PAS #32 · Drag rudiments
Single Drag Tap
grace Lgrace LR L grace Rgrace RL R — 4 main strokes, 4 grace notes over 2 beats in eighth notes (quavers), 2 accents. Loop it from 50 BPM and build to 76.
R = right hand · L = left · small raised letters are grace notes · > = accent. The count runs along the bottom.
Next moves
What the single drag tap is
Read it, hear it, and slow it down until it is even.
A drag on the beat followed by a plain tap on the offbeat, then the same thing led by the other hand. It is the first rudiment where a drag has to land in time rather than being played as a decoration, so count the eighth notes (quavers) and make the main stroke — not the grace notes — arrive on the beat. Keep the tap quiet; if it matches the drag stroke, the pattern loses its shape.
How to practice it
- This is the first rudiment where a drag has to land in time rather than decorate. Count the eighth notes and put the main stroke on the beat.
- Keep the tap quiet — if it matches the drag stroke the pattern loses its shape completely.
- Play it as drag-then-tap slowly, then speed up only when the grace notes stay tucked in tight.
- Practice leading with both hands; the drag family gets uncomfortable fast on the weaker side.
Where it leads
The single drag tap belongs to the drag rudiments family, and it feeds directly into the double drag tap, Lesson 25 and the ratamacues. Get it even at a slow tempo before you move on — every rudiment built on top of it inherits whatever unevenness you leave here.
Reading the notation above
Both hands play the snare drum, so every notehead sits in the third space of the staff and the sticking cells underneath tell you which hand plays which note, with the count under every stroke. Capital letters are full strokes; small raised letters are grace notes. The small noteheads with a slash through the stem are the grace notes of the ornament — they are played almost simultaneously with the note that follows, not as separate beats. The marks above the staff are accents: hit those notes harder. Full details in the drum notation guide.
Tempo ladder
Tap a rung to set the speed. Play 8 clean loops before moving up.
More drag rudiments
Questions
What is the sticking for the single drag tap?
grace Lgrace LR L grace Rgrace RL R. R = right hand, L = left hand; the small raised letters are grace notes, played softly just before the main stroke by the other hand.
How fast should I play it?
Start slow enough that every stroke is even — around 50 BPM — then go up 4–5 BPM at a time. 76 BPM is a good first target.
How is the single drag tap written in notation?
On the snare line: the third space of the drum staff (stave), stems up, as eighth notes (quavers), with an accent mark (>) over the loud strokes, and grace notes drawn small just before their main note. The count runs under the sticking: 1 &.
Rudiment data last updated . Every diagram here, in the printable PDF and in the chart image comes from one dataset, so the paper and the screen cannot disagree.