paradiddle

American  

[par-uh-did-l] / ˈpær əˌdɪd l /

noun

1. an exercise or sequence performed typically on the snare drum, marked by four basic beats with alternation of the right hand and left hand on successive strong beats, and begun and ended slowly with a dramatic increase in tempo in the middle.

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paradiddle British  

/ ˈpærəˌdɪdəl /

noun

1. a group of four drum beats produced by using alternate sticks in the pattern right-left-right-right or left-right-left-left

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Etymology

Origin of paradiddle

1925–30; staccato syllables partly imitative; diddle ²; perhaps with para- ¹ facetiously representing the alternation

Example Sentences

In this movie he still is: dancing like a boxer, chewing gum, his feet banging out a nervous paradiddle.

From Time Magazine Archive

Clancy is prepared to draw his sword and lead a charge at the drop of a paradiddle from his native drummer boy.

From Time Magazine Archive

With a rataplan and a paradiddle, U.S. radio last week opened its 1947-48 season.

From Time Magazine Archive

Rogers was the sly rustic, a humorist with a lariat; Hope is the self-caricaturing sophisticated comic with a paradiddle patter.

From Time Magazine Archive

In nervous moments he was prone to tapping a soft paradiddle with a cigarette.

From Time Magazine Archive