cirones theme to fit some

ideas I had and made it:

4
4

4
4

Your theme can be a simple one measure lick, a four measure phrase, a one count rhythm, an ostinato, or anything you
want it to be. I have seen solos based off a Flam Drag, a 2:3 polyrhythm, a visual, and much more. There is no right or
wrong when it comes to your theme for your solo.
Below I have listed many of the variations to the main theme of Tribute:

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This motif is presented with inverts, straight
sticking, on both drums and with backsticking:

>

>

>

>

>

>

This motif is stated on both the Mylar and

Kevlar heads and split between the two:

>

>

>

>>

>

>>>>>

44 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

44 j j j j j r
>

>

This motif is present during Part 3:

>

>

>

>

>

>>>

44 ! ! ! !
j

j j

j j j

You can see that each of the motifs are similar to the main theme but with a twist. This is a great way to keep your solo
on track and making musical sense.

>

>

>

4
4

I also have sub-themes or motifs which are present throughout the piece
as well (the measure to the right is the first motif I present).

I then use the accent pattern with the paradiddle theme below, then add buzzes, flams, or triplets. The theme is present but
altered just enough to keep the ideas fresh. Again, you can see how all of the motifs above relate to each other through
note groupings, accent placement or slight embellishments.

>

>

>

>

>

>

44

44 j Z Z j Z
3

RLRRLL RLRRLL RL RR L RL LRRLRL LRRLRL L

Here are the related motifs to the Bolero theme. Some of the motifs are
played with a stick toss; others simply altered the sticking slightly.

To create variations to your theme, try adding a note, taking a note away,
play a flam instead of an accent, add diddles on the accents or in the rests
- there is no right or wrong way to go about this; experiment and have fun!

2 @ @

4 .
R

>

4 j j j j j j j
4

j
Z

RRL

RR L

RRL

RRL

43

R RL

R
R

R
R

R
L

L
L

3
4
3

43 - - ! - - - - ! - ! - - T G

T G

R L R R L R L R R L

>

>6 > >

43
3

One of the last motifs I used is the Bolero ostinato of:

> >3 >3 >

T G

TG

R L R R L R L R R L R L L L

This final motif is what I used as a linking phrase. This phrase is

used a few times to tie sections together.

The Next Level

145

TRIBUTE

Jeff Queen

Dedicated to anyone who taught me in the Drum Corps activity

and to all the people I marched or drummed with during my career.

PART ONE: INTRO

>

>

>

44 j j j
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80

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LRL

>6

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jZ

LRL

RL RR L L RL RRL R L L R R

> > > >

>

>

>

>

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>

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@ @ j y j j j
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f

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R L L

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etc.

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R R L L

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43
p

! ! ! ! !

R L R L R L R L R

>

>

@ @
2 . y
@. @ 44
4
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R R R L L L L L R R R L L L

R R R R L L L L R R R L L L

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> > >> >

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> >> >> >
>> >>
44 @ @ @ !! @ 78 @ @ @ @j 42 @ @ 44 y @. .
p accel.
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R

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146

>

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> > > >

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>

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etc.

>>

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! ! ! ! y

etc.

R L R

L R L R L L

>>

42

42 ! ! 78 y ! ! ! ! 44 ! !
R L R R L R L L R L R R L R L L

R R L R L R L R L R L R L R L R L

R L R R L L R R L R L L R R L L R L R R L R L L etc.

>>

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! @. y y . y y y y

R L R

R L

The Next Level

149

Repeat cycle as many times as desired

>

164 Matched Grip

>

>

>

46 .. ! - - ! - - ! - - ! - - - - ! .. 42 44
T G

T G

T G

R R L L R R R L R R L L R R R L R R L L R R R L

>

>

>

>

R R L L R R L L

R L R R L L R L R L R L L R R L R L

y @. @
6

fp

R L R R L L R L R L L R R L R L R R L L R L R L L R R L

R L L R R R L L L R R R L L L

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R L R R L L R L R L R L L R R L R L

R R R L L L

etc.

> > > >> > >

! ! ! ! !

>>>> >>>>>> >

>

>

>

>

rit.

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!!!!!! y
6

R L R R L

L L R R L L

R R L R L R R L R L R R L

R B B B B B B B B B B B B

. . .Back. to.Traditional
. ..... >
>
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>

L R L R

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72

L R L R L R L R L R

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accel.

R R

> >>> >>> >>>>

L R L L R R L R L L R R L R L L

R L R R L L R L R R L R L L R R

>

>

>

>

>

>

L R L L R R L R L L R R L R L L

R L R R L L R L R R L R L L R R

R L

>

L L

>

R L R R L L R L R R L L R L R R

>

>

faster

>

>

43 44
L R L L R L R R L R L L

>

>

R L R R L L R L R R L L R L R R

>

>

>

faster

>

43 44
L R L L R L R R L R L L

R L R R L L R L R R L L R L R R

cresc.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

R L

>

as fast as you can

>

R R

>

R L

>

R L

R R L

>

R L

>

R R L

>

>

>

>

>

43 44
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>

>

R R

>

R L

44 78 44 y @.
fp
RL RRLL RLRRLLRL RRL RLLRRLRLLRRLRLL

RL RRLLRLRRLRLLRRLRLLRLRRLRLL

Excerted from The Next Level: Rudimental Snare Drum Techniques by Jeff Queen
Copyright 2004 Mark Wessels Publications All Rights Reserved