StickTempo

Single Beat Combinations №21

Book page 5 Sticking RLRL RLLL Straight 8ths · cut time Suggested start 60 BPM

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 left hand carries the load: 10 strokes to the 6 of the right — which is exactly the kind of imbalance Stone uses to build the weaker hand when you practice the mirrored neighbors.

Watch №21 played Jumps to this exercise · DDrummer project on YouTube

Common questions

What tempo should I start №21 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.
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.