Groovy Grandmas

Groovy Grandmas (2021) is a paradiddles warm-up that really is all about the paradiddles. The long series of monotone taps with paradiddle sticking should really get you focused on consistency and quickness of wrist turn at the low dynamic. The accents that create the grooves, then, must rise out of the monolithic sound created by the ensemble being locked in completely to the taps.

Syncoparadiddles

Syncoparadiddles (2021) is a paradiddles warm-up that employs a repeating syncopated motif to cast paradiddles in various revealing situations to help you better apply great fundamentals to paradiddles. The beginning is all about understanding the application of rebound and maximising the efficient use of rebound while also playing aggressively into the drum. Measures 5–8 are all about consistently even taps before the accents are added in the latter half of the exercise.

Dub/Huk

I inflicted Dub/Huk (2010) on the Athens Drive HS Drumline in order to help work on doublestrokes: specifically, second note quality in doublestroke rolls, and sixteenth-note consistency (timing and quality) for paradiddle figures.

The first half of the piece builds the doublestroke roll and inverted roll from their one-handed breakdowns. I like working on inverted rolls because the second note of the doublestroke is placed on the eighth note partials, rather than sixteenth-note upbeat partials; i.e. deficiencies in timing and quality of those notes will be more obvious to the ear and mind, allowing these deficiencies to be corrected.

The second half works on a syncopated hucka-dig (one-handed breakdown of a paradiddle-diddle) pattern and then fills it in to the corresponding paradiddle figure. Ensemble timing is tricky for this part; accents on the fourth sixteenth note partial will tend to be late, while those on the upbeat eighth notes will tend to be early. This warm-up is a huge bag of mess without dedicated practice with a metronome.

The bass drum part is such that all the written notes could be played as a single unison part.

Slurred Ruff

Slurred Ruff (2010) was used by the NC State and Athens Drive HS drumlines to work on tap sound quality between doublestrokes and single beats. Whether your doublestrokes tend to overpower the single beats, or vice versa, your ears will pick up on it. This warm-up doesn't actually have straight paradiddles in it, but the skills it hits are most related to the other paradiddles warm-ups. 

Timing-wise, one tendency seems to be (I don't know why; it's just what I've seen) to tighten up the ruffs on the all-tap bars: i.e. to play something like 1 &a2 &a3 &a4 &a on the single-height bars. A constant doublestroke motion on one hand must be maintained, whether the other hand executes a "buck" motion, or a rebounded "8 on a Hand" motion.

The bass drum part is such that all the written notes could be played as a single unison part.

Paradiddle Flow

Paradiddle Flow (2009) is a simple warm-up that emphasizes 16th-note timing consistency within different stickings (puh-duh-duh, paradiddle, paradiddle-diddle, slurred six-stroke roll). Practice at a single height (i.e. all taps) will build comfort with the different stickings. Practice at different accent heights will build comfort with the downstrokes involved.

The bass drum part is such that all the written notes could be played as a single unison part.

High Five (Paradiddles)

High Five (2009) is an all-around doublestroke étude; double-beats, paradiddles, and rolls (slurred and straight) must be mastered in order to pull this one off. This piece is based on an onfield warm-up I wrote with the same name. 

The way it is constructed, isolatation and repetition of individual measures will be a useful practice tool in putting together this warm-up. This piece was first performed by the 2009 NC State Drumline.

This one also has double paradiddles, so don't misread the stickings... I know people don't write those too often anymore. 

The bass drum part is such that all the written notes could be played as a unison part.

Accent Tap

Accent Tap (2008) is a comprehensive two-height warm-up that covers buck figures, accent-tap contexts, singlestroke figures, and paradiddle figures. It was written with the goal of being part of the NCSU Drumline warm-up repertoire, but John wrote an on-field warm-up with more brevity and focus. This, however, is a good long warm-up to work on accents and taps, with some groovy interludes. It's based on Groovement Movement from the original FatMattDrums, and I think that any level of drumline could find some useful portions to excerpt from it.

Bread & Butter: Paradiddles

Bread & Butter: Paradiddles (2007) was part of the Bread and Butter warm-up packet from the old FatMattDrums, and I think it has aged well enough to deserve new life here. It begins with a simple paradiddle builder then works its way into some mixed-meter patterns with various degrees of grooviness. Mark time or don't... or just halt when things get tricky. Either way, this one should be a lot of fun!

Diddle Me Timbers

Diddle Me Timbers (2007) is a paradiddles warm-up with a little more variety than Paradiddle Flow. The double paradiddle rudiment makes an appearance here as well, so don't misread them as paradiddle-diddles.

The bass drum part is such that all the notes with stickings could be played as a single unison part, leaving the notes without written stickings as a split. The bass line is then challenged as much as the snares or quads to perform paradiddle-related rudimental demands.