Fall weather is here, stay warmed up with this Triangle Exercise! 🍁
Jaime Esposito shares a quick and easy warm up for triangle. This triangle exercise is effective for players of all skill levels and can be completed in a short amount of time. Here is everything you need for today's lesson:
Meet Your Instructor
Jaime Esposito (they/them) is the Co-Founder of the Spectrum Percussion Ensemble and an endorser of Black Swamp Percussion.
Jaime holds a Masters of Music in Percussion Performance from the University of North Texas and a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance from Northwestern University. Their primary teachers include She-e Wu, the late Christopher Deane, Chris Lamb, James Ross and Robert Schietroma.
The Spectrum Ensemble is music duo based in Denton, Texas, striving to increase visibility of talented Queer musicians and composers. Jaime and Co-Founder, S.A. Hall, commission new works by Queer composers and perform those works, alongside works of famous Queer composers throughout history, in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and around the country. Profits are donated to LGBTQA+ charitable organizations. 🏳️🌈
Set Up
This triangle warm up is aimed to get your body in motion and create consistency in your beater strokes around the inside of the triangle. Jaime does not use a triangle clip in the instructional video to demonstrate this point.
While Black Swamp triangles are always recommended, they are not necessary to complete this warm up. Here is the gear used in this video:
Metronome (very important!)
16th Note Grid
Take yourself back to marching band and recall your grid exercises.
In this lesson, Jaime set their metronome to 120 BPM, but, we encourage you to begin at a slower tempo and gradually increase the BPM. Starting at slower tempos will allow you to be mindful of the consistency of your strokes and the motion of your body.
Depending on the triangle beater you are using, there may be different parts of the beater that create different dynamics or timbres on the triangle. Be aware of your placement of the beater and the location of your strike zone on the triangle.
Jaime is using a Black Swamp Teardrop Spectrum Beater. This particular beaters shape allows for a wide dynamic range due to its tapering tip. A beater like this requires the player to be attentive to the position of every stroke to ensure dynamic consistency.
As you play through this grid, start slow and listen carefully. Be mindful of your posture and positioning while holding your triangle. If you notice tension or straining within your wrist, arm, or shoulder, make necessary adjustments to ensure you are relaxed and focused.
Feel free to follow along with the sheet music below:
Excerpt Play Through
Towards the end of the lesson, Jaime plays through number 28 from Intermediate Snare Drum Studies by Mitchell Peters. But why play snare drum etude on triangle?
Performing combinations of syncopated rhythms, rolls, and ornamentations written for the snare drum and performed on triangle allow us as players to not only exercise our muscle memory around the instrument but force us to reinterpret musical passages and realize them in ways that best suit the instrument we are performing on.
This same approach can also be used for other accessory instruments, as discussed by Black Swamp Educator, Alex Weir, in his Mini Masterclass: Effective Practicing.
Feel free to follow along with Jaime using the sheet music below:
TLDR
Not much of a reader, huh? That's okay.
Check out the short instructional video and be sure to share with your friends!
While you're here...
Wrap Up
Jaime outlines a simple and effective way to warm up on triangle for any scenario. Remember, this is a warm up! Be sure to start slow and listen intentionally to get the most out of this warm up.
Additional Lessons to explore:
Happy Practicing!