chasekratzer
Member
Lets say I wanted to play a single stroke roll on the snare drum. How should I go about doing that?
Thanks for the help. I was just wondering. I couldnt get my single stroke roll as even as possible.
I took lessons from a college student when I was a kid, but I found that I could do everything I heard on my records and on the radio with single strokes, so I stuck to single strokes, and that's how it's been from then on.
It really makes you work on your hands. I play matched grip and, if I say so myself, I've got really fast hands. So there's that. But I wouldn't say that it's all that difficult. Like anything else, it takes practice.
I've had more than one drummer come up and tell me "I don't see how you do that just playing singles." But I do, I do!
Ah, but there's still a certain sound and a certain feel with doubles, paradiddles and other rudiments. It also makes producing certain sounds a lot easier.
I agree, I agree completely. I admit it, I regret not focusing on the rudiments when I was a kid. It's just that music was everywhere back then, and I was in too much of a hurry to start playing.
Oh well.
I'm in the same boat pretty much. I just realized my post looks like I am good at other rudiments, but the only one I can really use is the single stroke roll. I can kind of do decent doubles on my practice pad and I can kind of play some of the other rudiments, but I never spent any time working them into my playing. Although, I don't play any music right now that would need me to know anything other than singles.
There are a couple of rudiments that are really the only thing you can do in certain situations; variations of the paradiddle being the most obvious one. It's good to have those when you need them.
But the single stroke just came easy to me. I just started doing it. I'd hear a Ginger Baker lick, and I'd sit down and figure out how to play it. Bam! I had it. And then there was "Wipeout." Man, I nailed that the first time I heard it. Singles, that was my get-over chop, that's what got me working in the clubs when I was still just a kid.
So, work on those singles! They're fun! And girls Love 'em!
And to the bat pad I go...I'm going to do this from now on, I think you have something with these being the building blocks, Thanks man..same as others on here tho; wish I'd 'practiced' rather than 'played' for so long...There are three things that you MUST practise every day, whether it's for 1 minute each, or 1 hour each.
Single Stroke Roll
Double Stroke Roll
Single Paradiddle
Literally every single thing you play on the kit utilises these rudiments in one way or another. They are truly the absolute foundation of drumming. You could consider flams another essential (I do).
And out of these three... Single Stroke Roll is king. If you've got good, strong single strokes, then you can compensate for weaknesses in the other two.
I wish someone had given me this advice years ago, so that's why I'm giving it to you now practise them every single day! Well, with good technique, anyway.
Warm up:
5 Minutes Each:
- Flams: my version: 1 minute alternating flams, 1 minute flam tap, 1 minute RH lead Swiss triplet, 1 minute LH lead Swiss triplet, 1 minute alternating flams)
- 5, 7, 9 stroke rolls (ie, standard rrllR, llrrL with accented final note)
- Single strokes around kit with lead hand turnarounds: also work on crossovers, and play double bass synchronised. Not to a metronome - focus on technique, core movement (ie. use your torso to move) and relaxation
- 2, 4, 7, 8 strokes with 2 db singles: Think Mike Portnoy's 'toolbox' fills. 2 on hands, 2 on feet, etc. Play 1 minute on each type, 30 seconds leading with each hand (and foot), and final minute I play 4 on hands, 4 on feet as this is also a very useful pattern.
Modified Virgil Donati Power Drumming routine:
For those unfamiliar with this, in Virgil's Power Drumming video he had a click set up to increase by 10bpm every 8 bars, starting at 100 and finishing at 200 (from memory).
With my version (and as per what Julian was using) I have it increase by 5bpm every 4 bars, and I start at an appropriate tempo to spend approximately 1 minute on each exercise. Again, play each exercise synchronising each hand with the matching foot. This is a power, accuracy, speed, and endurance exercise. The hand is the focus here, so if your foot is lagging then stop and just focus on your hands.
1 minute per set, leading with one hand, and then another set leading with the other hand.
4 strokes per drum - single hand
2 strokes per drum - single hand
1 stroke per drum - single hand (could also do flat flams, but much harder)
4 strokes per drum - both hands
2 strokes per drum - both hands
Pyramid of Pain (4 bars single strokes, then 4 bars double strokes, played continuously, on each repeat, add one bar, so 4 of each, then 5 of each, 6, 7, etc.)
2 minutes relaxed speed (focus on sound, accuracy, stick height, relaxation)
1 minute rest
2 minutes moderate speed
1 minute rest
1 minute strain speed (you want to reach the end of the minute feeling like you just barely made it, but without excessive tension)
High speed short bursts.
4 strokes per hand, 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds.
8 strokes per hand, 30 seconds. Rest 30 seconds
12 strokes per hand, 1 minute.
1 minute doubles - relaxed
1 minute rest
1 minute doubles - strain
1 minute Paradiddles - relaxed
1 minute rest
1 minute medium tempo
1 minute rest
1 minute strain tempo
Left hand Lead Singles:
8th notes - 16th note transitions (I play one bar of each, so 8x 8th notes and then 16x 16th notes).
This exercise is more about accuracy, stick height and consistency rather than pure speed - play it as fast as you can without throwing these attributes out the window.
2 minutes moderate tempo
2 minutes fast
Broken Singles: 3, 5, 7, 9 alternating lead hand. Played synchronous with the feet.
So, your patterns would be: RLR LRL... RLRLR LRLRL... RLRLRLR LRLRLRL... RLRLRLRLR LRLRLRLRL
As there are 4 different patterns, I spend a quarter of each allotted time segment working on each one, rather than cycling through all of them.
2 minutes moderate
30 seconds rest
1 minute fast
30 seconds rest
1 minute strain
There are three things that you MUST practise every day, whether it's for 1 minute each, or 1 hour each.
Single Stroke Roll
Double Stroke Roll
Single Paradiddle
Literally every single thing you play on the kit utilises these rudiments in one way or another. They are truly the absolute foundation of drumming. You could consider flams another essential (I do).
And out of these three... Single Stroke Roll is king. If you've got good, strong single strokes, then you can compensate for weaknesses in the other two.
I wish someone had given me this advice years ago, so that's why I'm giving it to you now practise them every single day! Well, with good technique, anyway.
Looking at my time in high school, It's interesting to say I had always practiced double stroke rolls and triple stroke rolls, but the single stroke roll was one of the last things I really focused on. I was never bad at them, nor was I incapable of playing them efficiently, but I just didn't have that feeling of Nirvana when playing them. After about a month of literally practicing left-hand-led single stroke rolls, I mastered them. Well, maybe not college graduate mastered, but they were where any self taught drummer would get them after two years. That, and, they were better than any of the non-band-affiliated drummers (life-long drummers, mind you) at my school.
As far as technique, TwoCables hit it fair square as far as making sure your hands are perfectly mirrored if you're using matched grip.
What I'm uncertain about is his advice for holding the stick higher. I would NOT advise choking up on the stick, although I am uncertain as to how high he means, because advise like that could come out the wrong way.
Holding your pivot point about a third from the butt-end of the stick should give the best response when doing strokes.
Heading the words of TwoCables, I just want to fill in some other details that I would recommend as a guide for practicing. Do what fits best for you. My words should be like a mother pushing you in the right direction, but your path is your own.
Some things that weren't mentioned before that I feel are important are the use of wrist/fingers, and lead hands.
At slower to moderate tempos, wrists are best for complete control and power in single strokes. The wrist motions should be something like up and out. (Away from the body. The motion is two parts, but very fluid. It should be like a curved motion.) As you get to a more moderate speed, the motion becomes smaller and is just a small up and down.
When you can onl y go so fast, that's when fingers come in. Fingers use smaller muscles! They can move faster than your wrists. Because fingers are smaller muscles, they move faster, but are not as strong. Finger rolls will be naturally weaker.
As for practice, know your limits! It's one thing to push yourself, feeling the burn is a good thing! But if ANYTHING starts to Genuinely hurt, STOP! And rest till it's better.
Practice the rolls at different speeds to a metronome if possible. When you're comfortable, play starting slow, and gradually speed up to your fastest point, and slow back down to a stop. This is a test of control, and you should fluidly transition from wrists to fingers and back to wrists, with as little sound change as humanly possible.
Last but Definitely not least! Practice more with your weak hand lead more than anything else. Start and count with a metronome with your weak hand. Your weak hand, (playing sixteenth notes to a metronome) should be on 1 and the & of 1e&a 2e&a 3e&a 4e&a 1, and repeat. Respectivly, it will look like: LRLR LRLR LRLR LRLR L. Count "One" "AND" "TWO" "AND" "THREE" etc. etc. on your weak hand. Just keep practicing this routine and you will have it down in no time!
I hope this helps! Good look in your search for perfection!
But then again, I'm still angry at the people who first taught me to drive using my right foot on the brake, instead of left-foot braking. Idiots. Same dumb ones who said 10-2.