Double Bass Inconsistency

Chrispb7

Member
Hey guys, Heres a frustrating situation. Friday when I practiced, after warming up,
i could play sixteenth notes at 180 bpm cleanly on my double pedal. Saturday was the
same thing. I took sunday off and today when i played, I was doing like, 140 bpm cleanly
tops. This is not the first time this has happened. My theory is something to do with
the motion, like when i have a good day my legs and ankles are combining motions
but i dont know for sure.

does anyone know what i can do to fix this?
 
It's your body. Some days you'll have good days, some days will be dreadful.

I assume you're new to double bass? It will take you years to be able to play those tempos consistently. I've been double-bassing for just over 3 years and am maxing out at about 225BPM. Just keep practicing.
 
Hey guys, Heres a frustrating situation. Friday when I practiced, after warming up,
i could play sixteenth notes at 180 bpm cleanly on my double pedal. Saturday was the
same thing. I took sunday off and today when i played, I was doing like, 140 bpm cleanly
tops. This is not the first time this has happened. My theory is something to do with
the motion, like when i have a good day my legs and ankles are combining motions
but i dont know for sure.

does anyone know what i can do to fix this?

Oh the lovely depressing world of practicing double bass. Believe me friend you will have many days like this. However there is light at the end of the tunnel. Don't delve too deep into the situation, just keep plugging away with what you are doing and eventually you'll be playing the speeds consistently every day of the week.

Sometimes your body feels tired, sometimes just your legs feel tired and sometimes you just can't get the motions down.

I'll tell you now, I've been playing double bass for about 4 and a half years and just a month ago I was nearly in tears cause I couldn't play it one day even half as good as usual. One problem I had was fiddling with settings on my pedal and not sticking with them, this happened for a good couple of years too so I have decided to stop doing that and concentrate on technique, quite a tough decision but it has payed off and I'm now back on form and loving it.

Practice makes perfect and don't dismiss that fact. The fact that you have achieved something one day and can't do it the next shows it is not quite built in yet but you can do it because if you couldn't, you wouldn't have.
 
The problem could very well be biological. When muscle cells are exercised and stressed over time, they grow larger, and sometimes they die and are replaced with new cells. Stretching is so important because it increase blood flow and expedites the process. Your muscle tissue may be undergoing this type of restructuring, and as such may not be prepared to give their best. Strength and speed are on the way, though.
 
Alright guys thanks so much you're making me feel a bit better about this haha. I guess
it;s more common than i thought
 
I guess
it;s more common than i thought
It's one of the most common problems there are when it comes to double bass. Pretty much everybody meets it at least once when developing those skills. Don't worry about it and don't forget that playing double bass is one of the most physically demanding things in drumming - you need to take a break every few days to let your muscles recuperate.
 
Probably what you are experiencing is a known phenomenon based on "blocked practice" vs. "random practice." Blocked practice is when we do numerous practice runs in a row. So...if you're practicing a double bass pattern, and you repeatedly do the pattern 50 times, that would be blocked practice. Random practice would mean doing the pattern 50 times as well, but not all in a row. With random practice, you might do the pattern once and then spend 15 minutes working on reading or hand technique. Then do the pattern once again, and take a break to eat lunch or answer an email. You would keep this up until you eventually reached 50 repetitions.

Scientists have been studying the effects of these 2 approaches for many years, and the results have been extremely interesting. When people use blocked practice, they achieve much greater results during the practice session itself. So...using our example from above...the 50th practice run of a person who did blocked practice would be much better than the 50th run of the person who did random practice. HOWEVER...if both of these people stop drumming for a couple of days and come back for what is called a "retention test," the findings are startling. The person who did the random practice will wipe out the person who did the blocked practice. Incredible, right? The person who did blocked practice will find that they cannot get close to what they achieved on their 50th run during the practice session. Meanwhile, the random practicer will find that they can perform at almost the same level as where they left off during the practice session.

I think you are doing some version of "blocked practice," which leads you to a deceptively high performance level during the practice session itself. Then a few days later, you are coming back to it and administering a "retention test" to yourself. You are finding that your performance is far below the level where you left it. It is the same thing that scientists have been seeing for many years when studying this type of thing. The solution? Now that you know about this, start using random practice.

Best of luck.
 
Probably what you are experiencing is a known phenomenon based on "blocked practice" vs. "random practice." Blocked practice is when we do numerous practice runs in a row. So...if you're practicing a double bass pattern, and you repeatedly do the pattern 50 times, that would be blocked practice. Random practice would mean doing the pattern 50 times as well, but not all in a row. With random practice, you might do the pattern once and then spend 15 minutes working on reading or hand technique. Then do the pattern once again, and take a break to eat lunch or answer an email. You would keep this up until you eventually reached 50 repetitions.

Scientists have been studying the effects of these 2 approaches for many years, and the results have been extremely interesting. When people use blocked practice, they achieve much greater results during the practice session itself. So...using our example from above...the 50th practice run of a person who did blocked practice would be much better than the 50th run of the person who did random practice. HOWEVER...if both of these people stop drumming for a couple of days and come back for what is called a "retention test," the findings are startling. The person who did the random practice will wipe out the person who did the blocked practice. Incredible, right? The person who did blocked practice will find that they cannot get close to what they achieved on their 50th run during the practice session. Meanwhile, the random practicer will find that they can perform at almost the same level as where they left off during the practice session.

I think you are doing some version of "blocked practice," which leads you to a deceptively high performance level during the practice session itself. Then a few days later, you are coming back to it and administering a "retention test" to yourself. You are finding that your performance is far below the level where you left it. It is the same thing that scientists have been seeing for many years when studying this type of thing. The solution? Now that you know about this, start using random practice.

Best of luck.

I have to say this post intrigued me a lot, and in a way it makes sense, that's pretty cool stuff.
 
Probably what you are experiencing is a known phenomenon based on "blocked practice" vs. "random practice." Blocked practice is when we do numerous practice runs in a row. So...if you're practicing a double bass pattern, and you repeatedly do the pattern 50 times, that would be blocked practice. Random practice would mean doing the pattern 50 times as well, but not all in a row. With random practice, you might do the pattern once and then spend 15 minutes working on reading or hand technique. Then do the pattern once again, and take a break to eat lunch or answer an email. You would keep this up until you eventually reached 50 repetitions.

Scientists have been studying the effects of these 2 approaches for many years, and the results have been extremely interesting. When people use blocked practice, they achieve much greater results during the practice session itself. So...using our example from above...the 50th practice run of a person who did blocked practice would be much better than the 50th run of the person who did random practice. HOWEVER...if both of these people stop drumming for a couple of days and come back for what is called a "retention test," the findings are startling. The person who did the random practice will wipe out the person who did the blocked practice. Incredible, right? The person who did blocked practice will find that they cannot get close to what they achieved on their 50th run during the practice session. Meanwhile, the random practicer will find that they can perform at almost the same level as where they left off during the practice session.

I think you are doing some version of "blocked practice," which leads you to a deceptively high performance level during the practice session itself. Then a few days later, you are coming back to it and administering a "retention test" to yourself. You are finding that your performance is far below the level where you left it. It is the same thing that scientists have been seeing for many years when studying this type of thing. The solution? Now that you know about this, start using random practice.

Best of luck.

This makes me think of the difference between studying consistently for a test vs. trying to cram all of the information the night before a test. The lesson is that you need to practice consistently over time. This is how you achieve long term results. If you practice in large "blocks," you may see only short term results.
 
Dude im going through the same process! i've went from 120 to damn near 200 controlled strokes and kept up at it throughout 2009 into 2010 untill about 3-4 months ago. I started pushing myself too hard and started tensing up during shows at tempos 170-180.

Now i can bearly solo over the top of 140-170 tempo...it really blows so i'm backing down to 120

So in turn i'm re starting from scratch working on speed/endurance workouts working my muscles in a controlled GOOD technique kinda fashion, upping the BPM by 3 once i gain full control of a tempo

totally sucks, but the way i look at it is...if i've done those tempos before and all these great drummers can do it as well...why cant i? ....thats how i look at it..you cannot let it defeat you
 
practice makes perfect. practice means you have less good/bad days and more good days, less fluctuations. take up running & cycling.
 
Well First off I find that wearing socks or shoes can affect my playing. Im honestly alot faster and smoother in bear feet or really thin souled shoes. But socks make me slip all over the place. Another thing witch surprsingly affects my ability to keep a smooth rythm is the weather. If its extremely cold then I find it alot harder to kick as fast as usual. If its just right then I find playing soo much easyer and it is slightly harder when in extreme heat but not as bad as cold weather :)
 
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