Hi everyone, and welcome back to Hackney Wick Drum Studio for another free, rudiment based Drum Lesson. I'm Jack, your Drum Teacher in London and today, I'll be showing you two different ways to play the 5 Stroke Roll.
As with nearly everything we play on the drums, this particular rudiment consists of both single and double strokes. If you need to recap on either of these, you can visit previous lessons for a quick reminder first.
The first way of looking at the 5 Stroke roll is written below. It consists of a group of sixteenth notes, played as double strokes on beat 1, followed by a single stroke on beat 2. Start this rudiment off by leading with your strongest hand to begin with.
As with many of the rudiments we'll encounter along the way, the leading hand will naturally alternate throughout the pattern. Once you've got it mastered, try switching it around and starting the rudiment leading with your weaker hand. This will be of huge benefit when getting to higher tempos. It will not only help with this rudiment, but many other aspects of drumming that you encounter along the way.
5 STROKE ROLL v1
There are many different ways of playing a 5 Stroke roll and as mentioned above, I'll give you another example. In this second version, the 5 Stroke is actually 'within' the bar. Take a look below at the highlighted part in the second notation and you'll see what I mean.
You can see that your starting the 5 Stroke roll leading with your left hand on this one, so like I said above, it pays to be able to do it both ways!!
We're actually encountering something here that we haven't come across before in previous lessons. The 32nd note. These are the 16th notes with the slashes through them on the '&' and 'a'. Here you're essentially fitting 2 notes evenly where there would normally be one. Take a look at the video below to see how the 5 Stroke Roll sounds played this way.
As you can see highlighted above, the 5 Stroke roll has moved along in the bar and is now actually starting on the '&' of beat 1.
5 STROKE ROLL v2
If you'd like some guidance on how to apply this rudiment to the drums, why not get in touch and book an online drum lesson, or come for a drum lesson at my studio in Hackney!
That's it for another free rudiment Drum Lesson. I hope what I've shown you has been clear, and now you're a little more comfortable with playing a 5 Stroke Roll. As always, if you have any feedback I'd love to hear it, along with any questions you might have about this particular drum rudiment, or anything else Drumming related.
Don't forget, if you're looking for Drum Lessons in London, my studio is based in Hackney so get in touch via the website either by contacting me directly, or by booking online.
I'm also now offering online drum lessons from my Drum Studio in Hackney, East London so you don't even have to be a local to come and get drum lessons with me!
Thanks for taking the time to check out my Drum Blog, there'll be another one next week where we'll take a look at the 6 Stroke Roll!
Happy Drumming!
Jack x