Paradiddles

IrishdrumAK

New Member
Hey drummers,
I have an issue with paradiddes that I can find the answer to with from Mr google.
For some reason I cant count paradiddes!
I have to keep thinking of the sticking pattern or say paradiddle in my head to keep the paradiddle going. As soon as I try to start counting I lose the it. Has anyone else had this issue or is it just me?
 
Move the paradiddle onto the toms. Right hand on floor tom, left hand on rack tom. The two different sounds will likely fix the brain hiccup you're having.

I had to do this when my teacher give me the "play paradiddles as triplets" lesson. On the pad/snare, I would often revert to paradiddle-diddle without noticing my mistake.
 
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It helps me to focus on the quarters.
Paradiddle Paradiddle Paradiddle Paradiddle
1___________2___________3___________4

Instead of
Paradiddle Paradiddle Paradiddle Paradiddle
1 E and A 2 E and A 3 E and A 4 E and A

You probably just don't have the muscle memory yet. I don't think anyone just starts playing paradiddles right away. It takes a while.
 
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Start off slow , speed up then slow down . all good advice above.
 
Good advice here, as usual.

To add, make sure you're accenting only the 1st note of each beat, and tapping the 2nd, 3rd and 4th notes of the beat.

If you're playing all of the notes at the same volume, it'll be tough to make them flow, especially at higher speeds, and they won't sound good as good as they can. Accenting the 1st and only the 1st note of each beat will help you get the feel of it down and make it flow.
 
@IrishdrumAK

If you try all of the the above and you do not find yourself making progress....

When I was taking lessons, the instructor would have me do various modulations on the patterns I was learning, so paradiddle with accent modulation...

R-l-r-r-L-r-l-l for a few reps
r-L-r-r-l-R-l-l for a few reps
r-l-R-r-l-r-L-l for a few reps
r-l-r-R-l-r-l-L for a few reps
and back to the top.

Then I would move everything over a 16th note....

R-L-R-R-L-R-L-L followed by
R-R-L-R-L-L-R-L and
L-R-R-L-R-L-L-R and so on and so forth.

Then I would do the same exercises over some foot ostinato. Samba is my typical practice go-to choice, but you get the point. Then play the rudiment as triplets and modulate accent/time in the same manner.

Working my way through all of the above tends to give me a better perspective on whichever rudiment I'm working on. Getting through it is moderately difficult and requires some time. It also might be a miserable experience for you, so try it till you can't stand it.
 
Moving the accents around. That's when the fun really starts.
 
I do between hands and feet to but recently I started doing this
R-L-R-R-L-R-L-L
R-L-R-R-R-L-R-L-L-L
R-L-R-R-R-R-L-R-L-L-L-L THEN REVERSE BACK FROM 4-2 TO A SINGLE PARADIDDLE, THEN DO IT WITH DOUBLE PARADIDDLE SAME THING. RLRLRRLRLRLL, THEN RLRLRRRLRLRLLL, then RLRLRRRRLRLRLLLL, THEN BACK DOWN. It's fun. It's really helping my left hat foot because it's hard to do LLL, and LLLL with my left foot on hi hat.
 
If you have to say "RIGHT LEFT RIGHT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT LEFT LEFT" You just haven't practiced it long enough. Plain and simple.

Single strokes and doubles are easy because they repeat. No pattern to remember. Paradiddles need to be muscle memory. When I play them at lets say 180 BPM I am thinking, 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4 and only counting the accents. RlrrLrllRlrrLrll. actually at that speed I am just thinking click click click click i'm on full autopilot. Same with 6 stroke rolls, paradiddlediddles. It becomes it's own "sound"

slow down. WAY down. play it at a speed you can do it for 30 minutes without screwing up. It might be REEEEAAALLLY slow and you have to say the words. thats fine. rince and repeat for a month, every day. When it starts getting easy to do speed it up a few bpm. When you start displacing and changing subdivisions you need that muscle memory as counting paradiddles in groups of 3 or 5 gets hard if it's not a natural feeling.
 
For some reason I cant count paradiddes!

Try slowing them way down, playing with your left hand on the snare and your right hand on the floor tom, and swinging the paradiddles so they sound like:

Right --- left right ---- right, Left ---- right left --- left, etc.

Try saying "Par --- a did ---- dle, Par --- a did --- dle", etc., while playing it.

If you swing paradiddles at lower tempos, you might find your playing is more relaxed and flowing. I'd see how quick you can play them, maintaining the swing, and then straighten them out once you're playing them too quickly to maintain that open, loping sound.

FYI, I first heard swung paradiddles while listening to Gene Krupa. He plays half a bar of triplets followed by a couple of paradiddles on the floor and snare at half the tempo. It's a great little fill.

rlr lrl rlr lrl rlr lrl rlr lrl R --- rl --- r L --- rl ---l
 
You would be deeply 'tuned in' to Paradiddles after working through the Dave Tough book on the rudiment.....

Tough indeed. This should be the reply to anyone who asks if Stick Control is overkill.
 
My first teacher had me just count the accent stroke. First stroke in the classic paradiddle.

1 - - - 2 - - - 3 etc. worked for me though everyone’s different.

Pete
 
I think this was a hit and run thread. I mean if he can say par-a-did-dle, he could substitute different syllables...for instance 1 E and A.

We're we had? Smells like it. The guy has one post total and it was a month ago.
 
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