DR BEAT

This essential snare drum rudiment can revitalise grooves

Drum expert Ronan Macdonald talks paradiddles

Having previously served as Editor of drummer’s bible Rhythm as well as Computer

Music, Ronan is clearly the right man for this particular gig. He’s been playing drums for over 30 years and making music with computers since the 90s. A core sticking pattern – AKA rudiment – learnt by every drummer, the paradiddle is a particular series of four strokes that can be endlessly useful for embellishing beats and fills. The pattern comprises two single strokes followed by a double stroke, and is repeated fluidly as many times as required, the first stroke swapping naturally between the left and right hands with each ‘cycle”, and usually accented. So, that’s: RIGHT, left, right, right, LEFT, right, left, left, RIGHT, left, right, right, LEFT, right, left, left, etc.

What makes a paradiddle played on the snare drum sound different to a continuous run of single strokes is the accent at the start, and the tiny natural variances in timing and weight between the drummer’s stronger right (assuming they’re right-handed) and left hands. Moving out to the kit as a whole, the paradiddle’s alternating single and double strokes give the drummer a very easy option when it comes to adding spice to fills and linear funk to grooves.

There are three variations on the fundamental four-note (single) paradiddle, too. The double paradiddle adds two extra single strokes at the start: RLRLRR, LRLRLL; the triple paradiddle adds four single strokes: RLRLRLRR, LRLRLRLL; and the paradiddle-diddle adds an extra double-stroke at the end of a single paradiddle: RLRRRLL or LRLLRR.