A few days into focusing on Six Stroke Rolls (RLLRRL). It's going pretty well actually. I haven't done it at a show yet but it'll get there.

One thing I've noticed is that if I play the chunks from the back of the pattern and work to the beginning, it is a little easier than from the beginning. Who knows why? It could just be me.

• RL
• RRL
• LRRL
• LLRRL
• RLLRRL

Doing a little reorganization for my daily drum task, which was practicing a randomly generated drum pattern for five minutes. I have been noticing that I am slightly practicing them a little less lately, which means it is time to put new tires on the drum practice system.

So I am going to do a little self-A/B test to see if it affects my playing or not. I am switching to one pattern a month for a while. I am very curious to see if unconsciously practicing this pattern only gets it so deep into muscle memory that it comes out while playing a show. Have it be the default pattern to tap when pushing a shopping cart, riding the train, waiting for files to upload.

The Pattern

• RLLRRL

For May, I am going to work on a Six Stroke Roll. It is actually a legendary pattern for doing drum fills. They sound amazing when you loop a couple of them. They sound even better when you move them around the drum kit.

• RLLRRL RLLRRL

Splitting this one in half, looping one of the halves, and then playing the fill pattern is a cool option too. It gets your hands a little time to get ready to do the fill pattern.

Expanding on the Pattern

• RLL RLL RLLRRL
• RRL RRL RLLRRL
• RRL RLL RLLRRL