I want to cover one of the most commonly used techniques in modern tenor drum composition. Scrapes or sweeps are simply diddled notes played on two or more drums. In this exercise we will be talking about diddles over two drums. In later lessons we will cover the use of three and even four drums. There are only two kinds of scrape motion, scrapes going inward and scrapes going outward. The key to a diddle or scrape with superior sound quality is to play two or more consecutive legato notes, placed properly in time, on one hand. To do this you should use an appropriate amount of forearm, wrist and finger for a given tempo. The approach to playing outward scrapes is no different than playing a standard diddle on one drum. With inward scrapes it is helpful to turn the hand(s) up SLIGHTY so that the initial down stroke is on a slight angle. Under no circumstances should you play with a "french" grip. This first lesson covers the very basic "nuts and bolts" of scrapes and ends with something a little more hip and visually impressive.