One of my favorite ways to spice up a beat is actually super-easy to learn as long as you’ve got the “I-can-roll-my-tongue” gene. If you can’t roll your tongue, chances are you already know it — feel free to skip to the next sound you want to learn.

The sounds I use the tongue roll most often with are the bass drum, snare roll, toms and conga drums.

Bass Drum (Df)

Keep your soft-palette and lips the same way you’ve developed them for your Df bass drum sound. For me, the cheeks are relaxed, my palette is high and my lips are constantly in an “f” or a “v.” From there, simply roll a voiced “r.” Be sure to end with strong voiced downbeat, sometimes I end with a Df, to finish the roll with strength and establish it as a bass roll.

Toms and Congas

Toms and congas are mechanically the exact same as a bass roll, just on different pitches. I most often use the roll as a down beat to a conga (think steel drums).

Snare Roll

This one is the trickiest of the three (I had to work on it for a long time). Just as a real snare roll uses two drumsticks, your snare roll will require that both your tongue and your lips roll. To do this you have to have just the right amount of tension in your lips. I like to think of blowing up a balloon (a bizarre balance of tension and fluidity that will allow your lips to vibrate when you aggressively roll your r. Snares can be both voiced and unvoiced, with a sharp “t” at the beginning and end of rolls to get that true snare drum sound.

Advanced Note: For a more authentic sound, remember that both toms and congas are usually pitched a fourth apart.

Most of Vocal Percussion isn’t nearly as tricky as it sounds. A lot of the coolest rolls and fills and rhythms are actually just really simple patterns that you can work into your muscle memory and do at blazing speeds through simple repetition. Here are a few that I use frequently to spice up my percussion:

• dig-uh dig-uh dug-uh dig-uh - Especially useful for kick rolls and toms
• biggidy biggidy biggidy biggidy - I use this one in drum solos as a “what the?” moment
• dividi-kuh (the rhythm is trip-uh-let kuh) - I use this one all over the place, from cymbals to snares to scratching.

Start out slow, getting your tongue used to performing each rhythm with precision and consistency (if you have a metronome, use it to make sure you’re keeping a steady tempo). As you get better, gradually increase your tempo - focus on crispness and steady rhythm before moving on to the next speed.

Once you’ve mastered a rhythm, you can start to work it into your beats. Be creative. I’m sure you’ll find places for each of these flairs that I would never think of.

Advanced Note: Feel free to change the sounds that you use with each rhythm. For example, I often substitute tifiti-kah or bividi-kah for dividi-kah, depending on the sound I’m aiming for.