Barracuda HH / BD independence?

bvoom

Junior Member
I am jumping into the deep end trying to learn this as a beginner, but I figure if I keep trying I will eventually get it. The problem is that this is the first groove I have studied that presents an independence issue that I don't know how to overcome.

I can play the bass and snare. I can play the snare and HH. But I cant play the HH and BD together. I keep the 8ths going on the HH, but whenever I try to do the quick bass notes, my HH picks up the same rythym. I can't just keep playing 8ths on HH!

Can someone make a suggestion how to break through this limitation? This is kinda scary as it seems no matter how much I try, I am not making progress. Its like the right side of my body is wired together.
 
Play it slowly with control. Reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaly slooooooooooooooowlllly!!!!

And don't forget to count.

The universal answer for anythong that's "hard" in music.
 
Play at song tempo, along with the Cd/Record with the 8th notes on hat, and play just 1/4 notes on the bass drum. 2 and 4 on the snare. You'll start to feel the pulse after a while.
Play that "4 on the floor" pattern until you can "skip" on the bass drum.

Also watch some YT videos of the song.

The KWSU performance is a good one for this song, if you can find it.

Good luck, this is a really fun song to play!
 
Play at song tempo, along with the Cd/Record with the 8th notes on hat, and play just 1/4 notes on the bass drum. 2 and 4 on the snare. You'll start to feel the pulse after a while.
Play that "4 on the floor" pattern until you can "skip" on the bass drum.

Also watch some YT videos of the song.

The KWSU performance is a good one for this song, if you can find it.

Good luck, this is a really fun song to play!
Thanks, I'm still working on it.

I found that just playing 1-3 BD and only doing the bass drum gallop every other measure on the 3 is easier. Once i get it I will be able to do it everywhere.
 
Try playing 8th notes with the left foot on the hat, fairly slowly but counting each 1-and-2-and... Then try to hit the bass drum on a different beat/count. Start with once each measure. On the 1, then on the 1-and, then the 2, and so on. Then you can try multiple hits in each measure. Maybe start with something easier and further apart like the 1 and the and of 2. Then you can work your way up to doing two eights in succession. You can also drop the eights on the hat down to quarters, but keep counting the eights in your head.

If you want to get more involved, you can also do this counting sixteenths. Which will really help you with subdividing and those lurchy "out of time" licks that really are in time. Just not the obvious places.
 
Try playing 8th notes with the left foot on the hat, fairly slowly but counting each 1-and-2-and... Then try to hit the bass drum on a different beat/count. Start with once each measure. On the 1, then on the 1-and, then the 2, and so on. Then you can try multiple hits in each measure. Maybe start with something easier and further apart like the 1 and the and of 2. Then you can work your way up to doing two eights in succession. You can also drop the eights on the hat down to quarters, but keep counting the eights in your head.

If you want to get more involved, you can also do this counting sixteenths. Which will really help you with subdividing and those lurchy "out of time" licks that really are in time. Just not the obvious places.

Wow, thanks. I see what you are suggesting, how to mix it up to break through. I looped the last minute of Barracuda and tried to play it for 45 minutes. Part of the problem is the heel toe toe bounce on the BD.

I still like trying to play this, but I'm going to pick some easy covers to work on as well.
 
I think counting out loud really helps me with this kind of stuff. The only thing I do different is to count Kick and Snare and Kick and snare and .... instead of one and two and ....

Not always but when you need to work through a complicated thing it helps to be able to sing it to yourself in some way. Then, when I have it I can go back to counting with numbers.
 
I honestly don't think there is any easy way to "break" right side dependence. It just takes patience and repetition. Three tips that sometimes help me:

(1) practice some rudiments between the right hand and the right foot (instead of the right hand and left hand), such as paradidles, double strokes, etc. Then practice some rudiments between the right and left hands and have your right foot mimic what the left hand is playing and then what the right hand is playing. Then practice some rudiments between your right foot and left hand and have your right hand mimic what the right foot is doing and then what the left hand is doing. Then think up some other combinations using all four limbs until you feel nauseous.

(2) when playing the Barracuda beat, instead of focusing on your bass foot and left hand and expecting the right hand 8th notes to be in cruise control, place your entire focus on the right hand playing the 8th notes and let the bass foot and left hand go into cruise control- then keep playing until you can get the bass and snare to fall into the correct sequence;

(3) figure out where the HH hits fall in the sequence of the snare and bass hits and think of the HH hits as "accents" rather than as continuous 8th notes- slowly at first. Hope this makes sense.
 
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Just buy The Drummers Cookbook and practice practice practice. I use to teach out of this book because i think it is one of the best books out there for rock drumming. and you learn great right side independence
 
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