Here is a warm-up I use frequently before gigs to accept the rebound and get loose! Its important to let the sticks and the drum/pad do the work. Practice slowly at first and at the first sign of tension, stop. Don’t attempt a tempo which is too fast. Don’t forget to breathe, many players hold their breath when entering fills which results in the body holding tension. Relaxation is the key to speed and tone.
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The Double Paradiddle is made up of 6 notes. This fits as an eighth notes in a 3/4 time signature. Practice with and without accents. Use the drop bounce technique to accelerate the pattern.
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The Flam Tap is a logical progression from playing hand-to-hand flams as we are adding only one more note. Once you have the basic pattern down, isolating each hand as this may give you an idea of how to accelerate the pattern.
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Flams are great chops builders and can add depth and texture to even the most basic fills. The Flam is made up of two notes, the grace (played from a low stick height) and the primary note (played from a high stick height). Practice slowly and make sure the grace note and primary note are not to far apart. It should sound like ‘flam’, two notes played almost together.
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The single paradiddle is a combination of the first two rudiments we as drummers learn, the single and double stroke roll. Its name, ‘Paradiddle’ refers to its sticking.
‘Para’ is two single strokes and a ‘diddle’ a double. Therefore a ‘Para-diddle’ is made up of two singles strokes and a double stroke. This phonetic rule works with all paradiddle variations.
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The six stroke roll consists of two doubles and two singles. If you start in the right hand (right lead) you will keep repeating the same sticking. Be sure to stop and practice starting with the opposite hand (left lead). Just as in the five stroke roll, accent the single strokes.
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The 5-Stroke Roll is the first of the double stroke roll rudiments. As the name suggests it has five notes in it, two doubles and a single. We would normally accent the single note at the end of the roll but as an alternative exercise its worth trying without accents. This rudiment moves from one hand to another rather than repeating in the same hand as you’ll discover with the 6 stroke roll.
I have seen the 5-Stroke Roll written and played two different ways as shown in the lesson PDF. In the video I’m demonstrating the first example.
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