Tac Tic, Volume 2, leads the students further in their exploration of the world of percussion and rhythmic language(s) and widens their musical horizon.

As in Volume 1, each lesson consists in a series of exercises, a sight-reading piece, two etudes (without / with toms) and a duet. Also included is a “tournerie” (rudiment) i.e. rhythmic patterns repeated in a loop in order to develop a good sense of right/left coordination, or a “coordination exercise”, to keep a steady beat and a good feeling.

Each new lesson focuses on a particular point of technique which is dealt with in detail in the following exercises and again in the études. These are usually written in two versions: “snare drum only” and “with the toms” (for more fun !) - rhythm and hand instructions remain unchanged.

As it is important to be able to sing what one plays, each Tac Tic lesson verbalizes rhythms with words imitative of the sound of percussion instruments, and offers a short piece (to sing while beating the time) which integrates the new rhythmic patterns. The duet (the real bonus !) is meant as a chamber music piece, i.e. play with your duet partner ! The audio accompaniment (*) enables student to practice the duet at three different tempi, and the étude “with the toms” at the fastest possible tempo.

As usual, Tac Tic 2 flirts with various percussion, jazz and extra-European styles. Fourteen lessons introduce new rhythms and the following rudiments: flams, accents, paradiddles, 3 - stroke rolls, triple and compound time, English strokes, 3 - and 5 - stroke rolls and, last but not least, multiple rolls.

And the rollin’ is good!