Drag rudiments · 35 of 40
Single Dragadiddle
A paradiddle whose first note is itself a drag — same-hand graces.
rrRLRRllLRLL
Big letter = full stroke · filled = accent · small letters ahead = the grace hand. Notation reads as on a practice-pad sheet: accents marked >, slashed small notes are grace notes, z on the stem is a buzz. R rings higher than L, so you can hear the hands.
80BPM
What it is
A paradiddle whose first note is a drag played by the same hand: the double before the accent is on the accenting hand. It is the one rudiment where the grace notes and the main note share a hand.
How to practise it
- The lead hand plays a double then an accent: three notes, fast, one hand.
- Keep the paradiddle underneath it unchanged. Only the first note grows a drag.
- Start where every stroke is deliberate, around 60–80 BPM, and only speed up when it feels boring. When it is clean, take it to the tempo trainer and let trainer mode climb from where you are.
Take it further
- Open in the rudiment trainer →Step through all 40, shuffle, and (for members) random practice that deals you a new one every few loops.
- Log the sessionNote the BPM you reached, and next time starts where this one stopped.
- Why rudiments matter, and where to startThe five to learn first, and how to get them off the pad and onto the kit.
More drag rudiments
Two grace notes, played as a quiet double, into a main stroke. Drags are the ornament of marching and concert snare playing.
- Drag (Ruff)Two grace notes into the main stroke. Crush them close.
- Single Drag TapDrag, then an accented tap on the other hand.
- Double Drag TapTwo drags into the accent — classic 6/8 street beat flavour.
- Lesson 25Drag, tap, accent — same lead every time. From Strube’s 1870 book.
- Drag Paradiddle #1Accent, then drag into a paradiddle.
- Drag Paradiddle #2Accent, then TWO drags into the paradiddle.
- Single RatamacueDrag into three notes, accent on the last. Say “rat-a-ma-cue”.
- Double RatamacueOne extra drag before the ratamacue.
- Triple RatamacueThree drags, then home. The full mouthful.