Placement of the 5 stroke roll

This is a little exercise for developing the ever useful 5 stroke roll at medium-up to fast tempos in Jazz Time. It is important to focus on landing on the 'and' of 4 and really nailing it, picking up the time again on beat 2 of the next bar (although it's not shown it should be played tied over to beat 1).

Play Exercise 1. as R L to get the feel for the placement; then double each stroke for Exercise 2. RR LL, without changing the tempo. Try reversing the sticking. Remember the fifth stroke is the ride or crash, with the bass drum.

Exercise 3. is two buzzes rather than double strokes, which makes it a "closed roll".

Exercise 4. is the same thing but landing on beat 1.

Once comfortable, move the hands to different sound sources.

In the PDF you will find an additional exercise that focuses on landing the roll on the "and" of beat 3; as well as one more idea that can be used as a fill or as part of a solo.

Start slow, and make sure you are comfortable with the rhythmic placement of the figure. Don't rush to play it at a fast tempo.

This was originally posted on "Jazz Drumming Blog" and in the "Ideas for Jazz Drumming" e-book (no longer available). This post has been revised and expanded from the original.