One drag, one accent, and away.
The Rudiment
The single drag tap pairs a dragged, accented note with a single tap, then hands off to the other side. Each cell is a drag leading into an accented primary followed by one unaccented stroke — “drag-TAP, tap” — and because the lead alternates, the figure walks steadily from hand to hand. It is the most direct application of the drag: take the basic ruff and give it a rhythmic home with a following tap.
Sticking
The standard PAS sticking is llR L for the first cell and rrL R for the second, alternating. The two lowercase strokes are the drag’s grace notes; the accented primary follows, and then a single unaccented tap on the opposite hand carries into the next drag. Counted in eighths, the accented drag-note lands on the beat and the tap on the “and.”
How to Play
Keep the two grace notes low and crisp as a controlled double, then pop the accented primary, then drop the tap back to a low, even dynamic. The coordination point is the handoff: the tap you play is on the hand that must immediately produce the next drag, so it has to land softly and reset quickly. Practicing the drag as a rebound double rather than two deliberate strokes keeps the whole figure clean as the tempo climbs.
In Practice
The single drag tap is a foundational drag-family exercise and a common warm-up, since it drills clean drags and the accent-tap dynamic in one compact pattern. It appears in rudimental snare writing and translates to the kit as a dragged, accented groove or fill. From here the family expands into the double drag tap and Lesson 25.