How to play accents on snare drum

An accent comes from stick height and the speed of the stroke. You don't need to squeeze the stick or press it into the drum. Start an accented note high, about 9 inches above the drum, and all the other notes low, about 1 to 2 inches. The higher stroke has more room to speed up, so it usually hits the drum faster and sounds louder. The hard part is keeping the quiet notes quiet, and this guide shows you how.

What an accent mark means

An accent (>) means play that note louder than the notes around it. It doesn't mean louder than everything else in the band, just louder than its neighbors. For the other marks in a snare part, see how to read snare drum music.

Louder and softer strokes

A stroke from higher has more room to speed up, so it usually hits the drum faster and sounds louder. Height is what you can see. Speed is what you hear: a high stroke that moves slowly can still come out soft. An accent doesn't need a tighter grip, and you don't need to press the stick into the head. Squeezing tends to stop the stick from bouncing, and the sound can come out thick and short. Keep the same relaxed grip and let the stick come back up.

An accent only stands out if the notes around it are soft. Listen to the same pattern played two ways:

Stick heights

• Accents: about 9 inches above the head.
• Unaccented notes (taps): about 1 to 2 inches.
• Both hands match. A right-hand tap and a left-hand tap start from the same height and should sound the same. Matching heights is a good start, but listen too: the same height doesn't guarantee the same sound.

Your teacher may use different numbers. Marching snare, for example, uses higher strokes. Keep the two heights clearly different, and keep them the same every time. Practice in front of a mirror, or film yourself from the side.

Keeping the unaccented notes controlled

The usual problem isn't the accent. It's the note after it. The stick bounces back up to 9 inches, and the next note in that hand comes out loud too. The fix is to think of each stroke by where the stick starts and where it stops:

For a down stroke, let the stick hit, then catch it low with your back fingers as it rebounds. Don't clamp the grip; just stop the bounce. Press play and watch the sticks. The letters under the notes name each stroke:

Exercise: moving the accent

Play eighth notes, R L R L, with one accent in each group of four. Start with the accent on note 1. When it feels even, move it to note 2, then 3, then 4. Watch which stick gets ready early each time. The sticking here is for the exercise. In a real part, the written sticking may put an accent in the other hand, and the strokes change to match.

• Start slowly, around ♩ = 60. Speed comes later.
• Keep the taps at the same low height before and after every accent.
• Say the counts out loud: "1 & 2 &". Accents shouldn't push the tempo.

From accents to paradiddles

Now switch which hand leads. Accent the first note of each group, and start the second group with your left hand:

Now make the last two notes of each group a double: R L R R, L R L L. That's a paradiddle. The strokes become down, up, tap, tap. The up stroke moves to note 2, because the other hand plays the next accent.

Common mistakes

Practice

Put the accented paradiddle into Play-along: tap with the trainer at a slow tempo. The trainer checks your sticking and timing. It can't hear how loud you play, so keep watching your stick heights. When it's steady, try the paradiddle Tempo Ladder and use the metronome on a practice pad.