Bass drum accuracy

[Muffled Tom]

Something that ticks me off about myself is that my right foot on bass drum can be annoyingly innacurate. Most of the time, I "kick" too early.
Any tips on excersises that can help accuracy for my right foot?

[Big_Philly]

This is gonna be hard to explain and I dont have any notation software but here goes:

play 16th notes softly with your hands on your snare drum, if you want to you can pulse with your left foot (good independence exercise for the rest of this exercise!). Hit the bassdrum on each count, while accentuating the snare drum strokes that come simultaneously with the bass drum beat. do that for two or 4 measures. Then, move the stroke of the bassdrum to the 2nd 16th note of the count, and accentuate that stroke on your snaredrum. Do that for another 2 or 4 measures, then play the bassdrum on the 3rd 16th note of the count, etc.
After that, play the bassdrum on both 8th notes of the count, and after that shift that pattern one 16th note.
To top it off, play the bassdrum on two consecutive 16th notes, beginning on 1+e, then e+&, then &+a, and finally a+1 if you know what I mean. Don't forget to play acents on your snaredrum while hitting the bassdrum. You can also move the accents around the kit: play them on toms or cymbals.

The same bass drum exercises can be done while playing paradiddle patterns on snare drum and hi-hat.

[fourstringdrums]

Practice with a metronome and start slow, it's the best way to improve your accuracy.

[Alexdrum75]

Something that ticks me off about myself is that my right foot on bass drum can be annoyingly innacurate. Most of the time, I "kick" too early.
Any tips on excersises that can help accuracy for my right foot?

Play the G.Stone's exercises with the feet, then substituting the right hand for the bass drum. With a metronome.

[fourstringdrums]

Play the G.Stone's exercises with the feet, then substituting the right hand for the bass drum. With a metronome.

That's an interesting exercise...so you would still play the left hand on the snare?

[Alexdrum75]

That's an interesting exercise...so you would still play the left hand on the snare?

Exactly.
That is to say that there are really only two, three, maybe four drum books that are really the Bible.
The other is all imagination and creative applications of them.

[Muffled Tom]

This is gonna be hard to explain and I dont have any notation software but here goes:

play 16th notes softly with your hands on your snare drum, if you want to you can pulse with your left foot (good independence exercise for the rest of this exercise!). Hit the bassdrum on each count, while accentuating the snare drum strokes that come simultaneously with the bass drum beat. do that for two or 4 measures. Then, move the stroke of the bassdrum to the 2nd 16th note of the count, and accentuate that stroke on your snaredrum. Do that for another 2 or 4 measures, then play the bassdrum on the 3rd 16th note of the count, etc.
After that, play the bassdrum on both 8th notes of the count, and after that shift that pattern one 16th note.
To top it off, play the bassdrum on two consecutive 16th notes, beginning on 1+e, then e+&, then &+a, and finally a+1 if you know what I mean. Don't forget to play acents on your snaredrum while hitting the bassdrum. You can also move the accents around the kit: play them on toms or cymbals.

The same bass drum exercises can be done while playing paradiddle patterns on snare drum and hi-hat.

Thanks, I'll try this.

To Alex; what are these G.Stone exercises? link?

[Alexdrum75]

Thanks, I'll try this.

To Alex; what are these G.Stone exercises? link?

The exercises from the G. Stone book "Stick Control"
Até logo.

[Muffled Tom]

The exercises from the G. Stone book "Stick Control"
Até logo.

So I'd have to buy this book?
Obrigado!

[Alexdrum75]

So I'd have to buy this book?
Obrigado!

Com certeza!
Na verdade é o melhor.
O que voce tenes que fazer é empregar muita creatividade.

Sure.
The truth is that this book is the best.
What you have to do is do exercises with creativity.

[Deltadrummer]

Exactly.
That is to say that there are really only two, three, maybe four drum books that are really the Bible.
The other is all imagination and creative applications of them.

MT, you amaze me. lol You need to get a source of income, if you don't have one. Do you have a Birthday coming up?

The Stone book is only about 10 USD. I have my copy that is thirty years old and I still use it. You can do what Alex said, and then interpret the exercises with a jazz feel, so 1 + 2 + etc. becomes 1 - let 2 - let etc. Play it against a jazz ride. 1 - 2 - let 3 - 4 - let. (the 'let' is the third phase of 2 -trip-let, right?)

I also have Monster Book of Rock Drumming, have been using it for 30 years and still use it. I think it costs me about 8 USD. Same with Chapin's Advanced Techniques. I never used The New Breed but that is another good one, Get yourself 3 or 4 good books and find creative ways to use them for the next thirty years. :)

[rmandelbaum]

All great suggestions above !

I used to have a similar problem. here is how I solved it.

I focused on the feeling of the kick and the right hand landing at the same time. Not every beat should line up depending on the pattern you are playing but when they are supposed they should land together.

The best thing about this is you can do it at any time, it does not require you to set time aside for it. You can do it at a gig or at any other time you are playing.

It will also work for any other limb, does your back beat land at the same time as the ride or hi-hat? does your left foot on the hi-hat line up with the ride cymbal or toms during a fill?

Start thinking about all the limbs playing in time, it will help clean up all of your playing.

[cnw60]

Practice with a metronome and start slow, it's the best way to improve your accuracy.

Yes!!!! and SLOW - it can't be emphasized enough. Especially since you're talking about accuracy.

[Styx]

Here's a simple yet effective ex to get your bass drum lineing up nicely.Play an 1/8th note rock groove with the back beat on 2 and 4 and simply permutate the bass drum one 1/16th note to the right every 4 bars. After every four bar's add an extra bass drum hit to the ex so you're going from single,to double,to triple and eventually on all the 1/16th notes. Start off SLOWLY as it can get quite hairy when the triples come around.

You can also play a 16th note groove leading with the right or hand to hand. You can even swing it which is also a whole new can of worms.

Remember to use a metronome for this exercise and have fun mastering it.

[Muffled Tom]

Here's a simple yet effective ex to get your bass drum lineing up nicely.Play an 1/8th note rock groove with the back beat on 2 and 4 and simply permutate the bass drum one 1/16th note to the right every 4 bars. After every four bar's add an extra bass drum hit to the ex so you're going from single,to double,to triple and eventually on all the 1/16th notes. Start off SLOWLY as it can get quite hairy when the triples come around.

You can also play a 16th note groove leading with the right or hand to hand. You can even swing it which is also a whole new can of worms.

Remember to use a metronome for this exercise and have fun mastering it.

Coincidencially that's almost exactly what I was doing yesterday, along with a metronome. Its been working pretty well for me, let's see the long term benefits.

[foursticks]

Play the G.Stone's exercises with the feet, then substituting the right hand for the bass drum. With a metronome.

I'd recommend doing it with both feet for even more feet control. That left foot is always neglected, yet it's one of the most useful tools around!

[nhzoso]

All good tips. My instructor just pointed this problem out to me also, but mine is when I hit snare and BD at same time it comes off like a flam.

I can't really hear it when I am sitting there playing. I went home and recorded myself doing a simple rock beat because I almost did not believe him and there it was plain as day.

So whichever of these exercises you do I recommend recording it and then listen to it later.

[jonescrusher]

All good tips. My instructor just pointed this problem out to me also, but mine is when I hit snare and BD at same time it comes off like a flam.




In a nutshell, that is what separates the players whose groove sounds great from those whose don't. When all parts of the groove line up without flamming, you're grooving.
And, as you discovered, it's one of the hardest things to spot on your own playing until you hear yourself played back. You've made one of the great discoveries in your playing you can ever make.

[nhzoso]

In a nutshell, that is what separates the players whose groove sounds great from those whose don't. When all parts of the groove line up without flamming, you're grooving.
And, as you discovered, it's one of the hardest things to spot on your own playing until you hear yourself played back. You've made one of the great discoveries in your playing you can ever make.


Yeah thats what my intructor said almost to a T" about grooving and flamming. Now if I can just fix it. LOL