Pretty straight-forward: a herta is a diddle rudiment, but the diddle is single stroked. It sounds and looks cool, and tenors can move it around very easily.
|| | | | ||
12|| | | | ||
-||: / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / :||
8|| |_| | | | |_| | | | |_| | | | |_| | | ||
|| |_|_|_| | |_|_|_| | |_|_|_| | |_|_|_| ||
r l r l r l r l r l r l r l r l
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
/=alternating inner beats
The key to successful herta-age is playing everything at the same level and dynamic. If you get over-zealous and accent the first note, you'll most likely destroy the rhythmic integrity in the process. I practice these by preceding the four hertas with a measure of alternating triplets.