As part of the paradiddle family, the double paradiddle is a versatile and musical rudiment to apply to the drum set. Let’s look at a few ways to do that. The sticking for all of these will be RLRLRR – LRLRLL. Because it’s a six-note sticking, it lends itself well to playing in 6/8. Let’s start by phrasing the notes with the right hand on the ride cymbal and the left on the hi-hat.
This funky beat above can be heard on a variety of records from Dave Matthews to Pantera. Now let’s move the last two notes to a tom.
If you move the right hand to a cowbell and the left hand on the snare, you’ll have a very popular Latin beat. Make sure you play the ghost notes on the snare (the ones in parentheses) softly so as to make the backbeat stand out.
And lastly, we can play the double paradiddles in 4/4 by playing the six-note groupings and adding four notes to make sixteen notes. In this example, the left-hand moves around the toms and hi-hats. The sticking for it is R L R L R R – L R L R L L – R L R L.
These are just a couple of interesting ideas using double paradiddles. Once you feel comfortable with these, come up with your own.