just to see how im coming along with my own how fast can u guys do the paradiddles?

As 32nd notes, WITH accents I am currently at 96 BPM. Without accents 104 BPM. That is a single paradiddle on snare drum. There's an honest answer (you wanna tape of it) ?   Yeah, the important thing is the even strokes, but after you have achieved that then it's fun to see how fast you can play them, evenly. I have used a metronome for years to gauge my progression of every rudiment, great tool. blessings  

About 90 in the shade.

Anything around 150-160+ and I'd say you were fast.
180-200+ would be blazing.
250+ approaching world records- especially if you can do it for a minute straight.

I don't know how fast I can play them but I was singling over 900 beats in a minute last year last time I checked.  I can also play singled 16ths on kick pretty smooth at 1/4=140 bpm last time I checked.

So one should be able to diddle a little faster than that.

Speed is a work in progress....  

Here's a tip that you may find helpful...I always play 5's and 7's (hand to hand singles) faster than 16ths and sextuplets SINGLES...and my fastest paradiddle is a double paradiddle because it is a hand to hand cycle.  YMMV

Well, here's my stats:

Comforatable speed = 168

Max sustained speed = 216

Max speed in bursts (10 second) = 240

Now,  I have yet to come across a piece of music where this is needed and if I do I'd just assume use double stroke.  

Because my hands and forearms a FREAKIN numb after that.  

Peter

>how are you playing them??  Are the paradiddles 16ths or 32nds??

I was counting them in sets of four, so I guess you could call them 16th notes.  

Good point, I feel the same way.  Unless of course I want accents on the downbeat.

Since we're talking paradiddles, do any of you guys split the paradiddle between you hands and your feet while playing your trap?  

Peter

The way you learn to get your paradiddles to a faster speed is to work with a metronome. I don't necessarily agree that it's not important to recognize the paradiddles you are playing as 16ths or 32nds. Why? Here's why - what are you doing while you're playing paradiddles and counting EACH one for a minute? You're taking up concentration time that should be spent on the eveness of the paradiddle. If you set your metronome for 208 BPM and play pradiddles as 16th notes for 1 minute, that's 208 PARADIDDLES PER MINUTE. Plus, you are learning to play in time. It is almost always important to recognize the rudiment or patterns you are exercising as a note form within the context of western music, whether it be 8ths or 16ths, whatever. This helps you to be able to use the pattern AT WILL as the desired note form YOU want to use it. For example, I use 32nd note paradiddles while soloing quite a bit. So, practice those with a metronome and count the MINUTE not the paradiddles, ok? blessings, carlos

Thanks for clarifying that Ratt...I can't imagine anyone thinking 32nd note paradiddles at 104 BPM is slow, but then there's Felix... ...just joking Felix. Neil who?  

Let me clarify my earlier statement.

The note values are irrelevant because we are not counting beats, we are counting how many Single Paradiddles you can play in a minute. You can think of them as really fast eighth-notes or really slow 32nd-notes, it doesn't matter. The paradiddle is a four note grouping, so if you just count each grouping, you'll know how many paradiddles you play in a minute.

It's just like counting Single or Double strokes; you're trying to find how many you can play in a minute, then the note values don't matter.

If we are talking about grooves, then that's a different story ... and it would matter what the note value is. If the tempo was 120 bpm, then I would need to know if I could play sixteenth-note paradiddles or 32nd-note paradiddles. Make sense? Now, I'm not using a metronome .... I'm using a Drumometer. A metronome works too ... but the Drumometer keeps you honest and only counts the strokes that are clean & even. IF you are using a metronome to determine how many you play in a minute, then you would need to know the notation value (ie. sixteenth-notes, etc.). Doing this would mean that you would have to play for one entire minute, then do it again at a faster tempo until you find where your breaking point is.

My original point was that 16th or 32nd notes don't matter. You can think of them however you want. You would ONLY need to know the value if you are using a metronome as your clock ... OR ... applying them to a groove with a given meter.

If you can't keep up, then the metronome isn't going to work very well. The Drumometer works well ... as well as a regular old clock. Just watch the minute hand and count your paradiddles; one number per accent (eg. Single Paradiddles as a rudiment are played by accent the first note of the four note grouping). I take the total number of strokes registered, then divide it by 4 to get my results ... rounding down of course.

Anyway, I guess we all agree, we were just coming at it from different angles. I didn't clarify that I was using the Drumometer ... and I didn't know you all were using the metronome as your clock.

Peace.  

I kinda feel like everyone is sorta missing the point -- it's not how fast you can play paradiddles (et al), it's knowing when to play them, and how to apply them!

Playing fast can be very impressive, kind of like twirling your sticks, but in the grand scheme of playing drums, it's just not the highest priority.

(just my $0.02 worth, go easy on me!)