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Drums 2: Intermediate (fills, rudiments, styles)

Step 4 of 6 in Music Hall

Next in your path: 14.11 Singing 2: Intermediate (range, tone, harmony)

What you'll be able to do
  • Play the key rudiments (singles, doubles, paradiddles, flams, drags) cleanly with a metronome.
  • Count and play sixteenth notes and triplets.
  • Play 16th-note grooves and fills around the toms, landing on beat 1.
  • Play recognisable grooves in rock, funk, disco, reggae, shuffle and swing styles.
  • Plan focused practice sessions that keep your hands, body and ears healthy.

This course assumes you finished Drums 1: you can hold the sticks, count eighth notes and play a basic rock beat with a fill.

Words in this course 35Open the Vocabulary Hall
01

Warm-ups and the rudiment system

In simple words

Rudiments are like the ABCs for drummers. Letters make words, and rudiments make beats and fills. We practise them slowly first, like learning to write neatly before writing fast.

Key facts
  • The Percussive Arts Society (PAS) publishes the 40 International Drum Rudiments, copyrighted in 1984. The list includes the traditional Standard 26 American Drum Rudiments plus drum corps, orchestral, European and newer rudiments.
  • PAS groups the 40 into four families: roll rudiments (#1-15), diddle rudiments (#16-19), flam rudiments (#20-30) and drag rudiments (#31-40).
  • PAS advises practising rudiments "open (slow) to close (fast) to open (slow)", or at an even, moderate march tempo.
  • Single stroke roll (#1): R L R L R L R L
  • Double stroke open roll (#6): R R L L R R L L. The second stroke of each pair should be as loud as the first.
  • Hearing check-in: even a practice pad session next to a kit can get loud. Health Canada advises hearing protection designed for musicians, breaks between sets in a quiet area, and quiet time after practice.
Step by step
  1. Put in musician earplugs if you are near a kit. Set a metronome to 8th notes at 70 BPM.
  2. Spend 2 minutes on wrist and finger stretches.
  3. Play single strokes R L R L R L R L at 70 BPM for 1 minute. Then 80, then 90, then back to 70.
  4. Switch to double strokes R R L L R R L L at 60 BPM, then 70, then 80, then back to 60. Make the second stroke of each pair as loud as the first.
  5. Stay relaxed. If you tense up, slow down.
  6. Write down the highest tempo where both rolls stayed even and relaxed.
  7. Check: you have a number written down for singles and one for doubles.
LESSON 01Warm-ups and the rudiment system
LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00
Read the video script
[Host, practice pad on a stand] "Rudiments are the alphabet of drumming. There are 40 official ones."
[Text on screen: Rolls, Diddles, Flams, Drags] "They come in four families: rolls, diddles, flams and drags."
[Screen: single strokes, slow then faster] "Start with singles. Right, left, right, left. Slow, then fast, then slow again."
[Screen: doubles, close-up] "Now doubles. Right right, left left. Make the second note as loud as the first."
[Host] "Five minutes a day on these and your fills will get cleaner fast."
Try it now

Metronome, 8th notes, earplugs in if near a kit.

  • 2 minutes: wrist and finger stretches.
  • 4 minutes: single strokes at 70 BPM, then 80, then 90, then back to 70.
  • 4 minutes: double strokes at 60 BPM, then 70, then 80, then back to 60.
  • 2 minutes: write down the highest tempo where both stayed even and relaxed.
ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Drums 2: Intermediate (fills, rudiments, styles)" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "Warm-ups and the rudiment system".

What the lesson teaches:
- The Percussive Arts Society (PAS) publishes the 40 International Drum Rudiments, copyrighted in 1984. The list includes the traditional Standard 26 American Drum Rudiments plus drum corps, orchestral, European and newer rudiments.
- PAS groups the 40 into four families: roll rudiments (#1-15), diddle rudiments (#16-19), flam rudiments (#20-30) and drag rudiments (#31-40).
- PAS advises practising rudiments "open (slow) to close (fast) to open (slow)", or at an even, moderate march tempo.
- Single stroke roll (#1): R L R L R L R L
- Double stroke open roll (#6): R R L L R R L L. The second stroke of each pair should be as loud as the first.
- Hearing check-in: even a practice pad session next to a kit can get loud. Health Canada advises hearing protection designed for musicians, breaks between sets in a quiet area, and quiet time after practice.

The exercise I'm working on:
Metronome, 8th notes, earplugs in if near a kit. - 2 minutes: wrist and finger stretches. - 4 minutes: single strokes at 70 BPM, then 80, then 90, then back to 70. - 4 minutes: double strokes at 60 BPM, then 70, then 80, then back to 60. - 2 minutes: write down the highest tempo where both stayed even and relaxed.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.
I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "Warm-ups and the rudiment system" from the course "Drums 2: Intermediate (fills, rudiments, styles)".

Here's what the lesson says:
Rudiments are like the ABCs for drummers. Letters make words, and rudiments make beats and fills. We practise them slowly first, like learning to write neatly before writing fast.

The activity:
Metronome, 8th notes, earplugs in if near a kit. - 2 minutes: wrist and finger stretches. - 4 minutes: single strokes at 70 BPM, then 80, then 90, then back to 70. - 4 minutes: double strokes at 60 BPM, then 70, then 80, then back to 60. - 2 minutes: write down the highest tempo where both stayed even and relaxed.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.
Open Claude
Sources
My notes
02

Paradiddles, accents and the four basic strokes

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03

Flams and drags

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04

Sixteenth notes and 16th-note grooves

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05

Fills around the kit

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06

Styles part 1: funk, disco and reggae

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07

Styles part 2: triplets, shuffle, swing and a practice plan

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++

Final project

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??

Quiz

  1. How many rudiments are on the PAS International Drum Rudiments list?

  2. What are the four rudiment families?

  3. Write the sticking for a single paradiddle.

  4. How do you count sixteenth notes in one beat?

  5. What is a ghost note?

  6. In a disco groove, where does the bass drum play?

  7. In a reggae one drop, on which beat do the bass drum and cross-stick play together?

  8. Which notes of each triplet do you play in a shuffle?

  9. What is a common mistake when playing flams?

EX

Final exam

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CE

Certificate

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