DRUMEO LOGIN

Single Ratamacue

The single ratamacue is one of the ten drum rudiments from the drag family and a very common pattern in old war movies and soundtracks. In the video, Lionel Duperron teaches you how to practice the single ratamacue on a single surface, and shows you a couple of drum beats and drum fills based around the single ratamacue.

Taking a look at the sheet music below, you can see that the single ratamacue is nothing more than a dragged 16th note triplet single stroke four. Since the single ratamacue is the combination of the drag ruff with the single stroke four, learning how to play both drum rudiments before going through this free drum lesson is a must. Doing so will make your life a lot easier.

Practice the single ratamacue slowly at first. Use a metronome once you’re comfortable with its sticking pattern. Focus on playing consistent sounding grace notes and single stroke fours, while keeping a very relaxed grip. If you get to a speed where you start feeling any type of tension, discomfort, or find yourself gripping the sticks too tightly, slowdown the metronome.

Drum Beats

Exercise #1 is a 16th note triplet drum beat where the single ratamacue is broken up between the hi-hat and the snare drum. Start by playing the single ratamacue on the closed hi-hat for all four counts. When this feels comfortable to you, move the last stroke on counts 2 and 4 to the snare drum. Finally, add the bass drum on all quarter notes. Line up each bass drum stroke with the primary stroke of each drag ruff.

Exercise #2 is another 16th note triplet drum beat where the single ratamacue is scattered between the hi-hat and the snare drum. Start things off by playing the single ratamacue on the hi-hat on all counts. When this feels, and sounds pretty good to you, move the last two strokes on counts 2 and 4 from the hi-hat to the snare drum. Once you have that down, add the bass drum on counts 1 and 3, and on the “ands” of those counts.

Drum Fills

Exercise #3 is a 16th note triplet drum fill built around the single ratamacue. Taking a look at the sheet music below, you can see that the drum fill is mostly played on the hi-tom. The only exceptions are the strokes on the “and” of each count, which are played on the snare drum on counts 1 and 3, and on the floor tom on counts 2 and 4. Leading this drum fill with your right hand will make it easier to move around the drum set.

Exercise #4 is a very cool sounding 16th note triplet drum fill that combines the single ratamacue with a 16th note triplet single stroke roll. Except for the “ands”, which are played as unison strokes between a crash cymbal and the bass drum, the single ratamacue on the first two counts are mostly performed on the snare drum. The 16th note triplet single stroke roll is played on counts 3 and 4 – going from the snare drum to the hi-tom, and from the hi-tom to the mid-tom.

Once you’re done with the single ratamacue, you can move on to learn how to play the double ratamacue next.


 

Reply to Kevin

   
Click here to cancel reply.

  • Shano says:

    There’s no secret. Just play as much with your left as you do with your right. Any raunmeitdl exercises you do make sure you lead with your left. Try playing grooves with the left hand on the hihat. When you feel like you’re not getting anywhere, just remember how many years you’ve spent working on your right hand to get it where it is!

  • alejandra says:

    good video, i think is necessary for beginners to know about the double stroke, without that there`s no ratamacue.

  • Kevin says:

    verry good lesson but for beginners much to hard!

    • Mohamed says:

      I haven’t really worn it much. The idea is not so much to hold your shuodlers back, but to allow you to feel when they’re falling forward. Supposedly if you wear one for a few hours a day then you begin to feel what it’s like to keep your shuodlers back which, in turn, helps your posture. It was only cheap (search google for shoulder brace posture support) so I figured I’d give it a shot.

banner background image
100 logo