Rudiment 20 of 40 · Flam rudiments
Flam
A flam is a soft grace note played just before a louder main note with the other hand, so the two sound like one thick note. A right flam (lR) has the left hand's grace note before the right hand's main note. Flams alternate: lR, rL. Every flam rudiment is built on this.
- Sticking
- lR rL
- Accents
- No accent marks. The main note is the loud one, the grace note soft.
- Family
- Flam rudiments
- Strokes before it repeats
- 2 plus grace notes, alternating lead hands
- Original 26 rudiments
- Yes (1933)
- Starting tempo
- About 60 BPM
Hear it, then play it
Note values as on the PAS chart. Sticking under each note: R right hand, L left; small letters are grace notes.
Press Play to watch the sticks
Put it in RockBlocks
The practice version on a snare line at 60 BPM, accents and all, to build on or play with your other beats. RockBlocks has no grace notes or sticking, so flams and drags arrive as their main notes.
Play it on the drum kit
Four beats built on the Flam: a fill, a groove, a fill around the toms, and a pulse to practice over.
How to play the Flam
- Read the sticking. The Flam is lR rL. Say the letters out loud before you play them.
- Find the accents. No accent marks. The main note is the loud one, the grace note soft. Start accents high and keep taps low, so the difference comes from stick height.
- Place the flams. The small lowercase letters are grace notes, played by the other hand just before the main note: soft, low and close to it.
- Play it slowly with a click. Start around 60 BPM, or slower, and play it until every stroke is on the right hand and every accent is in place.
- Open, close, open. Speed up a few BPM at a time to as fast as you can play it cleanly, then slow back down without stopping.
- Lead with the other hand. Play it starting with your left hand too: rL lR.
Tips
- Keep the grace note low, an inch or two off the head, and the main note high, so the pair sounds like one fat note, not two.
- After each flam, the hands swap heights: the hand that played the main note comes up low, ready to play the next grace note.
- If you hear two separate notes ("fl-am"), bring the grace note closer to the main note.
Put it on the drum set: Lesson 65: Rudiment-Style March.
Flam questions
What is the sticking for the Flam?
lR rL. R is the right hand and L the left; lowercase letters are grace notes played by the other hand. It switches lead hands every group.
Where are the accents in the Flam?
No accent marks. The main note is the loud one, the grace note soft. With accents marked: lR | rL.
How many notes are in the Flam?
The pattern as written by the Percussive Arts Society has 2 main strokes, not counting grace notes, then repeats.
What tempo should I practice the Flam at?
Start slowly enough to play every sticking and accent correctly, around 60 BPM or below. Then practice open–close–open: speed up a few BPM at a time, and slow back down.
Is the Flam one of the original 26 rudiments?
Yes. The Flam is one of the 26 American rudiments standardized in 1933, and is rudiment #20 of the 40 PAS International Drum Rudiments, in the flam rudiments.
Sticking, accents and note values follow the Percussive Arts Society International Drum Rudiments (© 1984 PAS). The chart is RockBlocks' own drawing.
Follow Ryan · Like RockBlocks? Rock my world
© 2026 Ryan Fox LLC · Contact · Mailing list 🤷? · Privacy ·