A drag (also called a ruff) is two grace notes followed by a main stroke — three notes total, but heard as a brief texture leading into the accent. The grace notes are a controlled double played by the lead hand; the main note is the opposite hand.
Think of it as a flam plus one extra grace: where a flam has one quick grace, a drag has two. A right drag is two soft l's leading to a strong R; a left drag is two soft r's leading to a strong L. The two grace notes are essentially a soft, controlled double — clean enough that you can hear two strokes, not just a buzz. That distinction is what separates a drag from a buzz-roll.
The technique trap: most beginners squash the two grace notes into a single bounce. Practice the grace alone first as a soft double — both notes equal, both audible — before you attach the main stroke.
Reading the Notation
The renderer draws drags as two small beamed grace notes before the main note. Each grace carries a lowercase sticking (l or r); the main note carries an uppercase sticking and an accent. The grace notes are not on the metronome click — the main note is. Don't try to play the two graces "in time"; play them tucked in just before the main stroke.
Exercises
Eight R-drags across two bars, one per beat. The two beamed grace notes (each with lowercase l) are played by the left hand as a soft, controlled double, leading into the loud right (R, accented). Listen for 'l-l-RIGHT', three distinct sounds. If it blurs into a buzz, slow down and play the lefts louder until they re-separate. Both graces should be the same volume — neither softer nor louder than the other — and both should be quieter than the main R.
Lead alternates each beat: R-drag on counts 1 and 3 (graces l-l), L-drag on counts 2 and 4 (graces r-r). Whichever hand played the main stroke just now is the same hand that plays the next pair of graces — so the grace doubles are always the hand that was high after the last accent. That's why the technique flows. Both drags should be identical in shape; if your L-drag is buzzier or messier than your R-drag, isolate it (Ex 1 with L lead) until they match.
Same alternation as Ex 2, faster. At ♩=70 the grace doubles have to be quicker — but each grace stroke must still speak. The single biggest failure mode at this tempo is the second grace getting eaten by the main note: it sounds like a flam instead of a drag. If that happens, the second grace is too late, too soft, or both. Slow back to ♩=60 and rebuild the spacing.
Drag every quarter, single L on each &: l-l-R · L · l-l-R · L · l-l-R · L · l-l-R · L. The drag's two graces tuck in just before each downbeat; the unaccented L on the & is a plain alternating single. This is how drags appear in real music — as ornaments on strong beats, with simple singles between. Keep the L-on-the-& even and on time; the drag's job is to thicken the downbeat, not to push the &-stroke late.