Intermediate Warm-Up

These warm-up exercises are supposed to be played, when you first sit behind the drum kit, especially before a practice session.

Start, by playing two notes on the snare drum, alternating hands, starting with the right hand, then two notes on Tom 1, alternating hands, then two notes on Tom 2, alternating hands, and then two notes on Tom 3, both notes being played by the right hand. Then carry on, playing two notes on Tom 3 again, but alternating hands this time, starting with the left hand, then play two notes on Tom 2, alternating hands, then two notes on Tom 1, alternating hands, and then two notes on the snare drum, both of these notes being played in the left hand. These form triple paradiddles, one starting on the snare drum, going down the Toms, and the other coming back up the Toms, ending on the snare drum. Play all these notes as evenly spaced and consecutively as possible, and when you come to the end of the pattern, carry on again from the beginning, all the notes following the same note value.

Here is the pattern:

Snare drum - R L

Tom 1 - R L

Tom 2 - R L

Tom 3 - R R

Tom 3 - L R

Tom 2 - L R

Tom 1 - L R

Snare drum - L L

And back to the beginning.



The next exercise is quite similar to the first. Start, by playing two notes on the snare drum, alternating hands, starting with the right hand, then two notes on Tom 1, alternating hands, and then two notes on Tom 3, both notes being played by the right hand. Then carry on, playing two notes on Tom 3 again, but alternating hands this time, starting with the left hand, then two notes on Tom 1, alternating hands, and then two notes on the snare drum, both of these notes being played in the left hand. These form double paradiddles, one starting on the snare drum, going down the Toms, and the other coming back up the Toms, ending on the snare drum. Play all these notes as evenly spaced and consecutively as possible, and when you come to the end of the pattern, carry on again from the beginning, all the notes following the same note value.

Here is the pattern:

Snare drum - R L

Tom 1 - R L

Tom 3 - R R

Tom 3 - L R

Tom 1 - L R

Snare drum - L L

And back to the beginning.



For the next exercise, you begin by playing two notes on the snare drum, alternating hands, starting with the right hand. Then you play two notes on Tom 1, both using the right hand. Then you play two notes on Tom 2, alternating hands, starting with the left hand, and then you play two notes on Tom 3, both using the left hand. Then, you carry on, playing two notes on Tom 3 again, alternating hands, starting with the right hand. Then you play two notes on Tom 2, both using the right hand. Then you play two notes on Tom 1, alternating hands, starting with the left hand, and finally you play two notes on the snare drum, both using the left hand. These form single paradiddles, two paradiddles which start on the snare drum and move down the Toms, and then another two paradiddles, moving in the opposite direction, back up the Toms, ending on the snare drum. Play all these notes as evenly spaced and consecutively as possible, and when you come to the end of the pattern, carry on again from the beginning, all the notes following the same note value.

This is the pattern:

Snare drum - R L

Tom 1 - R R

Tom 2 - L R

Tom 3 - LL

Tom 3 - R L

Tom 2 - R R

Tom 1 - L R

Snare drum - L L

And back to the beginning.