Combinations in 3/8 №54
What this trains
Triple strokes appear inside the line; keeping the third stroke as strong as the first is the work here. The right hand leads throughout; pair this exercise with its mirrored neighbor to balance the lead. The right hand carries the load: 10 strokes to the 6 of the left — which is exactly the kind of imbalance Stone uses to build the weaker hand when you practice the mirrored neighbors.
Watch №54 played Jumps to this exercise · DDrummer project on YouTubeCommon questions
- What tempo should I start №54 at?
- Start at 72 BPM with a click on every note (stage 1). Stone gives no metronome marks — the working convention for Combinations in 3/8 is to build from 72 toward 144 BPM before moving on, raising the tempo only after a clean 20-rep run.
- How many times should I repeat it?
- Stone's instruction is explicit: play each rhythm 20 times without stopping, then go on to the next. The app counts the 20 for you and stops the run automatically.
- Why does the pattern speed up when I play it?
- Almost always the doubles: the second stroke of a pair tends to rebound early. Stage 1's tick on every note exposes the rush immediately — slow down until the doubles sit exactly on the clicks.