Six Stroke Roll

Grip & Sticking

Also called six stroke ruff, six strokes.

Modern charts write it as four single strokes closing on a diddle: R L R L R R, mirrored as L R L R L L, with the accent on the diddle. Older military books play the same name as three diddles — R R L L R R. Learn both versions; you will meet the second one in any drumline method.

This is the ta-ka-ta-ka-TA of marching cadences and rudimental solos. On a kit the six stroke roll gives fills a climbing, then-sticking-the-landing ending, and broken between snare and hi-hat, or hands and bass drum, it makes a push that shoves the band into the next section.

Metronome at 60 bpm, sixteenth notes, the accent landing right on the next click. The join between the last single stroke and the diddle is where it falls apart — loop just the last three strokes until the diddle feels automatic, then rebuild at full length. Work both lead hands equally; even gaps between all six notes matter more than speed.