Harmonic coordination summary

I never did a really good summary for my harmonic coordination system (which I've variously called Harmonic Coordination Whatsis or Harmonic Coordination Improved, etc), let's do that now. I use it a lot in teaching, with all levels of students. There's some very useful, practical, and fundamental stuff hiding in this seemingly very advanced system. 
   

1. WHAT IS THIS? WHAT ARE WE DOING?
The harmonic coordination section from Dahlgren & Fine's Four-Way Coordination is one of the hardest, most pain-in-the-neck things things to practice in drumming literature. That method basically involves playing two different Stick Control type patterns with the hands and feet, at the same time, e.g.:
 

What were seeing there is the hands playing a sticking of LLRR RRLL, while the feet are playing LLLR RRRL. I've complained about that at length elsewhere.  

NOTE: They called it “harmonic” because it's an independence system 

based on unisons. I've continued calling it that just out of respect 

for the source materials, it really doesn't mean anything. 

2. MY WAY
After months of hacking away at that, I figured out how to approach it rationally, graded from very easy to very difficult, while also being more reflective of real life drumming. Essentially, playing accent patterns in different stickings, orchestrated for four limbs on the drum set.    

The quickest way to understand it is to look at Accents & Rebounds by George L. Stone. 

See: accent patterns with different stickings:

The orchestration we'll use is: 

Play the accents on a cymbal, with bass drum in unison.
Play non-accents on the snare drum, with hihat/foot in unison. 

So the first two measures of the Stone exercises above would be played like this: 

...using whichever sticking is indicated on that line.  

To me, using the left foot that way is an advanced option. Playing it in unison with the snare drum doesn't serve any normal drumming purpose; it's just a convenient way of disciplining the left foot. A more productive thing for normal playing would be to play a regular rhythm with the left foot— quarter notes, 8th notes, etc. With younger students I leave it off altogether. 

You could just do my system using Accents & Rebounds and be done with it, but I start people with some simpler accent patterns from the book Syncopation, and some basic sticking patterns, which we'll memorize. 

3. PRACTICE PATTERNS - STICKINGS
We start with some very basic 8th note accent patterns in Syncopation, with the above orchestration (leaving the left foot out, at first), with some very ordinary stickings, for players of all levels:

1. All right hand: RRRR
2. All left hand: LLLL
3. All with both hands in unison: HHHH
4. RH plays all cymbal notes, LH plays all snare notes
5. Alternating starting with the right hand: RLRL
6. Alternating starting with the left hand: LRLR

We ease into more advanced stickings by changing stickings in increments, without stopping: 

1. One measure all R / one measure all L - RRRR RRRR LLLL LLLL
2. Two beats all R / two beats all L - RRRR LLLL 
3. Doubles - RRLL RRLL 

Or:

1. One measure RLRL / one measure LRLR  -  RLRL RLRL LRLR LRLR
2. Two beats RLRL / two beats LRLR  -  RLRL LRLR
3. Doubles, starting with one single  -  RLLR RLLR 

Beyond that you can learn the following stickings, and all of the paradiddle inversions:

RRRL RRRL
LLLR LLLR
RLLL RLLL
LRRR LRRR

RLRR LRLL
RLLR LRRL
RRLR LLRL
RLRL LRLR

If all that isn't enough for you, you can use the remaining stickings from pp. 5-7 of Stick Control. 

4. PRACTICE PATTERNS - ACCENTS
Accent patterns to practice can be found in Syncopation by Ted Reed, pp. 47-63. Or any other book including accented singles in an even rhythm. 

You can also derive more complex accent patterns from the syncopated practice rhythms in Reed— accent the 8th notes to correspond with the practice rhythms:  

Clearly, it's endless. There's no way to do it completely, and no need to. You'll know when you've had enough. At some point it will become more productive to focus on more conventional advanced materials. I strongly recommend doing this system with a playalong track. 

Scroll through the posts under the harmonic coordination label for a lot of other writing about this, including some ways of doing it for specific purposes— funk drill, rock drill, triplets, etc.