Flam
Ornamental stroke with a short grace note.
What it means
A flam is, on the snare drum, an ornament made of a short grace note and a main stroke. Both are executed with different hands: one hand lands immediately before the other, so that two strokes follow one another very closely. What is heard is not a double stroke but a single note with a broadened attack.
The grace note has no rhythmic value of its own; it is placed before the main stroke and takes no time from it. In this the figure corresponds to the short grace note of melody instruments, the acciaccatura.
The flam is to be distinguished from ornaments with several grace notes, in which two or three short strokes precede. These bear names of their own, which are not used uniformly in the literature.
In the notation
The figure is notated as a small grace note with a slashed flag before the main stroke. The notation thus corresponds to that usual with melody instruments. In percussion parts, the sticking indication often stands above or below, that is, which hand executes the grace note and which the main stroke.
Musical use
The figure belongs to the basic stock of rudiments, that is, the transmitted basic patterns of drumming, and is equally widespread in march and military music, in orchestral parts, and in popular music. It serves to emphasize individual strokes without making them louder: the broader attack gives the note weight and presence. In march rhythms it often marks stressed beats.
The flam is one of the basic strokes of drum technique. In the flam, one hand strikes shortly before the other, so that a broad, double attack arises. It is part of the international rudiments.
Performance practice
Keep the distance between grace note and main stroke small and even — if it becomes too large, the figure sounds like two strokes. Execute the grace note from a lower height and more quietly than the main stroke; the difference in height of the sticks is the decisive means. Practise both stickings so that the figure succeeds securely in every direction. And take care that the main stroke lies exactly on the beat, not the grace note.