Double Stroke Roll Exercises

Exercises to help improve the clarity and speed of your double stroke rolls.

[@MP-db9sw]

This is really cool.

[@seancassidy7990]

I think you are excellent teacher. I'm a forty-five-year-old man and haven't played the drums for 15 years. Recently I have just started playing again. I think your videos are great and they are helping me so much. Thank you

[@scotthomberg141]

I really like the way she delivers the message.

[@Kolik2383]

Мария, здравствуйте. Более подробного объяснения я не встречал. Понятно даже без перевода. Спасибо большое за видео!)

[@DeeDee-eb6fe]

Definitely one of the best tutorials for drummers in their first approaches to basic techniques. I'm an absolute newbie, but i think, this video will help a lot!! Thank you Maria!

[@TomGracen]

12/6/2023 Tom Gracen Maria: Thank you so much for the response. I believe I have the sticking for triplets right. Although, when, I do a bar of quarter note triples as singles, followed by a bar of quarter note triples as doubles they only sound alike up to about 100 bpm. (The counting in my head gets jumbled. ) Regarding Sixes: Just to clarify: you mentioned that sixes get tricker when you add an accent on the second double. I’ve attempted to do this by accenting the second stroke of the second double, or the 4th count of the six count cycle. Do I have the right idea? I’ve been practicing this at about 40 bpm. It is my intent to put off the purchase a kit until I have made some sort of progress toward the achievement of a decent double stroke roll on my practice pad. Below I’ve included my practice routine, which I get to most days. Practice Routine: George L Stone paradiddle exercises 5, 6, and 7, One minute starting with left stroke first, 1 minute starting with right stroke first, @ 100 bps, 4 strokes per click or 2 clicks per measure, From your video “How To Develop Finger Control” , Timpani Technique exercises, holding a single stick vertically between index finger and thumb, middle finger and thumb, ring finger and thumb, and pinky finger and thumb. 30 strokes each with my right hand, 90 or 120 strokes with the left hand. Tap-Snap exercise at 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, and 130 bpm. It starts to get messy at 140 bpm. I seem to able to the Drake Warm-ups. When you switch to eights at 3:30 into the video your drumming sounds like a roll, mine not so much, and I have not been able to do the accent at that speed. Threes as doubles @ 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120 bpm, (3 strokes per click, 1 minute at each rate, at 120 it gets jumbly). Fives as doubles @ 40, 45, 50 and 55 bpm. At 6:13 into your video: How To Play The Double Stroke Roll you say: “…and then when I close the roll,…it’s just a slight nudge”. I’m looking forward to the time when my sloppy rhythm turns into a clean double stroke roll. You mentioned that you might attach/send a PDF (regarding sixes). Any help would be most welcome. Again, thank you for putting together these videos.

[@MariaWulfMusic]

Hello Tom, send me a message through my website at mariawulf.com and we can continue the conversation via email or you are welcome to book a lesson if you want to work on anything via zoom. I'm glad you're making progress on these exercises.

[@thomasgracen7187]

I truly appreciate your lessons. Unfortunately I can not figure out how you are doing the Triples at At 2:25. I am also struggling with "sixes' at 3:10 in the lesson. I dd find a lesson on quarter note triplets but I'm not sure of your sticking. Again, Thank you. Tom G.

[@MariaWulfMusic]

Hi Tom, thanks for the comment. This exercise is a tricky one. For the triplets you're counting to three on each click 1-2-3, 1-2-3. Normally the sticking would be R-L-R, L-R-L. For this challenge the sticking would be R-R-L, L-R-R, L-L-R, R-L-L. For the sixes that would be doubled. For each click count 1-2-3-4-5-6. Normal sticking would be R-L-R-L-R-L. This challenge is R-R-L-L-R-R, L-L-R-R-L-L. It get's trickier when you add an accent on the second double because the accents themselves create a different rhythm. When I get around to it I'll attach a PDF.

[@TomGracen]

12/6/2023 Tom Gracen Maria: Thank you so much for the response. I believe I have the sticking for triplets right. Although, when, I do a bar of quarter note triples as singles, followed by a bar of quarter note triples as doubles they only sound alike up to about 100 bpm. (The counting in my head gets jumbled. ) Regarding Sixes: Just to clarify: you mentioned that sixes get tricker when you add an accent on the second double. I’ve attempted to do this by accenting the second stroke of the second double, or the 4th count of the six count cycle. Do I have the right idea? I’ve been practicing this at about 40 bpm. It is my intent to put off the purchase a kit until I have made some sort of progress toward the achievement of a decent double stroke roll on my practice pad. Below I’ve included my practice routine, which I get to most days. Practice Routine: George L Stone paradiddle exercises 5, 6, and 7, One minute starting with left stroke first, 1 minute starting with right stroke first, @ 100 bps, 4 strokes per click or 2 clicks per measure, From your video “How To Develop Finger Control” , Timpani Technique exercises, holding a single stick vertically between index finger and thumb, middle finger and thumb, ring finger and thumb, and pinky finger and thumb. 30 strokes each with my right hand, 90 or 120 strokes with the left hand. Tap-Snap exercise at 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, and 130 bpm. It starts to get messy at 140 bpm. I seem to able to the Drake Warm-ups. When you switch to eights at 3:30 into the video your drumming sounds like a roll, mine not so much, and I have not been able to do the accent at that speed. Threes as doubles @ 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120 bpm, (3 strokes per click, 1 minute at each rate, at 120 it gets jumbly). Fives as doubles @ 40, 45, 50 and 55 bpm. At 6:13 into your video: How To Play The Double Stroke Roll you say: “…and then when I close the roll,…it’s just a slight nudge”. I’m looking forward to the time when my sloppy rhythm turns into a clean double stroke roll. You mentioned that you might attach/send a PDF (regarding sixes). Any help would be most welcome. Again, thank you for putting together these videos.