Single Beat Combinations №1
What this trains
The fundamental single-stroke roll — the pattern every other page of the book varies.
Every stroke alternates — pure singles, so the challenge is evenness of sound and spacing, not sticking memory. The right hand leads throughout; pair this exercise with its mirrored neighbor to balance the lead. The hands share the work evenly — 8 strokes each per cycle.
Watch №1 played Jumps to this exercise · DDrummer project on YouTubeCommon questions
- What tempo should I start №1 at?
- Start at 60 BPM with a click on every note (stage 1). Stone gives no metronome marks — the working convention for Single Beat Combinations is to build from 60 toward 150 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.
- What should I listen for in pure singles?
- Matched sound between the hands. At any tempo, close your eyes for a rep and check that you cannot hear which hand is playing — that evenness is the entire point of the exercise.