Last month, I discussed paradiddle grooves using exercises 5 to 8 from the Single Beat Combinations section of the book Stick Control. Here’s a summary of everything we covered.
A left-foot hi-hat ostinato in quarter notes is added to the grooves. Here is a variation of the first groove (exercise 5) with the hi-hat in 8th notes, as shown in the second part of the video.
The next step of this lesson is to play various bass drum patterns, reading, for example, the exercises I-A to V-B of the book The New Breed by Gary Chester. This can be tricky, especially with the last two grooves (exercises 7 and 8).
Don’t forget to improvise with all this material; there are a lot of combinations: playing grooves on the hi-hat, orchestrating on toms, displacing the backbeat, and ride bell accents. This is my paradiddles salad. Have a great summer!
Francis' Drumming Blog 