It’s been a while since the previous episode of this series focused on exploring and mastering quintuplets on drums. In case you missed it, check out the previous drum lessons. In this article, we learn how to apply four essential rudiments (single stroke roll, double stroke roll, five stroke roll, and single paradiddle) in 16th-note quintuplets.
- We start off with the single stroke roll, as indicated in the image below. Make sure to play the bass drum or the hi-hat in quarter notes and repeat the bars at least eight times.
- With the second exercise, we explore the double stroke roll. Differently from a 16th or 32nd note subdivision, in quintuplets, we have five notes in the space of a quarter note, so the sticking “moves” beyond the beat.
- The five stroke roll perfectly suits the quintuplets’ subdivision, with the accent on the last 16th note. The same rudiment can be easily played reversed, with the accents on the downbeat.
- Lastly: the single paradiddle. Things get harder, involving aspects such as polyrhythms and beat displacing. The key to mastering this advanced exercise is to start slow and count if necessary. As a further study, you can count the exercise in 4 and 5 (along with the accents), alternating both methods without sacrificing precision and consistency.
Once you mastered the exercises, let’s apply the rudiments on the drumset. Here are some suggestions to master quintuplets.
- Apply the single stroke and double stroke roll in parallel, contrary, and oblique motion around the drumset, keeping the bass drum or the hi-hat in quarter notes.
- We apply the five stroke roll and single paradiddle, playing the accents on the toms and cymbals and unaccented notes on the snare as ghost notes.
- In the end, apply the rudiments as drum fills in a musical context: playing three bars of groove and one of fill, and two bars of groove and two of fill.
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