What does "paradiddle-diddle" mean?

A percussive exercise (one of many rudiments) which involves playing six even strokes in the order ‘right left right right left left’ or ‘left right left left right right’.

How do you pronounce "paradiddle-diddle"?

Pronounced //ˈpæɹəˌdɪdəl dɪdəl//.

Paradiddle-diddle

//ˈpæɹəˌdɪdəl dɪdəl// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A percussive exercise (one of many rudiments) which involves playing six even strokes in the order ‘right left right right left left’ or ‘left right left left right right’.

Etymology

Imitative.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.