Learn to play Drum Rudiments
Drum rudiments are the standardised sticking patterns that every groove and fill is assembled from. The building blocks for solid drumming. Let's cover what they are, where you've already heard them, and how you can learn to play rudiements with Melodics.
What are drum rudiments?
- Drum rudiments are named sticking patterns standardised by the Percussive Arts Society. They underpin every groove, fill and solo, and a handful of them carry most of what you'll actually play.
- There are four families - Rolls, diddles, flams and drags. Every rudiment is a variation inside one of those four, which is why learning a family beats working down a list.
- Six cover most bases - Six rudiments cover most of what you'll play in a rock, pop or funk context. The rest are specialisation, not obligation.
- Start slow - A rudiment played fast and uneven teaches your hands to be uneven. The tempo you can hold cleanly is the only tempo that counts.
Three drum rudiments for beginners
Single stroke roll
One hand then the other, evenly. The foundation of every fill you've ever air-drummed.
Heard in: most drum fills · Start at 60 BPM
Double stroke roll
Two per hand. The rebound does the second stroke; if you're lifting for both, slow it down.
Heard in: buzz rolls, jazz comping · Start at 50 BPM
Single paradiddle
The one that teaches your hands to alternate accents without you thinking about it.
Heard in: funk grooves, linear fills · Start at 60 BPM
Drum rudiments, grouped into four families.
- The rudiments worth your time - rolls, diddles, flams and drags. Learn one family at a time.
- Roll rudiments - Single strokes, multiple bounce, and the double stroke rolls. Teaches even hands and controlled rebound. Start with the single stroke roll.
- Diddle rudiments - Teaches alternating accents and automatic sticking. Start with the single paradiddle, then paradiddle-diddle.
- Flam rudiments - Flams, flam taps, flam accents, Swiss triplets and the flamacue. Teaches grace-note placement and stick-height control. Start with: the plain flam, where both hands stay distinct.
- Drag rudiments - Drags, ruffs and ratamacues. Teaches compressed double strokes. Start with: the drag.
A drum rudiments app that hears you rushing.
A rudiment chart or PDF shows you the sticking and stops there. Melodics listens to every stroke and tells you which hand is late, which is quiet, and whether the tempo you think you're holding is the one you're playing. Set any tempo from 40 BPM, get scored per stroke, and see whether this week is cleaner than last.
See how rudiement lessons work with Melodics
Single Stroke Roll
Paradiddle
Paradiddles
Play Melodics on any drum kit.
Acoustic drum lessons
Calibrate for advanced audio detection, no extra hardware required.
Electronic drum lessons
Plug & play on any electronic drum kit, with custom MIDI mapping available.
Practice pad lessons
Hit your pad, or any surface you fancy, and get instant feedback.
Rudiments are one course, not the whole plan.
Rudiments & Techniques is one of several Melodics drum courses. Most drummers work through Drumming Foundations first, add rudiments alongside it, then move into Rock Grooves, Funk & Soul and Fills & Drills as their hands catch up. You don't have to design the order — the app sequences it by level and moves you on when your scores say you're ready.
Don't stop at rudiment lessons, master your favourite songs too.
Looking to get a taste of the Melodics drum lesson experience before you sign up? Break down your fave tracks with beat-by-beat drum tutorials. Choose your difficulty, start with practice mode and nail the full performance - all while getting live feedback on your drumming.
- Fast Car
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Tracy Chapman - Robbers
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The 1975 - Freak On A Leash
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Korn - Listen To The Music
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The Doobie Brothers - When I'm In Your Arms
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Cleo Sol - Move On Up
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Curtis Mayfield - Brass In Pocket
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The Pretenders - Banquet
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Bloc Party
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Melodics cuts the learning curve so far down for practicing my covers! I just learned that in 20 minutes using practice mode.
Steve Wood, USA You give people the understanding of what the artist is doing, how to put a song together, and from there do your own thing. And I think that's really cool!
Melanie, USA With the way harder songs are being taught, it's really great. I felt it was the right way to learn. I can slow down and loop certain sections so I don't have any issues.
Niteesh Yarra, USA
Melodics is the best way to build your musical skills
Try for freeFAQs
- Drum rudiments are standardised sticking patterns that form the basic vocabulary of drumming. There are 40 official rudiments, grouped into four families: rolls, diddles, flams and drags.
- There are 40 official drum rudiments, standardised by the Percussive Arts Society in 1984. An older list of 26 is the marching subset. You don't need all 40; six cover most rock, pop and funk playing.
- Melodics is free to start and includes all 40 rudiments with adjustable tempo and per-stroke scoring. It works with an acoustic kit, an electronic kit or a practice pad.
- Yes. A practice pad is arguably better for rudiments than a full kit, because it removes everything except the stroke. Melodics scores you on a pad through your device mic.
- Clean matters more than fast. Most drummers work toward holding a double stroke roll evenly at around 120 BPM in sixteenths. Raise about 4 BPM at a time.