Stroke Types for Drum Rolls

Series Summary

The snare drum is an essential percussive component in any drum kit or marching band. The sharp snap produced by the reverberating snares stretched across the bottom skin, or head, is what gives the drum its unique sound. The snare drum has been used in military bands in Europe since the 15th and 16th century, and today it can be heard in virtually every genre of western music.

In this series of free video music lessons, expert drummer Alex Kasmirov demonstrates several types of drum rolls. You’ll learn basic drum strokes, up strokes, down strokes and tap strokes, as well as how to play open rolls, buzz rolls and French rolls. He also offers tips on the proper wrist and arm motions to help you perfect your drum rolls.

Video Transcript

"When playing the marching snare drum, you can really define every individual stroke that you play as either a full stroke, a down stroke, a tap stroke or an up stroke. Now full stroke, down, tap, up. You should really break down a lot of the rudiments, a lot of the passages or licks that you are playing with these stroke types. You will find that it will bring you a lot more flow. Maybe make easier the passages just to play and sound better as well and you should define these throughout the drum line to make sure that everybody is playing a consistent strokes. If one person is playing a full stroke at a part and someone is playing a down stroke, then automatically it looks wrong and people will notice because it looks completely different for people staying in a completely different spot. "