The Book Report is a hybrid rudiment: it takes the single paradiddle and dresses it up with diddles and flams. The sticking runs RR-L(flam)-RR, then LL-R(flam)-LL, alternating which hand leads each time you repeat it. If you already have a clean single paradiddle, you're most of the way to playing this.
Why It's Called a "Hybrid" Rudiment
Hybrid rudiments aren't part of the official 40 rudiments recognized by the Percussion Arts Society (PAS). They're patterns built by combining two or more standard rudiments into something new. The Book Report is one of these — it's essentially an accented single paradiddle with extra diddles and flams layered in. That's why you won't find it on a classic rudiment chart, even though it shows up often in drumline and marching percussion writing.
Before You Start: Get Your Single Paradiddle Solid
You need a working single paradiddle (RLRR LRLL) before this rudiment will make sense. If your paradiddle is shaky, the Book Report will just amplify that shakiness — it's the same hand-alternation logic, with more moving parts stacked on top.
If you're still building basic sticking control, a practice pad and a decent pair of sticks are enough to work on this — you don't need a full kit for rudiment work.
The Sticking Pattern
Written out, the Book Report looks like this:
RR L(flam) RR — LL R(flam) LL
Break it into two halves:
- First half: right, right, left (as a flam), right, right
- Second half: left, left, right (as a flam), left, left
Each half is five strokes, with the flam sitting in the middle. On the repeat, the lead hand flips — so you're not just repeating the same half over and over, you're alternating which side starts.
How to Practice It
Start slower than feels necessary. Play just the first half — RR L(flam) RR — on its own until every stroke is even and the flam is clean, not smeared into a single hit. Then add the second half. Then link them together.
There's no speed you need to prove early on. Getting the flam to land as two distinct sounds (a soft grace note just before the main hit) matters more than tempo. Build up gradually once the pattern feels automatic at a slow, steady pace.
What This Rudiment Actually Trains
Practicing the Book Report works on a few things at once: clean flams, general stick control, and keeping your accents even across a pattern that isn't symmetrical in the usual paradiddle way. It's a good stress test for whether your basic paradiddle technique holds up once you complicate it.
Practicing It as a Grid
One effective way to internalize the Book Report is to play it through a grid — repeating the full pattern in a fixed, structured loop rather than just running it a few times and moving on. Repetition inside a grid format can help expose uneven spots you might miss playing it casually. Sheet music for a Book Report grid exercise (written for snare drum) is available online in PDF and MIDI form if you want notation to follow rather than working from sticking letters alone.
Variation: Book Report with Extra Credit
Once the standard version feels comfortable, there's a variation called "Book Report with Extra Credit." It swaps out the two double strokes (diddles) in the pattern for triple strokes instead, adding more density and more control demand. Treat this as a next step, not where you start.
Where You'll Encounter It
The Book Report shows up often in drumline and marching percussion parts. If you're headed toward marching snare or drumline-style playing, it's worth having in your hands — but even for kit drummers, it's a useful sticking pattern for building flam control and hand independence.
Common Mistakes
- Rushing the flam. If the grace note and main note land together, it's not a flam — it's just a louder single hit. Slow down until they separate clearly.
- Skipping the paradiddle prep. Trying to learn Book Report before your single paradiddle is solid can mean relearning both at once, badly.
- Losing the hand-lead alternation. It's easy to default to leading with the right hand. The pattern is built to flip leads — practice both halves separately until the flip feels natural.
- Jumping to Extra Credit too soon. The triple-stroke variation is harder to control. Get the diddle version clean first.