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Top-10 Rudiments, Part 1: Single-Stroke Roll
https://vimeo.com/364150837 Playing rudiments properly is a challenge because they are so physically demanding—not so much in terms of muscular strength, but in terms of finesse and dexterity. Many repetitions are necessary in order to train your muscles and to…
Top-10 Rudiments, Part 2: Double-Stroke Roll
https://vimeo.com/364388641 Doubles are extremely useful, and not just in a roll context. Isolated double strokes can be played around the drumset to produce musical effects or to give you a little extra time to prepare for your next drum or…
Top-10 Rudiments, Part 3: Triple-Stroke Roll
https://vimeo.com/364391126 The triple-stroke roll, which is also known as “threes,” is yet another crucial rudiment. Once you can play this rudiment well, you’ll be armed with the ability to throw in isolated triple beats anywhere around the drumset. Not many…
Top-10 Rudiments, Part 4: Paradiddle
https://vimeo.com/364393048 The paradiddle is one of the most frequently used rudiments, yet many players haven’t tapped into its natural ability to develop accent and tap control. If you play paradiddles without a clear accent on the first beat, the…
Top-10 Rudiments, Part 5: Six-Stroke Roll
https://vimeo.com/364394267 The six-stroke roll is on our list of the twelve key rudiments because it contains unique hand motions that will open doors to many other rudiments. One of the most important benefits of studying the rudiments is developing individual…
Top-10 Rudiments, Part 6: Hand-To-Hand Flams
https://vimeo.com/364791644 Playing alternating flams demands a certain amount of chops. Playing fast hand-to-hand flams require a different kind of chops—whipping Moeller strokes. If you can master the technique needed to play hand-to-hand flams at all tempos, your accent/tap motion…
Top-10 Rudiments, Part 7: Flam Accents
https://vimeo.com/364790673 The flam accent is included because of its unique hand motion, which involves a downstroke with a quick transition into a low triple beat. Mastering the flam accent will open doors that allow you to play many other rudiments,…
Top-10 Rudiments, Part 8: Flam Tap
https://vimeo.com/364790129 The flam tap is on our list because it requires a unique hand motion where strokes decrescendo after an initial accent, without the stick stopping. Each hand plays an accent, tap, and grace note, in that order. When going…
Top-10 Rudiments, Part 9: Inverted Flam Tap
https://vimeo.com/364789298 Some may assume that the inverted flam tap is similar to the standard flam tap, which we covered in the previous chapter, but the inverted flam tap actually sounds quite different— and playing it requires a totally different technique.…
Top-10 Rudiments, Part 10: Drag
https://vimeo.com/364788555 Drags are grace notes with no true metric value of their own; they must be tied to their primary notes. They’re often interpreted as closed buzz strokes, but for our purposes we should play them exactly as written, as…
