Single Stroke Roll

Grip & Sticking

Also called singles, single strokes.

The single stroke roll is nothing more than alternating right and left hands — R L R L R L — as fast and as long as the music asks. No diddles, no tricks. Every other rudiment is built on top of it, which is why old teachers make you play it first and never really let you stop. The hard part is not speed. It is making your left hand sound exactly like your right.

On a real kit this is your default fill motion: running around the toms, swelling into a crash, or driving a metal blast beat. Shuffles, double-time fills, big rock endings — all singles. If you have ever heard a drummer start a phrase on the left hand on purpose, that freedom comes from hours on this one rudiment.

Set a metronome to 60 bpm and play eighth notes, then sixteenths, accenting the first stroke of every group of four so you can hear your timing grid. Raise the tempo in small steps only when both hands are identical in volume and tone. Record yourself on a phone; the weak left hand gives itself away straight away. Five honest minutes a day beats one weekly hour-long slog.