The next pattern from the flam family of drum rudiments we’ll be taking a look at is the inverted flam tap. The inverted flam tap has the same rhythmic pattern as the flam tap. It has a different sticking pattern as well, which will challenge your technique differently from what the flam tap did. In this free drum lesson, DrumLessons.com instructor Lionel Duperron breaks down the inverted flam tap on a practice pad, so you can see exactly how to play it accurately. He then takes you to the drum set, showcasing a couple of drum fills and drum beats that incorporate the inverted flam tap.
Taking a look at the sheet music below, you can see that the sticking pattern for the inverted flam tap is basically an offset alternating double stroke roll that starts on the “and” of every count, and where the second note is flammed. It’s this offset that gives this drum rudiment the moniker “inverted”. Going from a tap on the “and” to the primary stroke of the flam with the same hand is what makes the inverted flam tap one of the more challenging drum rudiments to get a lot of speed with. Make sure you learn how to play the flam and the double stroke roll before you tackle the inverted flam tap.
Exercise #1 incorporates the inverted flam tap into an 8th note drum beat. The inverted flam tap is scattered between the hi-hat and the snare drum. Using the same hand to go from taps on the snare drum to primary strokes on the hi-hat is what will challenge you the most with this exercise. Practice slowly at first, strive for clean sounding strokes and make sure you’re not struggling with these transitions. Once you get the hands happening, add the bass drum to all quarter notes.
Exercise #2 is an 8th note half-time drum beat based around the inverted flam tap. This exercise has the same challenges as the previous one. Going from the snare drum on count 3 to the hi-hat on the “and” of count 3 adds velocity to the drumstick. If you don’t have enough control over it, you’ll end up playing a louder tap stroke when you get to the hi-hat. Practicing this exercise slowly at first is the key for developing consistent sounding taps, at whatever speed you decide to play this drum beat. Once you’ve mastered the hand pattern, add the bass drum to count 1.
Exercise #3 is an 8th note drum fill. The inverted flam tap has the flams on the snare drum and the taps on the hi-tom and floor tom. You’ll only need to learn how to play the first two counts of this drum fill to master it, since the pattern repeats itself after it. Leading this pattern with the right hand will make it that much comfortable to execute.
Exercise #4 incorporates the inverted flam tap into another 8th note drum fill. The flams that were played on the snare drum on exercise #3 are performed on the hi-tom here. The hi-tom taps from the previous drum fill are moved to the snare drum. The floor tom pattern is the only one that stays exactly the same.
You can use any of the 40 drum rudiments to create great sounding drum fills and drum beats. It all depends on your creativity and control. Drum rudiments are very useful for spicing up your drum solos as well. Adding any of the 40 drum rudiments to your drum solos is definitely a great idea.
Once you’re done with the inverted flam tap, you can move on to the free drum lessons on the pataflafla and the flam drag.