Percussion Focus - Timpani technique and tone
‘Pro’ percussionist and a percussion teacher for over 40 years, Sean Hooper ponders the huge difference between percussion technique and learning percussion, and offers advice on how to practice, mastering the two basic timpani strokes, plus technique and tone.
‘A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to be invited to play with a local brass band and I was amazed by the way that the repertoire for the timpanist has evolved. I’ve been a professional percussionist and percussion teacher for over 40 years and, when I joined the profession, playing ‘Timps’ in a brass band was something one did as a favour without expecting to learn much. The Snare drummer had more to do, thanks to the marches, and if the band had a tuned percussionist, there was the occasional Xylophone feature to look forward to. Nowadays, many brass band Timpani parts are more than capable of challenging a professional timpanist. Consequently, I thought it would be worth sharing some thoughts that I have on technique and tone…’
