The Ultimate Paradiddle Lesson? (ALL Inversions)

Dorothea Taylor isn’t just the godmother of drumming…she’s also the queen of rudiments. Did you know that these popular drumming patterns make up the bulk of a lot of the grooves, chops, and fills you hear on your favorite albums or in your favorite drum videos? Paradiddles are Dorothea’s go-to because they’re so versatile. There are four ways to play a paradiddle (we call them ‘inversions’): 0:00 - Intro 0:36 - Standard paradiddle: RLRR LRLL 1:12 - Inversion 1: RLLR LRRL 1:40 - Inversion 2: RRLR LLRL 2:04 - Inversion 3: RLRL LRLR Think of it like shifting the RLRR pattern down a circular conveyor belt until it comes back out the end you started on! Once you get used to playing paradiddles and inverted paradiddles on a single surface, try them in a groove on the drum kit and break the rights and lefts between snare and hi-hat, snare and toms, or other surfaces. Add ghost notes and dynamics to give the groove more feel. If you didn’t think there were even more ways to do cool things with paradiddles, w