How To Play Drum Rudiments

Alright, today, we are going to talk about how to play snare drum rudiments. Rudiments are actually from the core of everything that we do on the drum kit. I don't really have time to go through all 26 American drum rudiments, but what I will try to do today is cover some of the ones that I think are the most important.

In particular, single strokes, double strokes, paradiddles and the various inversions and variations on the paradiddle, short roughs and rolls. All of these things kind of inform what we do around the rest of the kit. So, don't make the mistake of not spending the time on a practice pad and a snare drum developing your hands.

It seems boring at first, but the muscle memory that you develop as a result of that will translate into better musicianship, all the way round. Alright, this is the single stroke roll. What is important here is that all the notes are evenly spaced, and the same volume.

Let the sticks return to the same height, and play in a small area in the center of the drum, in order to get an even and precise tone. We will use sixteenth notes to start with, but you can do this with any rhythmic subdivision. One - Two - Three - Four.

I will play a little bit quicker. One - Two - Three - Four. Now, as you are playing this stuff, make sure again that your grip is relaxed, that you are playing in the center, that your sticks are coming up at the same height.

If I use a different rhythmic subdivision, it is still a single stroke roll. Using sextuplets - One - Two - Three - Four. Spend some time practicing all these things leading with your left as well.

One - Two - Three - Four. Another thing that is worth a mention is spending time practicing all of these exercises without accents, as well as with accents. The double stroke roll, which is the same principle, but it is two strokes with each hand.

I am bringing the sticks up quite high, we can do it from a lower height. Do we give that some sort of rhythmic context? We will be quicker. One - Two - Three - Four.

And again, we can change the rhythmic subdivision, it still remains a double stroke roll, because we are using the same sticking. So as sextuplets - One - Two - Three - Four. As thirty second notes - it is still the same sticking pattern as the double stroke roll.

And that is how to play a selection of drum rudiments. .