Drags - Drum Rudiments
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Learn How To Play The Drag Ruff Drum Rudiment!
The drag is a rudiment that is also known as a ruff. It is very similar to a flam. For the flam, we had two stick heights. One small grace note struck the drum before the initial note. With the drag, we play two grace notes before the initial note. So the drag is three notes. The two grace notes are played as a double stroke note, followed by the initial note as a single stroke. Since it is only a grace note, the double stroke is played much faster and softer than the initial note. The key is to get all three notes to sound like one big note. I would suggest practicing it hand to hand, meaning playing the rudiment left, left, right, and then switching over and playing right, right, left. Be patient with this because you will be playing it a lot. Explore the drum set a little using the drag and then take a look at the exercises provided.
Example 1 is a simple review of the rudiment using only the snare.
Example 2 uses two drags across one bar, both on the snare drum.
Example 3 is an example of a drag used on the hi-hat.
Example 4 introduces the drag into the snare hit of a basic drum beat.
Example 5 shows you a different way of notating a drag.
Examples 6 and 7 show you two ways of playing a drag when the grace notes are not played on the same drum as the initial note.
Example 8 goes back to two drags in a bar.
Examples 9 and 10 pick things up, playing all sixteenth notes with 4 drags to the bar.
Learn how to play more drum rudiments in our Drum Rudiment section.
