dom famularo feet exercise

KingAlbert

Junior Member
Hi,

Some nine months ago I attended a masterclass of Dom Famularo. He was speaking about Stick Control and his approach to practice 1 page of the book during a week, every day, playing 1 exercise during 1 minute... and after 50 weeks or so you would have killer hands (his words)

He also said that you can apply this method for your feet ... and this regards my question... and to do this exercises you don't even need a double pedal or do it behind the kit. He said, just sit down on a trone and do it on the floor, heels down . and after 50 weeks you would have killer feet (his words again), even so for your heels-up technique

Now, since that masterclass I have worked my hands intensively (1 to2 hours a day on a pad) and there is great progression.

Now I want to start with the feet, without a double pedal, just feet on the ground, heels down. Normally I play heels up.

Has anyone have experience with this, that even when practicing heels down, your heels-up technique improves also?

thanks
 
I think it's going to be good practice, but if you have a pedal there, just practice on that. My left foot is great on the floor but it has a lot of catching up to do once it actually gets on a pedal. My leg/ankle motion is totally different on the pedal vs the floor.
 
I actually bought stick control with the intention of using it for my feet. I haven't been using it as much as I should and so my feet still suck, but I'm using it for my hands as well - they're fairly basic exercises if you think about them but so hard to master, and mastering them would just be awesome. I can definitely see the benefit of doing this.
 
It's ok, I did it for a few months after hearing Dom talk about it but it is in no way a substitute for real world heel up practice.

Do it on Futz pedals and you'll get more out of it.
 
It's ok, I did it for a few months after hearing Dom talk about it but it is in no way a substitute for real world heel up practice.

Do it on Futz pedals and you'll get more out of it.

I start to realize even with heel up, a lot of the quick bass hits are played with the ankle. (i.e. the pivot is at the ankle, not the entire leg.) That's essentially the same movement as heel down. It looks like practicing heel down will help.

Does it make sense?
 
OT, but I think it's important to say "Dom Famularo" the way Luca Brasi says "Don Corleone" in this scene from The Godfather.

http://youtu.be/9j2ONndiFdA

I suspect you'll never be able to hear the name Dom Famularo without imagining this scene from now on.
 
The thing with practising heel down, is that you work different muscles than you do with heel up. The point to Dom's suggestion is just that it is a good idea to work all your leg muscles for drumming. If you ever watch closely when Dom plays kick pedals, he has complete control heel up and heel down.
 
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