whats the point of a paradiddle

Greg B

Junior Member
dont yell at me but i dont get it
i can do it but i think single stroke works just fine
 
It gets you in & out of certain phrasing between your snare, toms & hat. You may already be doing it without realizing it. If not yet, you probably will soon. I use them all the time, pretty much without having to think about it.

Bermuda
 
It also is a good rudiment to practice, because after all you get both the single and the double strokes in one package.
 
Two great reaons already covered: 1) when a single would end you onthe wrong hand and 2) when played on different drums it can make great patterns and grooves.

Play it with RH on hats an LH on snare. You're getting a great groove.

Then add BD on 1 and the 'and' of 3. HH pedal on 2 and 4.
 
dont yell at me but i dont get it
i can do it but i think single stroke works just fine

There are two primary reasons for a paradiddle: 1) to enable physical execution of accents and 2) phrasing.

1) A paradiddle is traditionally played with an accent on the first note. The diddle on one hand provides time for the opposite hand to get up nice and high for a strong accent even at brisk tempos.

2) A paradiddle (and all its inversions) lays differently than single strokes or double strokes. In rudimental passages paradiddles are often are used rather than singles or doubles because they give a particular character to the sound. Play bars of singles as 16ths back-to-back with bars of doubles and paradiddles to hear the different sonic character of each sticking. Sometimes we focus too much on the pragmatic side of a sticking (what will it do for me?) and forget about the sound.

Single strokes do work "just fine" and probably 90% of percussion playing is achieved with these alone. But doubles and combinations like paradiddles (it's just two singles and a double...) provide wider options for functional stickings, phrasings and rhythmic possibilities than singles alone.
 
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That's such a great answer, Boomka. doubles sound differently going around the drums then singles. The character of the paradiddle is different.

Take a simple exercise with three drums: snare, high tom and low tom. Now do straight sixteenth notes around the drums. RLRL RLRL RLRL. Problem. Change sticking. LRLL RLRL RLRR. No Problem. Same with two drum: snare and low tom. RLRL RLRL or LRLL RLRR. The paradiddle makes certain routines around the drums that much easier.

Max Roach used a lot of that to change direction around the kit or just to make the sticking easier. If you take the example above and use four drums: snare, high tom, low tom, high tom. RLRL RLRL RLRL RLRL or RLRL RLRL RLRR LRLL. The paradiddle is much easier.
 
dont yell at me but i dont get it
i can do it but i think single stroke works just fine

Start playing it around the kit instead of exclusively a practice pad. Once you realize the limitless possibilities when adding different "voices" (i.e. toms, hats, ride, etc.) to the RLRR LRLL sticking...you'll answer your own question.
 
When I first heard of the worlds fastest drummer thing I looked it up on the internet and pretty much thought, this is silly. I wrote them about making a counter that did more then just count. Why not make a machine that measures the touch of the stroke\strike and measures the time between between each stroke\strike? Seemed to me that much of what they're doing is promoting some sloppy playing. If they built an avg. or mean into the competion and disqualified all strokes that don't fall within an acceptable range, then they would be more promoting a fast drummer rather then a fast banger. To me, there's just nothing musical about what they do when it comes to "most" of their competitors.

I wrote that because a paradiddle doesn't sound like a single stroke roll. I recently read in one of the magazines a drummer stating that he was practicing paradiddles trying to get the even sticking and stroking found in a single stroke roll. That's how I read what he said anyway. What's the point of that? When played slow, every note is to have an equal value, but that's not going to happen at speed. You might as well say why play double stroke rolls? Why have any of the rudiments at all except the single stroke roll? Beyond the obvious practice benefits, I've always felt that the rudiments each have their own sense of motion and it's really the rhythm of the motion that you're after. Just my opinion anyway and I'm just saying a bit differently what many have already said.
 
Why not make a machine that measures the touch of the stroke\strike and measures the time between between each stroke\strike? Seemed to me that much of what they're doing is promoting some sloppy playing.
Speed drumming is like a circus trick. Genres like jazzrock fusion and heavy metal have a lot of practitioners who are at least as much percussive acrobats as musicians (and of course some who are really musical).

Speed drumming is a skill in itself and has an obvious wow factor so I wouldn't knock it as 'sloppy' myself, but like you it's not what I look for in music. I find that kind of playing to be fabulous entertainment for about five minutes and I admire the players' ability to do that stuff, whether it's a tad sloppy or not, but after that I get bored. I like variation.

One of the guys at Billy Hyde's showed me this electronic kit with a built-in metronome and a meter thingy that visually shows you how close your strokes are to perfect time. I had a go and it's a real wake-up call. Highly recommended for ego management!

As for paradiddles played evenly, that sounds like a control exercise to me, especially to gain control over the left hand which can easily fall into the 'passenger' role.

Paradiddles and variations on them are also good for Latin beats between the ride bell and snare or cross stick, also for fiddly fusion-y beats between hats and snare. Still, there are some rock drummers out there who seem to only rarely play anything but single strokes and they sound great because their timing, dynamics and ideas are strong. Ian Paice comes to mind.

Whatever floats your boat :)
 
When I first heard of the worlds fastest drummer thing I looked it up on the internet and pretty much thought, this is silly. I wrote them about making a counter that did more then just count. Why not make a machine that measures the touch of the stroke\strike and measures the time between between each stroke\strike? Seemed to me that much of what they're doing is promoting some sloppy playing. If they built an avg. or mean into the competion and disqualified all strokes that don't fall within an acceptable range, then they would be more promoting a fast drummer rather then a fast banger. To me, there's just nothing musical about what they do when it comes to "most" of their competitors.

I wrote that because a paradiddle doesn't sound like a single stroke roll. I recently read in one of the magazines a drummer stating that he was practicing paradiddles trying to get the even sticking and stroking found in a single stroke roll. That's how I read what he said anyway. What's the point of that? When played slow, every note is to have an equal value, but that's not going to happen at speed. You might as well say why play double stroke rolls? Why have any of the rudiments at all except the single stroke roll? Beyond the obvious practice benefits, I've always felt that the rudiments each have their own sense of motion and it's really the rhythm of the motion that you're after. Just my opinion anyway and I'm just saying a bit differently what many have already said.

Two things:

1. I know many WFD guys and they are anything but sloppy.

2. When trying to "make the paradiddles sound like singles", that is actually referring to the dynamic level of the stick hitting the playing surface. In a double stroke or paradiddle, we want every note to have the same impact the way it does in a single stroke roll. Most guys doubles are too heavy on the first note. Of course, it will sound different from singles that's not really the point.
 
Good points on practicing the paradiddles. I very well could have read too much into what the drummer, and I don't remember who it was, was saying.

On the WFD thing, I concede I didn't explain myself well. I don't have a problem with it and you are all correct that there are blazing fast techno drummers out there, but I've met too many young drummers--young in terms of how long they have been playing--that focus only on speed. Sacrificing good technique for speed is a poor recipe for developing your "tomorrow talent." I guess if you want to be a drummer but not a musician that plays the drums, go for it. That's just a generic comment.
 
Just using a paradiddle inbetween the snare and hats, there are some awesome grooves that come out of it, and so much variation. Paradiddles, reverse paradiddles, inward paradiddles, outward paradiddles, ghost notes, bass drum variations, accent variations, opening and closing the hi hat, adding in different toms and cymbals, can all be used in grooves.
 
It is simply the greatest rudiment ever invented! I like to mix single, double, and triple paradiddles together. I also like to play them off beat. I use a double paradiddle to get me off the beat and I continue with a few single off beat paradiddles, then I double paradiddle myself back on the beat. I drive my bass players crazy when In do this! Just a little hobby of mine! I also like the word as well as writing it. It is a cool word! I like everything about paradiddles!
 
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Take a simple exercise with three drums: snare, high tom and low tom. Now do straight sixteenth notes around the drums. RLRL RLRL RLRL. Problem. Change sticking. LRLL RLRL RLRR. No Problem.

I was going to say exactly the same. Notice how that sticking make it easier to run from snare, high & low tom back & forth.
 
I also don't understand much the point of paradiddles...
For practice, they're great! gives control over sticking, helps to even both sides
For music? I'd rather play two different voices with my two hands, than just one voice: even if you change surface at each stroke it's still a one-voice pattern, since it's linear.
Now it may be difficult to develop fills with simultaneous strokes, btw i'd be very much interested in any working example of such

You can split a paradiddle over two different voices, just like singles or doubles. PAradiddles are especially useful in that each paradiddle ends on an alternate hand - this opens up a new world of possible voicings, especially when voicing grooves.
 
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