Rocking The Rudiments

• By Matt Byrne
• Originally published in the January 2010 issue of DRUM! Magazine

Let’s take a look at some drum set rudiments. Knock these out and enjoy the sweet taste of accomplishment that follows. These particular exercises take several of the Standard 26 American Snare Drum Rudiments and apply them to the kick, hi-hat, and snare drum, therefore transforming them into “drum set rudiments.”

For this lesson we’ll be working with the ten-stroke roll, the flam, the flam tap, and the four-stroke ruff. Each rudiment should be worked out at first between kick, snare, and hi-hat, alternating which hand you use to begin the patterns. All exercises should ultimately be applied to the entire kit. Be creative. These exercises may be frustrating at first but that’s part of the fun. I promise.