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Drum rudiment

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For other uses, see Drum rudiment (disambiguation).
"Flam" redirects here. For other uses, see Flam (disambiguation).

A rudiment is one of a set of basic patterns used in rudimental drumming. These patterns form the basic building blocks or "vocabulary" of drumming, and can be combined in a great variety of ways to create drumming music.

There have been many attempts to formalize a standard list of snare drum rudiments. The National Association of Rudimental Drummers (NARD), an organization established to promote rudimental drumming, put forward a list of 13 "essential" rudiments, and later a second set of thirteen to form the original 26. Finally, the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) reorganized the first 26 and added another 14 to form the current 40 International Drum Rudiments.

40 P.A.S. International Drum Rudiments

Single stroke rudiments

The single-stroke roll consists of alternating sticking (i.e., RLRL, etc.) of indeterminate speed and length.

Name Notation Description
Single Stroke Roll Evenly-spaced notes played with alternating sticking. Though usually played fast, even half notes with alternating sticking would be considered a single stroke roll.
Single Stroke Four Four notes played with alternating sticking, usually as a triplet followed by a strong beat (as in the picture) or as three grace notes before a downbeat (like a ruff).
Single Stroke Seven Seven notes played with alternating sticking, usually as sextuplet followed by a strong beat.

Multiple bounce roll rudiments

Name Notation Description
Multiple Bounce Roll Alternating handed strokes with no specific number of bounces. Should sound even and continuous. Also called "buzz roll."
Triple Stroke Roll Each stroke can be bounced or wristed. Also called a "French roll."

Double-stroke rudiments

The double-stroke roll is a rudiment consisting of alternating diddles (i.e., RR, LL, etc) of indeterminate speed and length. There are 10 official variants of the double-stroke roll (see below).[1] The double-stroke roll is often played in the open, closed, open format; starting very slowly, gradually accelerating to maximum speed, then gradually slowing down again.

Name Notation Description
Double Stroke Open Roll Like the single-stroke roll, usually played fast, but even when played slowly, alternating diddles are considered a double stroke roll. Played so each individual note can be heard distinctly.
Five Stroke Roll Two diddles followed by an accented note.
Six Stroke Roll Unlike most other double stroke rudiments, the six stroke roll begins with an accented single note. Then it is followed by the diddles and another accented note.
Seven Stroke Roll Three diddles followed by an accented note.
Nine Stroke Roll Four diddles followed by an accented note.
Ten Stroke Roll Four diddles followed by two accented notes.
Eleven Stroke Roll Five diddles followed by an accented note.
Thirteen Stroke Roll Six diddles followed by an accented note.
Fifteen Stroke Roll Seven diddles followed by an accented note.
Seventeen Stroke Roll Eight diddles followed by an accented note.

Diddle rudiments

In percussion, the paradiddle is a rudiment consisting of a four-note pattern of the form RLRR or LRLL.[1] When multiple paradiddles are played in succession, the first note always alternates between right and left. There are also several official variations of paradiddle rudiments. Paradiddles are often used to switch hands while playing steady notes. For example, if steadily playing sixteenth notes, with right hand lead (RLRL, etc), then wanting to end on a drum to the left of the current drum, he may stick it as follows: RLRL RLRL RLRL RLRR L with the final left tap on the ending drum.

Name Notation Description
Single Paradiddle Two alternating notes followed by a diddle.
Double Paradiddle Four alternating notes followed by a diddle.
Triple Paradiddle Six alternating notes followed by a diddle.
Paradiddle-Diddle Two alternating taps followed by two alternating diddles.

Flam rudiments

A flam is a rudiment consisting of a quiet "grace" note on one hand followed by a louder "primary" stroke on the opposite hand. The two notes are played almost simultaneously, and are intended to sound like a single, 'broader' note.[1]

Name Notation Description
Flam A flam is a single note with a grace note. The temporal distance between the grace note and the accented note vary from a 16th or 32nd note to almost nothing in popular and rock music.
Flam Accent Flam accents are groupings of three with a flam on the first note of the grouping, played with alternating sticking.
Flam Tap Flam taps are alternating diddles with flams on the first note of each.
Flamacue The flamacue is a group of four notes and an ending downbeat, where the first note and the down beat are flammed, and the second note is accented.
Flam Paradiddle A flamadiddle (or flam paradiddle) consists of a paradiddle with a flam on the first note.[1]
Single Flammed Mill The single flammed mill consists of an inverted paradiddle (RRLR, LLRL) with a flam on the first note of each diddle.
Flam Paradiddle-diddle The flam paradiddle-diddle is a paradiddle-diddle with a flammed first note.
Pataflafla A pataflafla consists of multiple four-note alternating patterns with flams on the first and last notes.[1]
Swiss Army Triplet A swiss army triplet consists of a right hand flam followed by a right tap and a left tap, or (using a left hand lead) a left hand flam followed by a left tap and a right tap. [2][1] It is often used in the place of a flam accent, since repeated flam accents will have three taps on the same hand in a row, where repeated swiss army triplets only involve two taps on the same hand.
Inverted Flam Tap Inverted flam taps are alternating diddles with a flam on the second note.
Flam Drag A flam drag is a flam accent with the second note dragged (or diddled).

Drag rudiments

Name Notation Description
Drag A drag consists of two consecutive notes played by the same hand (either RR or LL). This is similar to the diddle, except that by convention diddles are played the same speed as the context in which they are placed, where drags are played at twice the speed as the context in which they are placed. For example, if a sixteenth note passage is being played then any drags in that passage would by definition be thirty-second notes, where diddles would be sixteenth notes. Drags can also be played as grace notes. When played as grace notes on timpani, the grace notes are alternated (rlR, lrL). [3]

Continuously playing alternating drags (or diddles) results in a double-stroke roll.

A similar rudiment is the ruff, which is a note with three grace notes, but they are usually alternated [3]

Single Drag Tap A single drag tap is two alternating notes where the first note has drag grace notes and the second is accented.
Double Drag Tap A double drag tap is a single drag tap with another grace note drag before it.
Lesson 25 A lesson 25 is three alternating notes where the first note has drag grace notes and the third is accented.
Single Dragadiddle A single dragadiddle is a paradiddle where the first note is a drag.
Drag Paradiddle #1 The first drag paradiddle is an accented note followed by a paradiddle with drag grace notes on the first note.
Drag Paradiddle #2 The second drag paradiddle is two accented notes followed by a paradiddle with drag grace notes on the second accented note and the first note of the paradiddle.
Single Ratamacue A single ratamacue consists of four notes where the first note has drag grace notes and the fourth is accented. [1]
Double Ratamacue A double ratamacue consists of a single ratamacue with a drag before it.
Triple Ratamacue A triple ratamacue consists of a single ratamacue with two drags before it.

Historical organization

Thirteen "essential" rudiments

  1. The Long Roll
  2. The Five Stroke Roll
  3. The Seven Stroke Roll
  4. The Flam
  5. The Flam Accent
  6. The Flam Paradiddle
  7. The Flamacue
  8. The Ruff
  9. The Single Drag
  10. The Double Drag
  11. The Double Paradiddle
  12. The Single Ratamacue
  13. The Triple Ratamacue

Second thirteen rudiments

  1. The Single Stroke Roll
  2. The Nine Stroke Roll
  3. The Ten Stroke Roll
  4. The Eleven Stroke Roll
  5. The Thirteen Stroke Roll
  6. The Fifteen Stroke Roll
  7. The Flam Tap
  8. The Single Paradiddle
  9. The Drag Paradiddle #1
  10. The Drag Paradiddle #2
  11. The Flam Paradiddle-diddle
  12. The Lesson 25
  13. The Double Ratamacue

Last fourteen rudiments

More recently, the Percussive Arts Society added 14 more rudiments to extended the list to the current 40 International Drum Rudiments. Note that the ordering was completely changed during this last re-organization, so these numbers won't match those above.

  • The Single Stroke Four
  • The Single Stroke Seven
  • The Multiple Bounce Roll
  • The Triple Stroke Roll
  • The Six Stroke Roll
  • The Seventeen Stroke Roll
  • The Triple Paradiddle
  • The Single Paradiddle-Diddle
  • The Single Flammed Mill
  • The Pataflafla
  • The Swiss Army Triplet
  • The Inverted Flam Tap
  • The Flam Drag
  • The Single Dragadiddle
Books
Publishing year Name Author
1812 A New, Useful, and Complete System of Drum Beating Charles Ashworth
1815 The Art of Beating the Drum Samuel Potter
1861 The Drummers' and Fifers' Guide Bruce Emmett
1869 Strube's Drum and Fife Instructor Gardiner A. Strube
1886 The Trumpet and Drum John Philip Sousa
1935 Stick Control George Lawrence Stone
1942 Modern Interpretation of Snare Drum Rudiments Buddy Rich
1945 The All-American Drummer Charley Wilcoxon
1959 14 Modern Contest Solos For Snare Drum John S. Pratt
1979 The Technique and Mechanics of Rudimental Snare Drumming Ken Mazur
1992 The Drummer's Rudimental Reference Book John Wooton
2004 The Beat of a Different Drummer Dominick Cuccia

Notable contributors

Hybrid rudiments

Over the years, many other rudimental patterns have been informally identified and given creative names, although most of these are based upon the original 40. They are commonly known as "hybrid rudiments" or "hybrids," and are especially common in drumlines and drum corps. A few notable examples are the herta, which is a drag played with alternating sticking, and the cheese, a diddle with a grace note.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "International Drum Rudiments" Page of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) Accessed 1/23/2008.
  2. ^ Swiss Army Triplet Example on VicFirth.com Accessed 8/11/2007.
  3. ^ a b Nasatir, Cary. "Too Many Rudiments?". Conn-Selmer Keynotes. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

External links

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