Paradiddle

Grip & Sticking

Also called P-1, single paradiddle.

R L R R, then L R L L. Two single strokes followed by a diddle, and because the lead hand flips every time you repeat it, the paradiddle is the classic way to switch your lead hand cleanly mid-phrase. The odd name is an old fife-and-drum syllable code for the sticking itself.

This is the most useful pattern on the kit once you start moving strokes between drums. Accent the first note and put the diddles on the snare while the singles go to the hi-hat, and a plain groove gets a push-pull shuffle feel. Move singles to the bass drum and you have funk. One group per tom makes a ready-made fill.

Metronome at 60 bpm, sixteenth notes, accent only the first stroke of each group and keep the middle tap quiet. Then move the accent to the second, third and fourth strokes in turn — that is how this turns from an exercise into a shelf of grooves. Build tempo in steps of four to eight bpm, and work the left-hand lead until it stops feeling foreign.