Basic Drum Practice! Learn Rudiments Easily - Roll Edition Part 2

This is the fourth edition of my blog series for simple instructions to rudiments. Continuing from the previous post, I’m focusing on rolls today.
You can check out the previous blog posts here:

⇒ Basic Drum Practice! Learn Rudiments Easily - Stroke and Diddle Edition
⇒ Basic Drum Practice! Learn Rudiments Easily - Paradiddle Variation Edition
⇒ Basic Drum Practice! Learn Rudiments Easily - Roll Edition Part 1

In the previous post, I covered buzz rolls and single-stroke rolls. Today, I’ll introduce rolls primarily using diddles.
For clarity, I’ll present everything using musical notation rather than roll notation.

● Five-Stroke Roll

A roll consisting of five strokes.
As with other rolls introduced below, focus on emphasizing the accent on the fifth stroke while playing the other strokes softly.

● Six-Stroke Roll

A roll consisting of six strokes.
It has accents on the first and sixth strokes. Practice carefully to ensure when to hit the accents correctly.

● Seven-Stroke Roll

A roll consisting of seven strokes.
The accent falls on the left hand, so practice ensuring the accent is strong enough.

● Nine-Stroke Roll

A roll consisting of nine strokes.
Like the five-stroke roll, practice emphasizing the final accent.

● Ten-Stroke Roll

A roll consisting of ten strokes.
The last two strokes are single, so make sure they are not double strokes and that both strokes are firmly accented.

● Eleven-Stroke Roll

A roll consisting of eleven strokes.
As with the seven-stroke roll, practice focusing on the left-hand accent.

● Thirteen-Stroke Roll

A roll consisting of thirteen strokes.
Similar to the five-stroke and nine-stroke rolls, but with a longer diddle section. Make sure all strokes are evenly played.

● Fifteen-Stroke Roll

A roll consisting of fifteen strokes.
Like the seven-stroke and eleven-stroke rolls, focus on the left-hand accent and ensure the diddle strokes are even.

● Seventeen-Stroke Roll

A roll consisting of seventeen strokes, the longest diddle-based rudiment.
The key points are the same as for the other rolls, so if you have trouble, it might be a good idea to practice shorter rolls first.

Now, let’s try playing some phrases incorporating rolls.
Place a buzz roll in spots where you’d typically play ghost notes and in the second measure, combine a five-stroke roll and a nine-stroke roll.
If you have good stick control, these phrases shouldn’t be too difficult. If you struggle, review your finger technique and give it another try.

How was it?
I talked about the roll rudiments over two recent posts. The roll rudiments are useful for fills and other applications, but the finger and wrist techniques you develop through these exercises are essential and can be applied to various phrases.
Additionally, these rudiments contain crucial essence of musical expression such as controlling dynamics by playing softer notes in order to emphasize accents. Make sure to master these rudiments to enhance your playing!