As a student, I always try to seek out new ways to use rudiments on the drumset, and as a teacher, I encourage my students to do the same. The following ideas came about when my teacher, Ray Fransen, showed me the following beat: I was intrigued with the feel of this beat and started looking for different ways to play it. This led to the application of the paradiddle-diddle. What follows is the paradiddle-diddle, which should be practiced with and without accents: In working up speed on this rudiment, try to feel the motion of the paradiddle-diddle in order to obtain a smooth flow and fast execution. In other words, try not so much to think, “RLRRLL,” but use physical memory to think of what it feels like to play a paradiddle-diddle. Once a nominal tempo is achieved, try the following accent pattern to “set up” for the beat: […]

October 1986 Issue