RamboKnife
Senior Member
Re: Heel Toe
I have a size 16...am I screwed?
I have a size 16...am I screwed?
jammaster said:here is what Jojo Mayer says about heel-toe technique:
jammaster said:Ok I feel a need to step in...
The heel-toe technique is NOT a heel an toe there is actually NO HEEL STROKE!
The ''heel stroke'' is actually a toe down stroke.
For example, if you want to start with toe up stroke or toe stroke, rise ur upper leg and in the same time move your foot down. This part is pretty simple, now comes the hardest part, now the toe down stroke or the ''heel stroke'', it is the opposite, you have to move your upper leg down and your foot up (just a bit) so now you have the double stroke motion. Now try to keep it fluent.
If you don't understand my explanation watch the
Jojo Mayer's Nreve video clip from MD 2005
(1:33 min) as you can see, his heel never touches the foot board (well it does, but not in order to make a stroke)
also, check out Steve Smith's DVD - The History Of US Beat, great explanation of the heel-toe technique.
jammaster said:The basic idea is to generate the first "down"- stroke launched from your heel up position, generated from your knee, not your toes (important!).Followed by a 2nd " up"- stroke, generated by the calf. So your leg goes :
up-down, up-down,(bam-bam, bam-bam..).
It LOOKS's like a heel toe action but really it is kne (heel) -toe. That's the secret !
i pay lot's of attention to the way i feel when i play. Dont' squeeze. Be patient let it grow naturally...experiment,observe yourself, use your immagination, relax, relax, RELAX, be patient! It took me a long time to cultivate and master this technique, and as im trying to improve it's still a work in progress to this day..
Learning a new technique is like growing a rare tropical plant. It requires sensitivity and all the above more than just hours of mindless shedding...
To conclude : wathever you do with your feet, allways be aware of were your balance and center is. Try to stay balanced and relaxed, it's important to every aspect of your playing and it starts with the way you sit and your pedal work. It's easy to loose center when getting into that kinda' right foot stuff!
Good luck,
Jojo Mayer''
mr_hayward_99 said:After watching the vieo, I started practicing this nonstop. problem im running into is i dont think my pedal tension(sp?) is high enough anyopne out there have any tips on finding the right tension to get good rebount on the foot pad. i use DW4000 double bass pedals FYI
Whitey
so i think not so much tension, i have never used a DW pedal, apart from in a shop once. so dont really know what that ones like
I use a basic mapex pedal with not much bounce on it at all, and i find that easier beacuse if youy have to much tension the pedal just bounces to much and ur foot can t keep up with it,
jammaster said:I'm really glad that I could help someone Your welcome
I tell you Jojo's technique is that perfect that he can play whatever he wants at whatever volume or dynamics. The Steve Smith's heel-toe aproach is pretty much the same.Stu_Strib said:That JoJo style tends to get erratic at times with uneven volumes (the Blackwell one too). Smith's seems to give perfectly equal volume beats.
jammaster said:I tell you Jojo's technique is that perfect that he can play whatever he wants at whatever volume or dynamics. The Steve Smith's heel-toe aproach is pretty much the same.
Yes, Jojo has a bit different approach but the idea and the basic motion is the same. It's for the sake of power, notice that Steve does it pretty lightStu_Strib said:Smith's foot doesn't go all floppy though. It maintains contact pretty much the whole time.