Example of double stroke roll in songs

I must admit, I can't bring myself to practice something, unless, I know where or how the technique will be beneficial for me in the future. Thus, can someone point out, where the double stroke roll is utilized in any well known songs.

Thanks.
 
Double strokes are so fundamental even for just developing semi acceptable technique that they really shouldn't be questioned.

Any rudimental tune would be full of them.

Accents with fill-ins would be ine obvious one, you know. 5, 7, 9-stroke rolls moving the accents around.

A little spice on the hats. 5-stroke roll is where I usually start my students there.

Unless you want to be a purely singles rock'n'roller you'd do well to work on all your rudiments. Applications will to a certain degree show themselves.

It's also just the beginning of building basuc ability of accents and ghost notes with the LH. What binds a lot of grooves together and the ability to musically.



These are sort of novice questions that are sort of an excuse to not have to do the work.

I see this all the time with students who have been playing for a while without propper guidance. They "just want to play songs" and question anything because they never learned the basics or got used to having a technique routine.

See, there's stuff in those tunes that they don't hear yet, but it's an integral part of how things flow and feel.

If it's really a pain it's ok to wait. If you're young and you're able to play a lot with others, as long as you listen and learn from each other, that's perfectly valid. In that case you shouldn't waste your or a teachers time. Just be sure you understand that if you want to be a serious drummer, this as well as reading, being open minded and understanding several styles is just par for the course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-LTEnk_Snc
 
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With Rudiments, especially the "26", the more you learn and internalize them yourself, the more you are able to pick them out in songs you hear. Double stroke roll and its accents is arguably the most used, especially in jazz. If you only play rock, you can get away with only using singles, but doubles make it more fun!
 
You can use it by by doing 5,7, and 9 stroke rolls on the snare and hitting the end accent on a crash.

If you play double bass, you can use them on your feet.

Tom fills with left hand on snare and right hand going around the toms.

Hi-Hat rolls in grooves.

"Trash Can" endings.

it's literally the 2nd most vital rudiment after the single stroke roll.
 
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They're all over Stewart Copeland's hihat work, for one thing. All funk and fusion drummers use them a lot-- I guess you could look at Steve Gadd's playing for that. It's just a thing good drummers learn how to do. Part of how people become good drummers is they get interested in developing their abilities whether or not they see an immediate need for whatever thing.
 
How about our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner!
 
Every song that isn't simple simple rock with boring fills utilizes some sort I would think.

Go find any decent drummer and they know how to do a double stroke roll. Now, 26 rudiments is excessive if your just starting with rudiments, Paradiddles, inverted diddles, double strokes, single strokes, parapara diddles, 6 stroke rolls, 5,7,9 stroke rolls, and inverted doubles are my go too's... Add flams as well.. but I don't play much using flam taps... Do I practice them? of course I do.

Now WHY... because it builds independence, technique and control. I may be playing something that involves triplets, say RllRllrrLRll and although it's not a straight forward double stroke roll I need to be able to do doubles on both hands.

Worry about doing it clean, rather than fast. I spent years playing and getting buy on single strokes and being a fast drummer.. My playing has gone from 0 to 100 in the years since learning rudiments on a pad.

I always show my students with your mind set a few really cool grooves using diddles etc, some fills using diddles and doubles, and a bunch more chops to see what you can achieve... The reason being the same thing you are thinking.. Sitting on a pad for 20 minutes going RRLLRRLLRRLLRRLL doesn't seem musical.. Same with the other rudiments. When you can move the accents, sticking, and subdivisions around though, you're in for a treat.
 
I must admit, I can't bring myself to practice something, unless, I know where or how the technique will be beneficial for me in the future. Thus, can someone point out, where the double stroke roll is utilized in any well known songs.

Thanks.

Manfred Mans Earth Band Spirits in the Night.

3:26 into the song Chris Slade on drums (David Gilmore AC/DC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMqJRF_E_ao

Yes Siberian Khatru Bill Bruford

5:45 into song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0HnIr6jYWU
 
Just to add a novice type question to this but......

I'm doing this song where I want to put in a very fast military type sound snare roll every once in awhile for a single beat of a bar. So the song is about 120 bpm, and to do a very fast single roll well is somewhat difficult for me at that tempo, but doing it double stroke is easier...on account of half the strokes for each hand! Is my thinking wrong on this? Is that not the general reason to do double strokes as opposed to singles?
 
Just to add a novice type question to this but......

I'm doing this song where I want to put in a very fast military type sound snare roll every once in awhile for a single beat of a bar. So the song is about 120 bpm, and to do a single roll well is somewhat difficult for me, but doing it double stroke is easier...on account of half the strokes for each hand! Is my thinking wrong on this? Is that not the general reason to do double strokes as opposed to singles?


It depends on what you're trying to play and the sound you want. If you want really loud staccato then singles would be your best bet.

Assuming you're talking 16th notes at 120 bpm then that's not exceptionally fast, but sure, if you're new it's gonna take a while to do that cleanly.
 
It depends on what you're trying to play and the sound you want. If you want really loud staccato then singles would be your best bet.

Assuming you're talking 16th notes at 120 bpm then that's not exceptionally fast, but sure, if you're new it's gonna take a while to do that cleanly.

I'm not entirely new, but I am new to actually trying to learn stuff...a bit of rudiments and technique etc. Drums are not my first instrument, I just like playing them! Come to think of it, I'm not really schooled at any instrument...

so yeah, I guess 120 is not all that fast, I can do it single, but double seems much easier...so the idea of a double stroke versus the single is the sound and not the ease? I would think with what I'm doing (which would be just an even quick beat of snare dddddddd), that someone listening would not really hear a difference.
 
That is a good point.. Singles are easier when your starting out.. after years of playing and doing rudiments you can play MUCH faster doing diddles and double strokes... It conserves a TON of energy.

also, have you EVER heard a drum solo without double strokes or rudiments? the answer is no.. If you want to learn how to do a solo you must learn this stuff.
 
Couldn't find many modern songs, but here's some older stuff:

Simply Red - Your Mirror

Santana - Evil Ways

Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Nut rocker

Also the famous Motown fill uses a 6 stroke roll.

Or listen to Keith Carlock letting off some fireworks, he's got killer doubles, on toms as well. It takes a lot of practise but good doubles is really cool to have available.
 
I must admit, I can't bring myself to practice something, unless, I know where or how the technique will be beneficial for me in the future. Thus, can someone point out, where the double stroke roll is utilized in any well known songs.

Thanks.
A great eye-opener for anyone questioning rudiments, would be to go up against a drummer (any drummer) who can lay-down said rudiments. The difference in the passage of sound, the execution of playing, and the overall technique between the drummer who enriched his or her playing through learning a variety of rudimental exercises, versus the drummer that distanced him or herself from rudiment practice and playing, will be the difference between night and day. No comparison.
 
Ask not what Doubles can do for you, ask what you can do for Doubles!

Key rudiments compliment each other; sometimes directly and sometimes in unexpected ways. For instance, the ability to play a secondary stroke of equal volume in one hand and then the other will translate into the ability to to play clean, powerful, alternating Single strokes. There are a number of reasons for this; one being the fact you have to lift the stick up or the 2nd stroke will sound weak. If you just work on Singles and have a flaw in your technique (like slamming the sticks into the head) you may have a decent volume, but get hamstrung if you want to get any speed. Later on, if you work on more refined technique (like push-pull), you'll find that Doubles are easier to control and monitor. Then you can transfer it to Singles.

If you're going to play a funky pattern broken up on the Set, it'll probably be some variation of the Paradiddle. And that's just combinations of Singles and Doubles. Or if you're going to play alternating Flams, you're going to be using combinations of up and down strokes. Again, it's much easier to coordinate an up and down stroke in one hand and move to the other than coordinating a Flam. Yes, they're two completely different Rudiments and you need to learn how to play the Flam on its own. But using those up and down strokes in the context of Doubles will help with your control and articulation of Flams.

Doubles have been the cornerstone of Snare tradition for 800 years. And for the past 120 of those years, most of the major innovations on the Set have come from Drummers who have learned the Snare drum. It doesn't mean you have to master it, but there's no reason to limit yourself by only working on something if you see a direct, current application.
 
Here's a decent example of a double stroke roll. It's played as four 1/32 notes during beat 4 every other measure. Steve Gadd of course :)
https://youtu.be/ABXtWqmArUU


Just to add a novice type question to this but......

I'm doing this song where I want to put in a very fast military type sound snare roll every once in awhile for a single beat of a bar. So the song is about 120 bpm, and to do a very fast single roll well is somewhat difficult for me at that tempo, but doing it double stroke is easier...on account of half the strokes for each hand! Is my thinking wrong on this? Is that not the general reason to do double strokes as opposed to singles?

Nothing wrong with your thinking on this. There's a couple of ways you could play this.
If for instance you start the roll on beat 4, just double up 4e+a to 1/32 notes,

4--e--+--a---|1 2 3 4
RRLLRRLL|R 2 3 4

But at 120bpm I prefer to play it as a 1/16th note triplet starting on the left hand. Just play an 1/8th note triplet and double each stroke. It's easier and smoother to execute but still sounds fast enough. Try it :)

4...trip.let|1 2 3 4
LL.RR..LL| R 2 3 4

Playing double stroke rolls usually means the drummer needs to make a decision on what type of double stroke roll fits the tempo. Generally speaking, the faster the tempo, the shorter you can make the roll, so a five stroke roll may fit better than say a 9 stroke roll.
And for a slower groove, an 11 or 13 stroke roll might fill the space between the beats better, whereas a 5 or 7 stroke roll could sound too slow with too much space between each roll stroke.

So don't just learn the double stroke roll, learn the rudiments that involve double strokes so you can use the appropriate one. 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17 stroke rolls.
 
Here's a decent example of a double stroke roll. It's played as four 1/32 notes during beat 4 every other measure. Steve Gadd of course :)
https://youtu.be/ABXtWqmArUU




Nothing wrong with your thinking on this. There's a couple of ways you could play this.
If for instance you start the roll on beat 4, just double up 4e+a to 1/32 notes,

4--e--+--a---|1 2 3 4
RRLLRRLL|R 2 3 4

But at 120bpm I prefer to play it as a 1/16th note triplet starting on the left hand. Just play an 1/8th note triplet and double each stroke. It's easier and smoother to execute but still sounds fast enough. Try it :)

4...trip.let|1 2 3 4
LL.RR..LL| R 2 3 4

Playing double stroke rolls usually means the drummer needs to make a decision on what type of double stroke roll fits the tempo. Generally speaking, the faster the tempo, the shorter you can make the roll, so a five stroke roll may fit better than say a 9 stroke roll.
And for a slower groove, an 11 or 13 stroke roll might fill the space between the beats better, whereas a 5 or 7 stroke roll could sound too slow with too much space between each roll stroke.

So don't just learn the double stroke roll, learn the rudiments that involve double strokes so you can use the appropriate one. 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17 stroke rolls.

Interesting ideas, thanks for that!
 
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