The Double Stroke Roll

Two strokes per hand — the gateway to the buzz roll

Duration: 20 min Focus: Rudiments
Prerequisites

The double stroke roll is R R L L R R L L — two strokes per hand before switching. The trick: both notes within a hand should be equal, not loud-soft (a "diddle"). Use a controlled rebound rather than two separate full strokes.

Most beginners can play a clean RR LL slowly, but it falls apart when sped up — the second note of each pair becomes weaker. The exercises below use accents on the first of each pair to expose this weakness, then on every other pair to even it back out.

Slow doubles are two deliberate wrist strokes; fast doubles are one throw plus a controlled bounce, with the fingers squeezing the second note up to full volume. Practice both mechanics separately: open strokes at ♩=60 where each note is its own decision, then bounce strokes at a pad-friendly tempo where you let the stick fall and catch the rebound. The transition zone between the two feels awkward for everyone, so pass through it patiently instead of avoiding it.

Watch for the press: burying the stick into the head chokes the rebound and the second note dies. If your RR sounds like "R-r", loosen the grip until the stick can breathe. On a pillow-soft surface doubles get harder and more honest; a minute a day there pays off fast.

1 — Eighth-Note Doubles

4/4 · ♩ = 70
RRLLRRLL
Sticking: R R L L R R L L. Slow tempo — focus on note-to-note evenness within each hand. The second R should be as loud as the first.

2 — Sixteenth-Note Doubles

4/4 · ♩ = 70
RRLLRRLLRRLLRRLL
Sticking: RR LL · RR LL · RR LL · RR LL — eight doubles per bar. Same tempo as exercise 1, twice as fast in the hands. If the second note of each pair gets quieter, slow down until they're equal again.

3 — Doubles with Accent on the First of Each Pair

4/4 · ♩ = 70
RRLLRRLLRRLLRRLL
The first note of each pair is accented (the > marks); the second is soft. The accent tells the truth about your doubles: if the soft notes disappear entirely you're cheating; if they're audible and even, the technique is real.

4 — Doubles with Accent on Every Other Pair

4/4 · ♩ = 70
RRLLRRLLRRLLRRLL
Now only the R's that fall on beats 1, 2, 3, 4 are accented — every other pair. The accents now mark the pulse, the same way they did in single-stroke exercise 4.
Move on when
  • 8th and 16th doubles at ♩=70 with even volume per pair
  • Soft notes audible (not skipped) in the accent-the-first exercise
  • Second note of each pair doesn't collapse when speeding up
Listening 2 records

Listen for it

  1. 01

    Philly Joe Jones Miles Davis — Milestones

    Diddle-rich snare vocabulary inside swing comping. The doubles are so even you'll mistake them for singles until you slow the record down.

  2. 02

    Neil Peart Rush — Tom Sawyer

    Listen for the drag and ruff ornaments tucked into the tom fills — double-stroke-family pairs hiding inside bigger phrases, not stand-alone rolls.