Say the word “paradiddle” out loud. Feels a bit silly, doesn’t it? Like something a toddler would babble. But don’t let the funny name fool you. The single paradiddle is one of those simple sticking patterns that can become a really useful tool once you get the hang of it.
So What Actually Is It?
Here’s the sticking:
R L R R L R L L
Right hand, left hand, right hand, right hand again. Then flip it: left, right, left, left. That’s the whole pattern. You can just as easily start on the left:
L R L L R L R R
The R means right hand and the L means left hand.
When you’re practicing it as sixteenth notes in 4/4, you can think of the pattern as:
1 e & a | 2 e & a
with the sticking:
R L R R | L R L L
So with the paradiddle, your hands don’t just trade off evenly the whole way through. You get alternating strokes followed by a repeated stroke, and then the pattern flips. That little repeated stroke is what makes the paradiddle sound different. It’s not just RLRLRLRL.
It’s also important to remember that knowing which hand comes next in the paradiddle is only part of it. You also need to be able to connect it to the rhythm of a song.
Why Bother Learning It?
Fair question. You already know how to alternate your hands. Why add another pattern to the pile? The reason is that it gives you another way of organising your hands. That repeated stroke changes the feel of what you’re playing. Once you have mastered it, you’ve got another tool to reach for when you’re building a fill or figuring out how to move around the kit.
Certain patterns can feel more natural with paradiddle sticking than they do with straight alternating sticking. The combination of single and repeated strokes can make moving around the kit feel more natural.
So in other words, you’re learning the paradiddle because it gives you another option when you actually start making music.
Learn It Slowly
I know the temptation. You learn a new pattern and immediately want to see how fast you can rip through it. Resist that. Play it slowly enough that you’re not scrambling to remember which hand comes next. You want this to feel calm and even.
Run through:
R L R R L R L L
Then the reverse:
L R L L R L R R
Grab a metronome and play it at a tempo that feels comfortable. Focus on making every note land evenly, with consistent spacing and control. Pay particular attention to the repeated strokes. It’s easy for those two notes to become rushed or uneven when you’re learning the pattern.
Once you’ve got it, start increasing the tempo on the metronome in small increments so you still have control of what you’re playing.
Introduce Accents
When the sticking feels comfortable, try adding some accents.
A simple place to start is accenting the first note of each group:
R L R R L R L L
You can then experiment with moving the accents to different notes. Small changes like this can completely shift the feel of the pattern.
The idea is to stop thinking of it as just an exercise and start using it to make music. You’re not just memorising a sequence of letters anymore. You’re shaping rhythm and learning to control which notes stand out.
Move Beyond the Snare
This is where you can really start using the single paradiddle.
Don’t just bash it out on one drum forever. Start spreading the notes around the kit. Maybe the accented notes land on a tom, or one of the strokes moves to another drum or cymbal. Suddenly you’re not just practicing an exercise. You’re building a fill.
Below is a simple two-bar example. The groove plays through the first bar and continues through the first two beats of the second bar. Then the paradiddle fills beats 3 and 4. The R L R R L R L L sticking lines up with those two beats as sixteenth notes.
The sticking is written above the fill so you can see exactly how R L R R L R L L is being used within the drum part. Notice too that the first note of each paradiddle is accented. Listen for how those accents help shape the fill as it moves around the kit.
Have a listen below to the same drum part shown in the example above. It’s played alongside a guitar and a bass part, so you can hear the fill doing its job in a musical setting rather than sitting there in isolation.
Listen for how the fill leads naturally back into the groove. A fill does not have to be complicated. It just needs to naturally fit into the music.
Take It Further
Once you’ve got the sticking down, push a bit further. Try:
- shifting the accents around
- playing it at a few different tempos
- starting on your left hand instead of your right
You don’t need to tackle all of these in one sitting. Pick one and play with it for a while.
You can also take a simple paradiddle and change the orchestration without changing the sticking. In other words, keep the R L R R L R L L pattern exactly the same, but decide which drum or cymbal each hand plays. This helps you move from simply practicing the sticking to actually using it in your drumming.
If you’re working on your drumming and want a hand with technique, reading, coordination, or just getting more comfortable behind the kit, have a look at our Drum Lessons at Do Re Mi Studios.