How do I play along on a computer or phone?

On a keyboard, tap F (or the left arrow) for your left hand and J (or the right arrow) for your right hand. On a phone or tablet, tap the L and R pads with two fingers. Practise the motion on a pad or your knees first, then use the taps to check the timing.

What does the accuracy score mean?

Every note of the pattern is graded. A note played with the right hand within 30 ms of the click counts fully, one within 60 ms counts half, and a late, early, missed or wrong-hand note counts zero. Accuracy is the total divided by the number of notes.

The fastest tempo at which you finished a run of two or more bars with 90% accuracy or more. It is saved in this browser per pattern, so you can see your ceiling move up week by week.

Why calibrate input latency?

Speakers, Bluetooth headphones and touch screens each add delay between the click and your tap. Calibration measures that delay on your device once and subtracts it, so the early/late numbers describe you, not your hardware.

Do I need an account?

No. Stick Lab is free and works logged out. An account is only needed to generate a backing track in the MusicVivo Studio.

Practice Lab · Stick Lab

Sticking trainer for drum rudiments

Pick a rudiment, set the tempo and play the R/L sticking with your keyboard or two fingers on the pads. Stick Lab grades every note for timing and hand, and keeps your clean BPM.

Pattern

Ready

Single strokes

RLRL RLRL RLRL RLRL

Alternate hands on every 16th note.

Left hand: F or ← · Right hand: J or →

Clean BPM: Not set yet

Settings

Pattern

Tempo

Bars

Click on

Input latency

Correction: 0 ms

Speakers, Bluetooth headphones and touch screens add delay. Calibrate once per device: tap exactly with the click and we subtract the average delay from every score.

Nudge

Your recent sessions

Finished rounds show up here, saved on this device only.

Opens the MusicVivo Studio with the tempo filled in.

Generate a backing track at 80 BPM →

How to use the sticking trainer

Choose a pattern. The sticking is shown above the pads; accents are marked with >.
Set a tempo you can play cleanly, the number of bars and whether the click plays on beats or on every note.
Press Start. You get one bar of count-in, then play the pattern for the chosen number of bars.
Read the result: accuracy, average offset (are you early or late?), spread (how steady you are), wrong hands and misses.
If you scored 90% or more, the next tempo is suggested 4 BPM higher; otherwise 4 BPM lower.

The patterns

Single strokes (RLRL RLRL RLRL RLRL): Alternate hands on every 16th note.
Double strokes (RRLL RRLL RRLL RRLL): Two even strokes per hand. Keep the second stroke as loud as the first.
Single paradiddle (RLRR LRLL RLRR LRLL): Two singles and a double. The lead hand switches every beat.
Inverted paradiddle (RLLR LRRL RLLR LRRL): The double moves to the middle of the group.
Double paradiddle (RLRLRR LRLRLL): Four singles and a double, played as 8th-note triplets (two groups per bar of 4/4 = four beats).
Paradiddle-diddle (RLRRLL RLRRLL): Two singles and two doubles, played as 8th-note triplets.
Triple strokes (RRRLLL RRRLLL): Three strokes per hand in triplets. Keep all three even.
Six stroke roll (RLLRRL RLLRRL): Accented single, two doubles, accented single, played as 8th-note triplets.

How the score works

The metronome is scheduled on your browser's audio clock, and every tap is timed on that same clock, so the offsets are measured in milliseconds against the click you actually hear. Each tap is matched to the nearest note of the pattern. Within ±30 ms with the right hand is clean, within ±60 ms is close, anything further is off. Average offset tells you whether you push or drag; spread is the standard deviation of your offsets, so a lower number means steadier hands even when the average is a little early or late.

Practise with music, not just a click

Once a rudiment is clean, play it over a groove. The link next to the tool opens the MusicVivo Studio with your tempo filled in, so you can generate a drumless backing track at exactly that BPM. Our guide to drum practice backing tracks explains how to use one, and drum patterns explained covers the grooves to move on to. Then test your time without help on the gap click metronome.

More practice tools

FAQ

Questions drummers ask

How do I play along on a computer or phone?: On a keyboard, tap F (or the left arrow) for your left hand and J (or the right arrow) for your right hand. On a phone or tablet, tap the L and R pads with two fingers. Practise the motion on a pad or your knees first, then use the taps to check the timing.
What does the accuracy score mean?: Every note of the pattern is graded. A note played with the right hand within 30 ms of the click counts fully, one within 60 ms counts half, and a late, early, missed or wrong-hand note counts zero. Accuracy is the total divided by the number of notes.
What is clean BPM?: The fastest tempo at which you finished a run of two or more bars with 90% accuracy or more. It is saved in this browser per pattern, so you can see your ceiling move up week by week.
Why calibrate input latency?: Speakers, Bluetooth headphones and touch screens each add delay between the click and your tap. Calibration measures that delay on your device once and subtracts it, so the early/late numbers describe you, not your hardware.
Do I need an account?: No. Stick Lab is free and works logged out. An account is only needed to generate a backing track in the MusicVivo Studio.