Six Stroke Roll

Learn How To Play The Six Stroke Roll

The six stroke roll is a fun rudiment that is a hybrid of the single and double stroke rolls. It starts with two double strokes, then ads two single strokes at half the tempo, and then repeats with the alternate hand leading into the entire pattern. The change from doubles to singles really breaks things up and makes the pattern great for fills around the toms. Here is the basic pattern on the snare drum:

As you can see above, the pattern moves from sixteenth notes to eighth notes. The rudiment itself doesn't have to be played with these sub-divisions, but it helps to understand that the singles are to be played at half the tempo of the doubles. You can watch the video lesson on this page to see exactly how the six stroke roll looks and sounds when played on the snare drum.

Six Stroke Roll - Drum Set Exercises

Here is a drum beat that incorporates the six stroke roll:

Exercise three uses the six stroke roll within a drum fill:

Done with this lesson? You can move on to the seven stroke roll or the nine stroke roll.