Rudiments: Order Please!
Rudiment Guide For Beginners
Celene Yohemas, B.Mus
www.CeleneDrums.Com
The Percussive Arts Society put out a list of the 40 essential rudiments. This is the gold standard of rudiments that all percussionists should learn, and it is comprehensive. For a beginner, however, starting at #1 and ending at #40 is daunting and impractical. In my 26+ years of teaching clinics and lessons, I’ve developed a system to help beginners learn the rudiments in a practical order to make learning each grouping much easier. It is also in the order in which you will likely see and use them in beginner band music:
Learn the Single Stroke rudiments
Learn the most common Flam Rudiments
Learn rolling rudiments starting as buzzes
Then the measured rolls as buzzes
Learn double strokes and apply them to measured rolls
All the double stroke skills will be in your hands for the drag rudiments
Below is a guide on where to start, and how to practice them.
#1 Single Strokes (PAS 1 Single Stroke Roll)
Every single percussion instrument and drum style will use single strokes. Practice single strokes with even stroke heights. Your stroke height is also your dynamic height.
Single Strokes with Even Stroke Heights is the goal.
Start with alternating singles with consistent and even stick heights. A variation on learning single strokes is to play 4 singles per hand to gain control, gain muscle (chops) and speed.
#2 The Diddle Rudiments (PAS 16 - 19)
This family of singles mixed with double strokes will help create dexterity, allowing the instrumentalist to pull double strokes out when needed. Every note should be played evenly spaced (the doubles are not double speed). Begin the pattern without accents, then as the player advances, add accents at the beginning of the grouping, then add variations of accents. You may wish to start with Single Paradiddle and the Double Paradiddle, then onto the Triple and Para Diddle-diddle.
#3 Flams (PAS 20)
Flams are executed properly when gravity brings both wrists down at the same time, where one stick is high (about 3 - 4 inches above the head) and the other stick is low (about 1/2 inch from the head). They are named by the high hand; Right hand high = Right flam, Left hand high = Left flam.
The height difference and allowing gravity to drop the sticks for you (rather than using force or fingers) will create the optimal "Flam" sound. If you throw down the sticks too closely together, you will get a "pop" sound, and if they are too far apart you will get a "ba-duh" sound.
Flam mantra: One high, one low, let go (of your wrist, not the fulcrum or the stick).
#4 Flam Accent (PAS 21)
Flam Accent is used very often in 6/8 march music. Practice saying the stickings aloud to ensure you are alternating: R-L-R L-R-L
Start by playing the three notes without the flam, accenting the first of the grouping to help you know how it should sound. Add in the grace note of the flam, and you have created a Flam Accent.
#5 Flam Tap (PAS 22)
This is also often used in march music. It’s a flam followed by a tap.
Right Flam - Right tap, Left Flam - Left tap.
Once you play your flam, leave the tap hand low and raise your other stick to the high position as you tap. This will help you know which stick you are on, and will help your flams to sound better. The goal of all the flam rudiments is to get a good sounding flam by preparing one hand high, one hand low, and helping to get you faster at it.
#6 Flamacue (PAS 23)
This rudiment is for intermediate players, and is used very often in traditional march music. There are MANY pieces with some sort of variation of the Flam A Cue. The accent falls AFTER the flam stroke, which creates a syncopated rhythm.
Count aloud and emphasize the “E” where your accent should be. You may wish to play the rhythm without the flam grace notes first, counting 1 E & a 2 - (rest) 3 E & a 4 - (rest).
Once you have the accent popping out r L r l r, l R l r l, add in the grace notes to beat and keep the accent louder than the flams: Flam ACCENT Single Single Flam
#7 Multiple Bounce Roll (Buzz Roll) (PAS 4)
Learning how to roll a long roll that overlaps and sounds smooth is essential to learning all the measured rolls to follow. Long rolls (un-measured and played for a long period of time) should always be practiced first. Get those hands rolling, with even stroke heights to create smoother rolls.
Having a little over-lap with one stroke starting before the other ends will make for a smoother roll.
#8 Nine Stroke Roll (PAS 10)
Once you have mastered a long buzz roll, now move into the measured rolls. Your hands should move RLRLR then LRLRL, with the last stroke a single stroke. Why is it named a 9 stroke roll when your hands move 5 times? All the roll lengths were named after double stroke rolls which we would count 2-4-6-8-9 (Rr Ll Rr Ll R). So imagine each buzz stroke is a double, and you need to end with a single.
Alternate your rolls with which hand you start with. You may also want to practice 4 buzzes and 4 singles to get used to moving in and out of rolls. Most rolls in 4/4 time or 2/4 time will be played as 16th notes, so you can count your rolls 1e+a 2, 3e+a4.
#9 Five Stroke Roll (PAS 7)
The hands move RLR and LRL, 2-4-5, 2-4-5, or buzz, buzz tap.Counted in 16th notes in 4/4 or 2/4time, is 1e+, 2e+, 3e+, 4e+
#10 Seventeen Stroke Roll (PAS 15)
This is counted in 16th notes 1e+a, 2e+a, 3, 1e+a, 2e+a, 3.
RLRL RLRL R, LRLR LRLR L
Starting with buzzing all of the strokes except for the last one, which is a single stroke.
#11 Seven Stroke Roll (PAS 9)
The version shown in the PAS list is the 7 stroke roll in 16th notes, RLRL 2-4-6-7 counted 1e+a, 2e+a, 3e+a, 4e+a. The first three strokes are buzzed where the last note, the “a”, is a single. The 7 stroke roll can also be played in triplet form: 16th note triplet then an 8th note. This is usually notated as an eighth note with slashes, tied over the bar line landing on beat one. Often 7 stroke rolls are noted with a 7 above the roll.
Once you have mastered the first 11 rudiments, you will have much of the vocabulary you will need in your beginner band music. You can continue to add the rest of the rolls in the family, counting them in 16th notes when appropriate.
#12 Thirteen Stroke Roll(PAS 13) 1e+a 2e+, "happy anniversary" 2-4-6-8-10-12-13
#13 Fifteen Stroke Roll (PAS 14) 1e+a 2e+a, -- 2-4-6-8-10-13-14-15
etc….
Now let's get into DOUBLE Stroke or OPEN Rolls
#14 Double Stroke Open Roll (PAS 6)
Mastering the double stroke roll is essential to learning the rest of the rudiments. This should be one wrist stroke, one bounce on each hand. No more. Work on this rudiment as a LONG roll, unmeasured, gaining the ability to get one stroke and one bounce. Speed it up, slow it down, master the double stroke roll.
#15 - The roll family as double stroke rolls. This is the time to go back to the 9 stroke, 5 stroke, 7 stroke, 13 stroke, and 15 stroke rolls and play them as double stroke rolls.
#16 Drag (PAS 31)
This is a small double stroke followed by a single larger stroke. rrL llR
It should feel similar to the flam, but getting a double out of the low hand this time.
#17 Single Ratamacue (PAS 38)
It should sound just like it's name.
#18 Double Ratamacue (PAS 39)
#19 Triple Ratamacue (PAS 40)
#20 Drag Paradiddles #1 and 2 (PAS 36 & 37)
Resources:
For Downloadable PDF of the PAS Rudiments with recordings: