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One Handed Roll – Drum Lesson

Jared Falk  /  UPDATED Aug 23, 2022

The one handed drum roll is a useful technique for playing a very fast single stroke roll with only one hand. It was first introduced to the drumming scene by Kenwood Dennard, and was later made popular by Johnny Rabb who began implementing the technique into Drum & Bass music and solos.

By using the rim of the drum as a pivoting point, you can utilize a push/pull method to create strokes on both the upward and downward motions of your arms. If you’d like to get some ideas on how to apply the one handed roll to actual beats, move on to the lesson “One Handed Roll Applications“.


Jared Falk is a lifelong drummer, drum teacher, and the co-founder of Drumeo. For over 18 years, Jared has been a leader in the online music education industry, publishing his first online video lessons in 2003 and founding Musora in 2005.

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