This excerpt is taken from the complete article that appears in the February 2017 issue, which is available here.

Rock Perspectives

Odd Subdivision Offbeats

Ten- and Fourteen-Note Groupings

by Aaron Edgar

When examining 32nd notes, we see that they’re twice as fast as 16th notes. Similarly, we can take this idea of doubling subdivisions and apply it to any grouping. In this lesson we’re going to explore ten- and fourteen-note subdivisions, which can be viewed as the doubled equivalent of quintuplets and septuplets. When playing ten-note groupings as single strokes, your lead hand will play standard quintuplets while the opposite hand plays between them.

Exercises 1–6 outline a hand workout that you can use as a speed and endurance drill, and they’ll also help you develop the placement of each partial in five- and ten-note groupings.

In Exercise 1, play two beats of quintuplets with your right hand followed by two beats of quintuplets with the left. Count the subdivision out loud using the syllables “ta-ka-din-ah-gah,” use your metronome, and make sure all notes are even and relaxed. Exercise 1 lays the foundation for the next five examples.

For the complete lesson with transcriptions, check out the February 2017 issue, which is available here.