Dragadiddle 1

Taking a look at the sheet music below, you can see that by removing the drags from the dragadiddle #1 you get a pattern incorporating a quarter note single stroke and a single paradiddle. Thus, it’s important you learn how to play the drag ruff and the single paradiddle before taking on this free drum lesson.

Once the dragadiddle #1 feels comfortable to you, you can move away from the single surface you’re practicing it with and work it around the drum set.

With exercise #1 the dragadiddle #1 is started on the dragged single paradiddle instead of on the single stroke. This way, it’s possible to play the quarter note single strokes on the backbeat. The left hand is kept on the snare drum playing ghost notes and a snare shot on count 2. The right hand is on the hi-hat playing normal volume notes, moving to the floor tom to play a shot on count 4. The bass drum falls on counts 1 and 3. It may be tough to get this pattern started at first. This is so because the grace notes on the first drag are played just before count 1, which is where the primary stroke falls.

The next drum beat is a variation on the previous one. The dragadiddle #1 is broken up between the ride cymbal, the hi-hat, and the snare drum. The left hand plays the hi-hat pattern on counts 1 and 3, and the snare drum on count 2. The right hand plays the ride pattern on counts 1 and 3, and the snare drum on count 4. The bass drum is once again played on counts 1 and 3. This drum beat has the same issue we discussed on the previous exercise. So watch out for that.

The drum fills for the 40 drum rudiments on this website are always performed in context with a stock drum beat. The drum beat utilized on the following two drum fills has an 8th note rest on the “and” of 4. You can play that 8th note rest as a stroke on the hi-hat.

Remember that you might have to resort to this tactic since the grace notes are played before count 1.

Exercise #3 keeps the same rhythmic pattern used on the drum beats – a dragadiddle followed by a quarter note. The grace notes are played on the hi-hat and the singles from the dragadiddle are moved to the snare drum. The doubles are executed on the floor tom on count 1, and on the hi-tom on count 3. The quarter note singles are performed on the snare drum on count 2, and as a unison stroke between a crash cymbal and the bass drum on count 4.

The pattern on the following drum fill is the same as the one on exercise #3. What changes here is the orchestration of the dragadiddle #1 around the drum set. The strokes on count 1 are played between the hi-hat and the ride cymbal, while the ones on count 3 are between the snare drum and the floor tom. The only thing that stays the same here is what’s played on counts 2 and 4. You can come up with a lot of different drum fills from one single pattern. Orchestrating the strokes differently makes a world of difference. It’s a great way of coming up with different ideas.