Definition
A drag is a drum rudiment in which two quick, quiet grace notes are played immediately before a main accented stroke. It is sometimes called a ruff.
Example
Listen for a short, gravelly "brrr-DAH" in a snare line; that buzz of two soft notes crashing into a loud one is a drag. It is closely related to the flam, but where a flam uses a single grace note, a drag uses two stacked in front of the accent.
Why it matters
The drag adds texture and a sense of pickup energy to a hit without changing the underlying rhythm. In finger drumming it is a compact way to make a single snare event sound busier and more expressive, especially in fills and pickups leading into a new bar.
How to play or configure
On pads, the easiest approach is to map the snare to two adjacent pads and play the two grace notes with one finger as a fast double, then the main stroke with the other hand. Keep the grace notes very quiet; they should feel like a lead-in, not three equal hits. If your sampler supports velocity layers, the soft grace notes will trigger a rounder sample that blends smoothly into the accent.
Related terms
Further reading
Finger Drumming for Beginners introduces rudiments step by step.