Drum Rudiments - The Basic Foundational Techniques of Drum Set DrummingDrum rudiments - Are the basic foundational Techniques for playing everything on the drum set.
Drum rudiments add color and form when you are playing to music varying the sound while still keeping time. They give you a preloaded library of different sounds to choose from while playing. These sounds you are able to add to a piece of music as you play to it. History Of Rudiments Written rudiments originally began as early as the 1600's and where used by Swiss mercenaries for battle.
This drum was used to set the tempo of troop movements and relay commands within each rudiment being played. The rudiment pattern relayed a message to direct troops in battle. Napoleon used these drumming patterns to give him great success on the battlefield. Later in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries rudimentary drumming became more standardized. Professional rudiment drummers became part of the french king's honor guard. These patterns have become the basis for modern snare drum rudiments. Rudimental drumming Today There are three main cultures in rudimentary drumming today. • Swiss Basler Trommeln • Scottish Pipe Drumming • American Drumming From within these cultures comes the rudimentary patterns that make up modern rudimental drumming. 
According to the National Association of Rudimental Drummers and the Percussive Arts Society there are forty internationally recognized drum rudiments. From theses forty rudiments comes the basics of modern drumming.These forty rudiments are like the twenty-four letters in the alphabet. They are like the letters that are used to make up words. These words then make up sentences which tell a story and communicate a message. So it is with the forty rudiments. When they are put together they make up a language of sound that helps to communicate the message in the music being played. The Forty Rudiments of Rudimental drumming The forty rudiments are not all played at once, just as not all the letters in the alphabet are used to make up words. Some rudiments are used more often than others. Just as some letters in the alphabet are used more often to make up words. There are six groups of rudiments to learn that will give you the vocabulary you need to do effective fills. These six groups are the: • Drumroll Rudiments or Single stroke Roll Rudiments • Multiple Bounce Roll or Press Roll Rudiments • Double Stroke Roll or Drum Roll Rudiments • Diddle or Paradiddle Rudiments • Flam Rudiments or Rudimental Flams • Drag Rudiments or Drag Drum Rudiments
The best way to learn these rudiments is on a practice pad at first. Once you have become proficient at doing each one then it is time for you to transfer your new found skill onto the drum set. When you begin on the drum set just remember you don't just have to do these rudiments on the snare drum. You can practice any of these rudiments on any part of the drum set including the cymbals and the hi-hat.Once you become proficient at these rudiments you will not have to think about making up patterns just as you don't have to think about making up the letters that create words. It will become as automatic as writing and speaking are to you now. Click here to go from drum rudiments back to drum set drumming home page |
The tabor drum an early snare drum could cut through and be heard above the battlefield noise.
