Flam Paradiddle

Grip & Sticking

Also called flammed paradiddle, F-1.

A paradiddle with a flam on the first stroke: a flammed right, then L R R, mirrored by a flammed left, then R L L. The sticking skeleton is the plain paradiddle you already know; every group's accent just gets the fat flam attack instead of a bare note.

A show-off rudiment that earns its keep. One flam paradiddle per tom makes the big stadium-ballad fill — flammed accent, tumbling singles, diddle, next drum. For a funk groove, keep the flammed accents on the snare and move the singles to the hi-hat, and the beat gets a push-pull bounce without a single new note value.

Metronome at 60 bpm. Work the plain paradiddle first, then add the flam to the first stroke only. The dangerous note is the one right after the flammed accent — everyone rushes it. Accent the flam alone, keep the diddles quiet, and build tempo in small steps until the left-hand lead feels as easy as the right.