how to prepare lieutenant kije for auditions

don't worry. kije sucks but it WILL get better. keep searching for creative ways to practice it and don't give up. (more info below.)
my excerpt performance starts at 2:40. sticking, exercises, recordings, and all sorts of other info on this excerpt available over at www.robknopper....

[@carterschwalb6252]

Hey, Rob. I'm trying out for a youth orchestra and this excerpt is part of our online snare audition. Thank you so much for making this video, I feel extremely confident in playing it after using your material and exercises. I hope you make more lessons like this in the future. Now might be a better time than ever, given obvious circumstances.

[@herthxx]

I'm not even working on this peice right now but these were some great tips for praciticing in general! Thanks Rob!

[@robknopperstudio]

thanks for the kind words!

[@herthxx]

rob knopper Haha, you're welcome, but all of the thanks is owed to you man!

[@physics_boyy]

One of my teachers once told me to put the metronome on 40, so that it will click on 1, 4, 3, 2, and back to 1. It's another way to get a real feel for the tempo. What are your thoughts, Rob?

[@robknopperstudio]

that sounds great! anything like that, that's going to test to the trustworthiness of your inner metronome and force you to make the strectching and crushing that you need to in order to retrain your inner metronome or subdivision is good. that's the same idea as putting it on every downbeat, but the more different ways you test it, the more information you get.

[@evangrover8414]

Then there is the Keith Aleo way... metronome click every 8 bars. (Shudder)

[@robknopperstudio]

true true.

[@georgerynar8785]

Always great presinration and execution...

[@JDD_Music_Press]

“The bane of my existence” Dead! Hahaha

[@JoelEverettComposer]

The metronome per measure is an awesome idea! (For conducting as well as percussion)

[@robertlenau2749]

Thanks Rob, great video. Definitely looking forward to more of these!!

[@robknopperstudio]

cool, thanks for watching!

[@FranksPercussion]

Hi Rob Knopper, your page is SOOOO GREAT! I've really been enjoying your videos! Out of curiosity, was Lt. Kiji on your audition for the Metropolitan Orchestra? What else was on that audition?

[@robknopperstudio]

yes it was! other snare drum excerpts were scheherazade, prokofiev 5, delécluse... all the usual stuff. but also a bunch of opera excerpts like peter grimes and wozzeck. i'm sure you can find it online if you do a google search. i did post up a bunch of my recordings of my audition in my mini-course about what a winning audition sounds like, which you can find at robknopper.com/december-video-3.

[@elevenvideola]

Thank you so much for this video! Kije was one of my winter break projects and this video is helping so much.

[@robknopperstudio]

glad it was relevant to your current project. thanks for watching and i hope you'll check back for the next ones!

[@elevenvideola]

I sure will!

[@byoung7]

That’s a sick rendition of kite Rob, nice work!

[@Ucannod]

Good point that not all rudiments are accented. But you cant argue to play accents only when written and then argue that there should be inflections of the same dynamic. Those inflections are minor accents that go up or down a dynamic. Dynamics are there for a reason. How do you keep track of the inflections when you have a repeated phrase? Flat has its place.

[@robknopperstudio]

my strategy is to keep the unaccented notes within a range but for that range not to approach the accents' dynamic. that way i'm showing lots of inflection within that range but the accents are all still clearly popping out. but.... to each their own! it's just music.

[@michael_yeung]

Hey Rob, you've been a huge help for me and I dare say percussionists all around the world over the years, really appreciate your videos. Was wondering what your approach is to the roll in figure 8, and the roll at the end of this movement, in an audition setting? Thanks again!

[@robknopperstudio]

sorry there wasn't enough time to address that in the video! i follow the short breath that usually happens in the orchestra, so i just give it a little break. then i play the roll while singing the trumpet line in my head.

[@connorokeefe269]

I wish I found this video a looong time ago

[@robknopperstudio]

well i'm glad you at least found it now :)

[@rapmacl1]

Really enjoyed this (as a non-percussion orchestral musician)! 😀

[@hiptoalieu]

Hey man, your musicality and clarity is VERY impressive, how much do you spend on a pad practicing this stuff?

[@robknopperstudio]

thank you, i appreciate it! i spend absolutely no time on a practice pad. i never recommend you practice on a practice pad. remember, when you practice, you're trying to calibrate your hands and the feel of the motion of the sticks to the bounce of the actual drum head. getting yourself used to playing on a pad is a counter productive way to becoming a better snare drum player. i've never practiced on a pad.

[@daultontemplet4016]

@@robknopperstudio I'm a sophomore in high school, and I don't personally own a snare drum and my school doesn't even have a concert snare drum. The only time I get to even see a philharmonic snare is at youth orchestra once a week, but it's not like I have time to personally practice. What would you suggest because all I have to practice on is a pad?

[@robknopperstudio]

@@daultontemplet4016 if percussion is something you are serious about i recommend you purchase a snare drum that you can use to practice at home.

[@daultontemplet4016]

@@robknopperstudio Thanks for the reply! I definitely am serious about percussion. I just found a used ludwig piccolo for $150 at my local drum shop and I've decided that I'm going to save up for it. Thanks again, love your vids, just watched your one on tired practice today.

[@JJPercussion1]

@@daultontemplet4016 you can do a lot with just a practice pad. Practicing stroke types, the mechanics of your wrist and forearm, and learning to let the stick do the work and maximize rebound applies to and should apply to any surface you strike. Do what you can along those lines with what you have, or with as many surfaces as you can find, as bouncy or as dead as you can obtain or play on, and whenever you do get a snare drum you'll already have the fundamentals worked on instead of waiting for the drum to do the work. Good luck!

[@patriceofficial9407]

Hey Rob, I'm a junior in high school looking to get into excerpts, but I don't know where to start. Can you possibly show me where to start?

[@82706527]

I'd love to see you generate a comparable video to this RE Shherezade...that would be just beautiful!

[@robknopperstudio]

yes! i definitely want to do that.

[@maxencedetraz4351]

Pleasee do more video on exerpt it's so cool

[@doyeondykim492]

2:40

[@aleskandrabroda]

Hi! The link to download the exercise from your website that you mentioned is not working😢 is there any other way to get them?

[@robknopperstudio]

sorry about that!!! i just fixed it, and you can get it here: academy.robknopper.com/p/snare-excerpts

[@aleskandrabroda]

Thanks a lot!

[@andrewwray8778]

Thanks Rob!!! Super helpful.

[@dbayles100]

Great work Rob! Why the mole skin on the rim at 12 o'clock? Thanks!

[@JJPercussion1]

Alan Abel had all his students do it, definitely to rest the sticks on the rim, usually to relax, get a feel for the sticks, maybe even play a couple of notes, and then slide down softly onto the drum before playing.

[@robknopperstudio]

i use that in my pre-excerpt routine. i put the sticks on the moleskine, find my grip by pushing my hand into the sticks, and the sticks in the moleskine and it helps me feel the weight of the sticks and more quietly get my sticks onto the drum.

[@pedrogouveia4638]

0:57; 2:17; 7:23; 8:20

[@physics_boyy]

Hey Rob, it seems as though you're playing this a little louder than most others I've heard. What are your thoughts on that?

[@robknopperstudio]

i think what's happening is i'm playing it pretty soft, but the microphones are set up in a way that it picks up the sound which i then increased for ease of hearing it in the video. i'm not playing it as soft as you might have to in boston symphony hall, or severance hall in cleveland - those are extremely revealing. but this recording is definitely dead smack in the center volume for how this one should go, generally.

[@physics_boyy]

rob knopper cool. Thanks!

[@hotlanta35]

I am trying to find the LR hand sticking for Lt Kije, anyone know about where I can locate?

[@robknopperstudio]

it's here: academy.robknopper.com/p/snare-excerpts

[@hotlanta35]

Hello! It looks like the link is broken though.

[@robknopperstudio]

@@hotlanta35 i just "published" the course on my page - can you try that link again or try academy.robknopper.com? let me know how it goes and email me at [e-mail] for more help!

[@hotlanta35]

I appreciate that! Thank you!

[@blakesorenson8766]

Great video! (Pronounced kee-zhey (like in Dvorak) haha)

[@cjaverysrandomreviews4675]

What head did you use on the 15 x 8 snare?

[@robknopperstudio]

i think it's a calf head, but i haven't been to the hall in like 7 months so i'm really not sure.

[@musicalroly]

Is there a rob knopper equivalent for cello?

[@robknopperstudio]

hmmmm. i have no idea

[@nathanankrom3872]

Thank you for doing this video!!

[@robknopperstudio]

you're welcome!

[@JulianFernandez]

Thanks!

[@lylecohen1638]

It's pronounced keezhe, not keejee

[@christianwanabe4804]

THANK YOU!

[@robknopperstudio]

thank you for watching!!

[@colinnolan2212]

pronounced Key-Jay

[@colinnolan2212]

Downbeat dude. Not primary note cmon

[@jakecid]

In this case, it actually is a primary note because not all 4 stroke ruffs will be on a downbeat.