Need double bass help!

[(-_-)ComfortablyNumb(-_-)]

ive been playing for about a year, and my double bass is really slow. i try practicing slow and can keep it slow for like 10 minutes, but when i move to a higher speed, the kicks always sound uneven, and my feet just twitch and it gets ugly from there. and some days i just suck so bad at it, and i get really frustrated, hast this happened to you guys?

any advice or comments are great
thanks guys

[cducar]

Hmm practice rudiments with your feet to a metronome. And if that doesn't work, and you still feel really awkward, try adjusting the tightness of the pedals, it could make all the difference.

[chuzwazza]

hmm, well perhaps its not your feet that are the problem, maybe its your hand feet coordination, I found that i could play different speeds consistantly, but my hands just were not in the right place. I [like 'cducar'] would also recommend trying rudiments.

[Wavelength]

You have played for a year, which means that you just can't expect to be able to play double bass too well at high speeds. Speed and fluency won't come in a couple of months. Here's what I suggest: make it a long term goal to improve your technique. Don't worry about getting up to speed, because you WILL be fast if you work on it SLOWLY. You need to build speed on accuracy and relaxation.

Here's a small exercise you should strive to do every day. Play each line for at least a minute, or as long as it takes to make it roll evenly. Play sixteenth notes at a tempo of 50. You can spice up the exercise by playing eighth notes on the ride or hi-hat and backbeats on the snare. Remember to let the beater rebound off the head after each stroke. This is key to relaxed and fast bass drum technique.

01: R L R L R L R L
02: R R L L R R L L
03: R L R L R L R L
04: R L L R R L L R
05: L R L R L R L R
06: L L R R L L R R
07: L R L R L R L R
08: L R R L L R R L
09: R L R R L R L L
10: R L L R L R R L
11: R R L R L L R L
12: R L R L L R L R
13: L R L L R L R R
14: L R R L R L L R
15: L L R L R R L R
16: L R L R R L R L
17: R R R L R R R L
18: R R L R R R L R
19: R L R R R L R R
20: L R R R L R R R
21: L L L R L L L R
22: L L R L L L R L
23: L R L L L R L L
24: R L L L R L L L
25: R R R R L L L L
26: R R R L L L L R
27: R R L L L L R R
28: R L L L L R R R
29: L L L L R R R R
30: L L L R R R R L
31: L L R R R R L L
32: L R R R R L L L
33: R R R R R R R R
34: L L L L L L L L


Spend a week practicing at 50 bpm, and after a week, raise the tempo to 51 bpm. Spend another week on that, and raise the tempo again by 1 bpm. You might feel you're not progressing fast enough, but trust me -- you are. Practicing in slow tempos is very effective and you will notice that you can actually play a lot faster and cleaner after a month or so -- still, keep practicing slowly! You need to keep your mind set to the future: in just a year you'll have doubled the exercise's speed, and it WILL be very even, relaxed and controlled. Add two more years to that and you'll be FLYING. Remember that drumming is not a race or a competition, and that there's no rush -- you should take your time with practice.

[Legacyrik]

What has been your practice regime for the last year? Do you have a metronome? what speeds have you been practicing?

[GRUNTERSDAD]

Also check your seat height and make sure you are comfortable. Also check your spring tension on the pedals. They should be the same. And by same I mean they should feel the same, one may have tighter spring tension but feel the same to you as the other foot. Understand? Good luck with your practice.

[Skynman]

Wavelength gave you some good exercises I suggest that you do them as far as other execises you can do just use your weak pedal on the bass drum and build it up! Also just work on your bass drum for awhile everyday using both feet!

[(-_-)ComfortablyNumb(-_-)]

alright thanks guys, i guess im just expecting instant gratification, which is quite ignorant.

thanks wavelength for the patterns, and everyone else for the comments

[Tim Waterson]

ive been playing for about a year, and my double bass is really slow. i try practicing slow and can keep it slow for like 10 minutes, but when i move to a higher speed, the kicks always sound uneven, and my feet just twitch and it gets ugly from there. and some days i just suck so bad at it, and i get really frustrated, hast this happened to you guys?

any advice or comments are great
thanks guys
The exercises posted are a GREAT start.
LIke most drummers you need to walk before you can run so just do that .
pretend you are walking on your pedals and try to keep your legs relaxed work with a metrenome and have patience...when you learn the transitions between ankles and legs it will make all the difference in the world.
good Luck and keep us posted
Tim

[EternalArcadia]

after i found out that my seat height was too low to the floor (i would always have to lean back and i wasnt feeling the burn in my calfs but my thighs) i raised it up and it made all the difference. also, mess around with the pedal tension and beater height, cause everyones different.