The Rudiment Exercise You Didn’t Expect (Collapsing Double Strokes)

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This exercise was inspired by Dorothea Taylor and involves transitioning between rudiments in a way you might not expect.

Let’s call it ‘squishing doubles into hand-to-hand flams’.

Start by playing double strokes. Then, reduce (or ‘squish’) the space between the notes until they turn into hand-to-hand flams (which is a right hand flam, followed by a left hand flam, and repeat). It’s amazing how easy this is once you get it. You’ll notice that a hand-to-hand flam can be broken down into doubles with each hand.

You can also start with a triple stroke roll (RRRLLL) and transition into flam taps (lRR rLL).

Rudiments are the letters of the words that make up the drumming alphabet. Whether you call it ‘squishing’ or ‘collapsing’ (thanks, Claus Hessler), taking this approach to practicing rudiments can help you better understand their building blocks.

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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.