Drum rudiments are the basis of learning the drums and essential for anybody that wants to become proficient at the instrument.

What are Drum Rudiments?

The rudiments are a set of drum patterns that help a student master the different strokes and drumming patterns.  Much like a spoken language is made up of individual words, a complex drumming pattern can be broken down into these drum rudiments.

By mastering the basic rudiments it is possible to improve your playing in many ways including improving your speed, stamina and accuracy.

The 40 Drum Rudiments

The following drum rudiments are recognised by the Percussive Arts Society (PAS)

Single Stroke Rudiments:
1. Single Stroke Roll
2. Single Stroke Four
3. Single Stroke Seven

Multiple Bounce Roll Rudiments:
4. Multiple Bounce Roll (Buzz Roll)
5. Triple Stroke Roll

Double Stroke Roll Rudiments:
6. Double Stroke Roll
7. Five Stroke Roll
8. Six Stroke Roll
9. Seven Stroke Roll
10. Nine Stroke Roll
11. Ten Stroke Roll
12. Eleven Stroke Roll
13. Thirteen Stroke Roll
14. Fifteen Stroke Roll
15. Seventeen Stroke Roll

Paradiddle Rudiments:
16. Single Paradiddle
17. Double Paradiddle
18. Triple Paradiddle
19. Paradiddle-diddle

Flam Rudiments:
20. Flam
21. Flam Accent
22. Flam Tap
23. Flamacue
24. Flam Paradiddle
25. Single Flammed Mill
26. Flam Paradiddle-diddle
27. Pataflafla
28. Swiss Army Triplet
29. Inverted Flam Tap
30. Flam Drag

Drag Rudiments:
31. Drag
32. Single Drag Tap
33. Double Drag Tap
34. Lesson 25
35. Single Dragadiddle
36. Drag Paradiddle 1
37. Drag Paradiddle 2
38. Single Ratamacue
39. Double Ratamacue
40. Triple Ratamacue

How to Practice the Drum Rudiments

Most drummers will practice the rudiments either on a snare drum or on a practice pad.  This will ensure that accurate sticking is being used and the weight behind each stroke is correct. As you progress, you can start playing the rudiments around the kit.  This will open up a whole new range of different rhythms and feels, which you are unlikely to discover yourself.

Although the rudiments are commonly associated with single drums, don’t think that they are just for marching drum corps.  They are just as useful for drumkit players, whether you intend to play jazz, rock or blues.

The History of Rudiments

Rudiments have their history in military drumming where it was necessary for a group of drummers to play the same patterns. This history goes back several hundred years.

In the last century there was a move to standardise the rudiments that were being played.  In 1933 the National Association of Rudimental Drummers (NARD) agreed on a list of 13 essential rudiments together with an additional 13 rudiments.  These are often termed the 26 rudiments.

More recently this list has been extended by the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) to include the 40 Essential rudiments.  This is what many modern drummers are referring to when they say they are ‘learning their drum rudiments’.