I memorized a Max Roach solo I transcribed a while back, when I told my teacher

about it, he insisted that I play it as a final snare piece instead of the tradi
tional etude (the first one in portraits in rhythm). He also wants me to be comp
letely familiar with the melodies in both of the songs I have to play at the dru
m examination. I have another ensemble teacher that made us learn the melodies o
f all the tunes we'd be playing on the semester. The drummers have to be able to
sing the melody while keeping basic time and to play the melody orchestrated ar
ound the kit. I think that's a great and very musical excercise for drummers to
try out.