Drum Rudiments Practice Guide
Lv. 2 Rudiments

Lv. 2 Seven Stroke Roll

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You may see this written differently elsewhere. This is a creative choice to help in the identification of a double stroke.

Notes and Practice tips:

Notes:

  • Coordination and Hand Independence:

    • The seven stroke is another variant of the “Stroke Rolls”. These are variations that combine single and double strokes.

  • Speed and Precision:

    • This rudiment is most impressive when played quickly, however it is important to practice slowly to ensure that your sticking is correct.

  • Technique and Control:

    • This rudiment trains discipline when using double strokes. The player has to be careful not to do too many double strokes ensuring that they stop on the single stroke cleanly. This can be difficult when first practicing the rudiment but with practice, this lays the groundwork for the seven and nine stroke roll.

  • Its uses

    • You can hear this and the other rolls within a lot of western military music.

Practice Tips

  1. Start Slow

    1. Use a metronome or choose a slow piece of music to help you stay consistent. Any music 2/4 or 4/4 would work best for this rudiment.

  2. Counting to five.

    1. The faster that one plays this rudiment, the easier it is to loose track of what you’re doing. Finding a way to count this stroke, even at high speeds can be helpful.

      1. You can use a syllabic way of learning, for example saying “di-ga di-ga tea”.

      2. OR you can count how many doubles that you are using, in this case 2. Using this method, I like to count 1,2, “tea”

  3. Stick Height

    1. Putting an accent on the crotchet (or “tea”) can help you to work out where you are in the rudiment.

    2. The eventual aim is to be able to keep your stick height consistent so there are no louder notes in your rhythm. It should ultimately sound smooth with practice.

  4. Stay Consistent

    1. Keep the relative height of your sticks even

    2. Keep the rhythm even and stay in time

    3. Practice regularly to help build your muscles and endurance

  5. Get Used To Repetition

    1. Settle in, and prepare to do the exercise over and over again

    2. Playing along to music can help to provide variation and interest to your practice time. A 3min track also provides a good time marker as to how long you’ve been practicing.

  6. Slowly Increase Your Tempo

    1. When you feel comfortable playing through the rudiment slowly, incrementally increase the tempo then rehearse with this for a while. You’ll find that this will help you more effectively reach higher speeds rather than jumping straight to a speed in which you struggle