Inverted Flam Tap

Learn How To Play The Inverted Flam Tap

The inverted flam tap looks fairly simple, but it can be a little challenging at first. The flam placement doesn't feel very natural, and thus the entire rudiment can feel a little awkward while you are first practicing this. However, once you master the inverted flam tap - you can use it within a wide variety of drum fills and solo patterns. Here is how it looks when written out in drum notation:

As you can see, the inverted flam tap is basically a double stroke roll with flams on the first shot of each alternating double. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel anything like a double stroke roll when you actually play it. The added flams make it very difficult to play at any decent speed, so it is essential that you slow the pattern down at first. Later, you'll be able to focus on building speed for use around the kit.

Inverted Flam Tap - Drum Set Applications

Here is a simple drum beat that makes use of the inverted flam tap:

Exercise three uses the inverted flam tap within the context of a drum fill:

Done with this lesson? Consider checking out the flam drag or the pataflafla next.

Learn how to play all 40 drum rudiments with the Drumming System by Mike Michalkow!