Single Stroke Roll

What the single stroke roll is

One stroke per hand, strictly alternating — the rudiment every other rudiment is measured against, and the one that builds raw hand speed and evenness. Because there is nowhere to hide, it exposes any difference between your hands: record yourself and listen for the weaker one landing quieter or later. Practise it as a long roll that speeds up and slows down without the two hands ever drifting apart.

How to practise it

• Set the metronome slow and play a full minute without stopping. The point is not speed, it is finding the moment your hands stop matching.
• Record ten seconds and listen back with your eyes shut. A weaker or later hand is obvious on a recording and invisible while you play.
• Work the speed up and back down in one continuous roll, without letting the two hands drift apart at the turnaround.
• Keep the stick heights equal. Most unevenness is a height problem, not a timing problem.

Where it leads

The single stroke roll belongs to the roll rudiments family, and it feeds directly into the single stroke four and seven, and every single-stroke fill around the kit. 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 letters underneath tell you which hand plays which note. Capital letters are full strokes; small letters are grace notes. There are no grace notes in this rudiment, so every note is a full stroke. The > marks above the staff are accents: hit those notes harder. Full details in the drum notation guide.