Drum Rudiments

Contents

Drum rudiments are an important part of learning to play the drums. They help you to move easily around the drum set and are vital to writing fills and solos.

I recently started to add new exercises to each rudiment, below are the ones I’ve completed so far.

I’m working on writing the rest out, but in the meantime, you can work on these or check out videos for all 40 snare rudiments on my YouTube Rudiments Playlist.

You might also check out this drum rudiment chart from Mel Bay for a quick reference as you practice. I have a similar one that I look at whenever I’m looking for new ideas for beats.

Drum Rudiments – Lessons

Each drum lesson below shows you what the rudiment looks like in drum notation. There is also a short video showing you how it should sound and how to play each one.

I’ve also included some snare drum exercises that throw the rudiments in at various times. If you don’t understand drum notation yet, don’t worry. It’s fairly simple to learn.

Check out my lesson on how to read drum music if you’re having trouble understanding the exercises.

In some lessons, I’ve shown you how to apply the rudiments to drum fills or how to create beats based on rudiments. (See 02b).

01. Single Stroke Roll

02. Paradiddle

02b. Paradiddles On The Drum Set

03. Double Paradiddle

04. Flam

05. Flam Tap

06. Five Stroke Roll

07. Double Stroke Roll

08. Single Stroke Seven

09. Paradiddle Diddle

10. Flam Accent

11. Flamacue

12. Flam Paradiddle

13. Flammed Mill

14. Single Drag

15. Ratamacue

16. Flam Drag

More Rudiment Lessons

For more in depth study, you should check out these lessons. The rudiment books and DVD’s can take you a bit further in your practice than I can here with the exercises I have posted.

Personally, I like to use the books so I can sit down behind the drums with the exercises in front of me. If you’re just learning to play the drums you might consider the DVD’s since you’ll be able to hear how each lesson should be played.

You can also put the rudiments you’ve learned into practice using the snare drum lessons and beginner tutorials I’ve put together. See the pages below for more practice.