PERCUSSION
THE POWERFUL PARADIDDLE : PART 2 | Mark Shelton
Back in the last century , Eric Okamoto and I studied percussion while pursuing music degrees at East Carolina University . Little did I know that my friend would go on to become a speed-drumming champion . Among his accomplishments , Eric set a record for playing paradiddles by knocking out 1279 strikes in one minute . That works out to about 320 paradiddles within 60 seconds .
Wow !!
Eric did not achieve that record-setting feat without investing significant time in developing proper control of this seemingly simple rudiment . While you will probably have little need for playing this permutation at over 300 BPM for a worship song , confident command of the paradiddle will be a useful tool in your percussion skill set .
In Part Two of this series , you will learn practice exercises for developing your paradiddle prowess and I will share a few examples of grooves composed entirely of this handy sticking pattern .
Percussionists have long applied the Open- Close-Open method of practicing rudiments . Open-Close-Open simply means to play the rudiment starting from a very slow pace ( Open ) and gradually progressing to a fast speed ( Close ). Upon reaching your maximum speed ( Close ), decrease the tempo gradually back to the starting pace ( Open ). This process develops your competence for playing the rudiment at a wide variety of tempos along with the ability to smoothly execute ritards and accelerandos .
Monitor your playing carefully as you play the paradiddle from Open to Close to Open :
• Are the accents from hand to hand the same volume ?
• Are the three softer notes equal in volume ?
• Are the speed changes executed smoothly at a gradual pace ?
After several sessions practicing Open-Close- Open , the paradiddle will be embedded in your muscle memory .
Rudiment lists will often notate the paradiddle with an accent over the first note in the series . With an accent placed on a different note , multiple notes , or without any accents , it ’ s still a paradiddle . With that in mind , try this exercise that sets an accent on various parts of the paradiddle . ( Exercise 1 on next page )
The paradiddle can conform to a variety of rhythms . Check out this exercise that stretches successive paradiddles over two bars of triplets . ( Exercise 2 on next page )