Drum Rudiments

Drum Rudiments are one of the most important aspects of drumming. They are the building
blocks to every drum beat, pattern, fill, and solo. Whatever your skill level is on the drums,
practicing your rudiments is a must. Even if you are an advanced drummer, its always good
to go over some of the more technical rudiments. There are 40 drum rudiments; some more
complicated then the other. Out of those 40, there are about 5 essential rudiments that are a
must for practicing. Read this article to learn the importance of drum rudiments, and gain a
little bit of insight as to what a drum rudiment really is. If you would like to start learning
some of these patterns, you can check out the drum rudiments video lesson section of
FreeDrumLessons.com.

What are Drum Rudiments?

Many of you may be unfamiliar with the term Rudiments; however, do not worry. Drum
rudiments arent a concept you arent aware of, maybe just a term you havent heard before.
A drum rudiment is basically a sticking pattern. Every sticking pattern you play on the drum
set is derived from different drum rudiments. Most are very common patterns that you are
well aware of like the single stroke roll, double stroke roll, and flam stroke. Some are more
complex and difficult to play. The next time you play the drums, you should look and see
what rudiments you are actually playing. Drum
rudiments are the essentials of drumming; they
should be practiced by drummers to increase
their stick control, speed and independence.

40 Essential Rudiments
You may have heard of the 40 Essential Drum
Rudiments before; this is the list of rudiments
that are played. They say if you master the 40
essential rudiments you are on your way to
becoming a professional drummer. This is very
true; if you can identify and play each one of
these rudiments you will have built up enough
knowledge and stick control to be a very skilled
drummer. However, this takes a lot of work.
Here is the list of rudiments:

Single Stroke Roll

Single Stroke Four
Single Stroke Seven
Double Stroke Roll
Five Stroke Roll
Six Stroke Roll
Seven Stroke Roll
Nine Stroke Roll
 Ten Stroke Roll
Eleven Stroke Roll
Thirteen Stroke Roll
Fifteen Stroke Roll
Seventeen Stroke Roll
Single Paradiddle
Double Paradiddle
Triple Paradiddle
Paradiddle-Diddle
Flam Stroke
Flam Accent
Flam Tap
Flamacue
Flam Paradiddle
Single Flammed Mill
Flam Paradiddle-Diddle
Pataflafla
Swiss Army Triplet
Inverted Flam Tap
Flam Drag
Drag Ruff
Single Drag Tap
Double Drag Tap
Single Dragadiddle
Drag Paradiddle #1
Drag Paradiddle #2
Lesson 25
Single Ratamacue
Double Ratamacue
Triple Ratamacue
Multiple Bounce Roll
Triple Stroke Roll

Drum Rudiment Practice

Like I have said before, practicing these drum rudiments are very important. The best way to
practice these is to take a pair of drum sticks, a metronome, and a practice pad and start
playing. Make sure you are playing with a metronome to keep yourself on time. If you do not
know where to start, here is a list of the top 5 rudiments you should start with: the single
stroke roll, the double stroke roll, the flam stroke, the paradiddle, and the double
paradiddle. These are the top 5 rudiments you should start with, as each one will teach you
speed, control, independence and endurance on your sticks. Make sure you read up on these
essential practice tips before you begin playing these rudiments; it will help you out a lot!

Most of the drum rudiments are variations of each other, meaning it is not too hard to learn all
40 rudiments. For example, if you can play a flam stroke, and a paradiddle pattern, you should
have no trouble playing the flam paradiddle. In any case take the time to go over each one if
you can.

Drum rudiments are more than just sticking patterns you practice on a practice pad. They are
designed to be played in common drumming applications. What this means is they are
designed to be played in drum beats, fills, and solos. Check out the drum rudiments section in
the drum lessons tab to see a variety of applications for each rudiment. Here you will learn
how to play each rudiment in its most simplistic form, as well as complex drum beats and
drum solos! For an added challenge, try to incorporate these rudiments into your double bass
drumming!