Accents and Paradiddles
Accented Paradiddles are some of my favourite exercises for developing stick control and technique.
Having the ability to accent the individual notes of a paradiddle will give you the ability to play a ton of cool grooves, fills and a world of options when it comes to soloing.
Practice exercises i-iv on a pad or snare at a slow tempo to a metronome.
Once you can play i-iv comfortably, try moving the accented notes around the toms whilst keeping the unaccented notes on the snare at a low volume.
Next, try switching between the different patterns. For example, play exercise ‘i’ four times before moving straight to ‘ii’ without stopping, then to ‘iii’ etc. This a great way to become more familiar with each pattern. It also involves a bit of mental gymnastics to make sure your sticks are in the right position for each stroke!
1A - 4C involve different combinations of i-iv. In 1A-C beat 1 changes, in 2A-C, beat 2 changes, etc. Once you’ve mastered the patterns individually you can develop it further by combining the exercises to form more complex phrases.
Try applying these ideas to a different rudiment or sticking pattern, such as the reverse paradiddle (RRLR LLRL).
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