beginner tips for double bass

[klopee]

Iv been drumming for around 11 years, but havent done much double pedal, and im pretty aweful at it. im good with my individual legs, but when i put them together, i can get a groove... and to make matters worse, i live in an apartment, so im going to have to buy a bass drum practice pad in order to get some practicing in (i have a backup double pedal that stays home)

any good dvds, or websites or whathaveyou that will give me completely beginner tips on how to go about getting into the groove of double pedaling?

thanks
-Matt

[Ian Williams]

Hello, Matt.

Check this, road to double bass drum:

http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/simonphillipsparabass.html

http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/rayluziergroove.html

http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/rayluzierfill.html

All The Best,

[Bol-D]

a good way to get it smooth is to do rigaments and paraddidls that you do with your hands but with the double bass instead. pretty much the same thing really just using legs and feet instead of arms and hands :)

(sorry for my incorrect spelling, feel free to spell check me)

[dairyairman]

you mean rudiments and paradiddles?

[drummerchris666]

I'm not very good at double pedal yet but if you tighten the bass drum head a lot and put in a whole ton of pillows and blankets in the bass drum that helps a lot.

[MaT]

My advise: metronome, 16th notes, start slow (at least 80bpm) and work your way up increasing the bpms by 5.

Trust me, it might feel strange to play slow at the beginning, and you'll feel more comfortable and balanced when reaching 100 or 110 bpm, but slow tempo will give you accuracy.

Also, usually people tries to get to fast tempos very quickly, if you practice steady, let's say 100 bars starting in 80 and increasing by 5 bpm, you'll be preparing for higher speeds because remember, propably you'll not be playing double bass constantly for that much time in a song.

So, as long as you practice steady, your feet will respond when you need them in a song, but it takes time.

Hope it helps.

[andSometimesY]

The exercises that they mentioned do work for building speed and keeping steady time. However, I am trying to get to the point where I can play a rhythm with my feet that is completely independent of my hands (think Chris Adler, Mario DuPlantier, Blake Richardson, etc.). That is where double bass gets hard for me and I can't think of any exercises to get better at that other than to learn songs that employ complex feet rhythms or maybe practice rudiments with my feet.

[MaT]

However, I am trying to get to the point where I can play a rhythm with my feet that is completely independent of my hands (think Chris Adler, Mario DuPlantier, Blake Richardson, etc.).

Hey, you might wanna try songs like Laid To Rest (to begin with) or get into something really spicy like Death From A Lovers Hand by The Sorrow.

Of course, complete independence can be found in Virgil Donati's playing too, among many others.

[defregano]

bobby rondinelli's book double bass drumming (i think its called) is a great way to strengthen your feet. its important to do some heel down practice too.

another book is stick control..both heel up and down.

one great excercise i learned from derek roddys book is sitting on your throne and lifting your legs up so your feet are a few inches off the ground. Try to keep ur back straight and not leaning in any direction. keep this position for as long as you can. Do a few repetitions of this. Doing this everyday will really help out your balance while sitting which is very important for heel up double bass playing.


good luck!

[defregano]

also...everyone mentions it..but for good reason...practice slow and relaxed

[Loui]

I would like to add one thing: Try to never leave the left drum beater on the head, lift your foot!! (Specially on slow tempos) So you will experimenting the real feel and get one bad habits out, right from the beginning.

[rootheart]

tipps:
1.never name it "double bass" because it does not make any sense to have 2 identical bassdrums.
1. If you can play a basic drum groove with right hand on the ride cymbal the classic way and use your hihat left foot to keep time on the highhat on either upbeat or downbeat, rather than using your left foot to keep the highhat closed, because U love the looks of drummers plying crosss hands..then...play whatever U used to play, just move your left foot to the left basdrum pedal... and you have a cool double bass drumming without practising
2. If U are into those blasting cool double bass rolls.. just practise RLRLR with your feet.. very easy..
3. to play other than the drummer in the other band: use 2 different bassdrums instead of"double bass"..E.g. your right bassdrum is dampenend and sounds "normal"..your left bassdrum is way much larger, not dampened at all...so, just hit the "one" of any beat with your left foot on the open "booom" sounding left BD, play anything else on your right BD as U are used to...this dies make does make a hell of a difference...
have fun. excuse my lousy english

[klopee]

thanks for all the feedback guys.

im going to be ordering a bass drum practice pad for under my computer desk... hopefully that will help as my drums are currently in storage for the summer :(

[ace76543]

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52394

I'm not going to bother rewording all that to fit your question...but yeah..same principle

[Cyanide]

This seem a bit strange but usually i just do "invisible double bass" away from the kit for fun/randomly and i had never sat behind a double bass kit before but then when i did i was amazed at how well i was doing. It looks a bit strange but i do it anyway. Just move your legs up and down as if you were doing double bass. I do that before i play and warms the muscles up just right. Just 2 weeks after i got my double bass kit i was doing the "machine gun" double bass drum part from "one by Metallica easily and slipknot songs whith lots of that double bass triplets and stuff like that. All the ideas listed below (and above) are great and you should use them. You don't have to use my idea, but you wont regret it if you do ;)

[Abstsbtsb]

listen to slayer.



20characters

[stabmasterarson]

I find what helps me is to do double kick bursts, set your metronome to a little faster than you can comfortably play 16ths with your feet, and alternate between playing a simple backbeat and 16ths for one bar, 2 bars, etc. After a while the faster speed comes easier and you aren't burning your muscles out trying to play at a too fast a speed for a long time.

find a speed that is about 75% of your max, and play that speed for as long as possible without stopping, at least 5 minutes to build your stamina

also try playing 8ths with each leg to a medium speed, for 4 bars at a time. This has helped me get my left leg more on time and stronger