Let’s talk about another important drum rudiment, a pretty nice one with an ultimate flowing/rolling sound: The Double Stroke Roll!
It’s your license to speed and taste, to cool tricks and great chops. The Double Stroke must have a constant place in your daily practicing routine, no matter if you’re a beginner or pro…
I recommend to read the post about the Single Stroke as well.
Here’s how the Double Stroke works
Well, just like its name says:
R – R – L – L -
Two equal strokes (a double) with the right hand and another two with the left. Then continue playing:
R – R – L – L – R – R – L – L – R – R – L – L – R – R – L – L -
Like always, you should start on the Snare Drum and take care of your strokes. Every stroke should sound the same – as much as possible.
Now, start counting it in groups of four, think of playing 16th notes:
|| R – R – L – L – | R – R – L – L – | R – R – L – L – | R – R – L – L – ||
Of course, there is NO stop after the group of left strokes, the vertical bars are only visual helpers…
That’s great. Keep on repeating it for some minutes, play slow enough and listen. Only when everything is fine, slowly increase the speed – but only a little! Again, keep on playing for several minutes.
If you can’t get it into a nice flow and often “lose” a stroke, just reduce the speed. Stay relaxed and concentrated.
Don’t let one hand “lead” the other, let both hands roll constantly to get the typical flowing sound.
From now on practice the Double Stroke Roll every day!
It rolls ;)
