Oddly Grouped Eighth Note Rolls

In music most things tend to be grouped in groups divisible by four. So patterns based on groups of four, eighth, sixteen and thirty two are very common. You have seen this in previous eighth note fills when the roll has moved round the kit in groups of two, four and sometimes eight. Just because that is the most common thing to happen, it doesn't mean you have to do that all the time. Sometimes coming away from rules like that creates really interesting pattern. What you will be doing in this lesson is exactly that, coming away from groups of two and four and experimenting with groups of three and five. When the grouping is 'non standard' it is often referred to as odd.

When groups of two and four are used they fit nicely into the bar. You have room for eight 8th notes in the bar (it's not just a clever name!) and eight is divisible by two and four so each group can be complete. When we use odd numbered groupings they won't fully fit. So what you will often find is that you have one or two full groups followed by a group that fills the remainder. For example if you want to use groups of three. You can only get two threes in eight leaving a remainder of two. So in a fill based on groups of three you will quite often see two groups of three followed by a group of two.

When a single stroke roll is used to play standard groupings, each group will usually start on the right hand. However, when odd groupings are used the hand that starts each group tends to switch.

Several fills are listed below, in each a non standard 'odd' grouping has been used. Phrase markings have been included to show how the groups are applied. Sticking has been added underneath, the hand that starts each phrase has been underlined to show how it changes.