Throwing a bone to fans of Louis Bellson’s Modern Reading Text in 4/4 here, with an easy paradiddle system. Most of these things happen naturally out of my teaching, or my playing; here I just decided to write something for Bellson.
I’ll spend a couple of days on this, I can play a paradiddle, there’s just no harm in changing the scenery a little bit now and then. Or, this could be the way for somebody to work on them, and hit it exhaustively.
We’re using the 16th notes/rests pages, pp. 26-31 in Bellson— each page has a single 16th note rhythm, combined with quarter notes and 8th notes. We’re accenting the rhythm in the book, filling in 16th notes, and doing paradiddles, or inversions, where possible.
Practice out of Bellson, use the key to tell you what to play. Rhythms F and G use the RLRL-LRLR inversion, but where to play the diddle can be a little stealthy— see the context examples. We’re avoiding playing three notes in a row on one hand, or two in a row on one hand with any accent/s.
Initial practice speeds might be quarter note = 90-105, goal tempos from 120-160+, in 10 bpm increments.
I am happy to help you with any of the materials on the site, and with anything else drumming related— contact me for private lessons, online world wide, or in person in Portland, Oregon. All levels of players, and all people, are welcome.
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