Foot Technique question - Foo Fighters - My Hero

[DRJ5150]

Hi,

I'm hoping for some help on the groove to the Foo Fighters song, My Hero.

What foot technique would be themost efficient, and what would you recommend that I use? All heel up or heel down? Or would this be an example where heel toe technique is used? I have been working on this for ages but I still can't get it to flow. I'm probably using a combination of heel up and heel/toe at the moment, but would appreciate advice from those of you who can play it properly.

I regularly work on foot technique and the different permutations of where the kick can be placed. Continuous 16th notes (4 or more) on the kick above 60bpm are a real weak point for me. I'm also not sure how much effect the spring tension on the pedal has on this?

Thanks for reading.
Cheers

 

[caddywumpus]

There are many ways to do this. First of all, since it’s a rock song, it *should* be heel up.

I would recommend playing it through and figuring out what tempo you can play it at cleanly with basic foot technique. Then, shed it for however long you need to in order to play it at faster speeds, with control and cleanliness being your number one goals (speed will come AFTER control, comfort, and confidence are achieved). Strive to be able to play it quite a bit faster than you need to—that way, you’re not maxing out every time you play it (and, in the likely event that your band ends up playing it at a faster tempo, you’ve still got it). This is called headroom.

With that said, there are some techniques that you might naturally gravitate towards, such as heel toe, footboard sliding, or heel swiveling. I’m naturally a heel swiveler, and when I play a bass drum part like this, I end up playing with two different muscle groups, alternating notes, so I don’t get tired playing it at all. But, your results, your techniques, and your body’s natural inclinations may vary. Find what works, naturally, for you, and exploit it!

Good luck!

 

[Jeff Graw]

None.

It's not a hugely difficult song.

Do the most vanilla and natural thing, whether that's heel up or down, and work on it until that song isn't even something where you need to think about your right foot endurance. If needed, slow the song down and slowly move the tempo up. Use whatever spring tension is most comfortable, or a little bit higher than that. Playing near your max comfort zone will yield faster improvement than if you're trying and failing at a level far above it.

My advice is to not to go hunting for advanced techniques or shortcuts until your right foot is somewhat developed, or it is likely to get in the way of developing your right foot. That isn't to say to never learn the advanced stuff, just that I wouldn't yet in your situation.

 

[DRJ5150]

Thanks for the replies. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't another way I should be working on this.

Cheers

 

[Stroman]

Thanks for the replies. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't another way I should be working on this.

Cheers

Looking for a "technique" seems to be the modern way. When I learned to play, the approach was, "this is the part. Figure out how to play it."

All the modern techniques are just means to an end. Make the sound you want to hear.

I don't mean to sound snide. It's just that, there is no single approach. Whatever technique works for you is the one you should use.

 

[Lunasee]

One technique I would consider is double pedals.

 

[doggyd69b]

Hi,

I'm hoping for some help on the groove to the Foo Fighters song, My Hero.
View attachment 150041
What foot technique would be themost efficient, and what would you recommend that I use? All heel up or heel down? Or would this be an example where heel toe technique is used? I have been working on this for ages but I still can't get it to flow. I'm probably using a combination of heel up and heel/toe at the moment, but would appreciate advice from those of you who can play it properly.

I regularly work on foot technique and the different permutations of where the kick can be placed. Continuous 16th notes (4 or more) on the kick above 60bpm are a real weak point for me. I'm also not sure how much effect the spring tension on the pedal has on this?

Thanks for reading.
Cheers

I would use heel up, and (I don't need to but you might) use also a swivel motion to reach the correct tempo without getting too tired to fast.
To me at this point that song is not difficult but I remember back in the day (when it came out it seemed a lot harder), then again I have been practicing (at my desk) a lot more singles, heel toe and doubles, I am trying to reach the correct speed for Bleed by Messhuggah, I'm at like 90% (If I'm playing everything [hats, snare, and the double bass], but I still struggle to keep everything clean), I either mess up the snare or the hats, if I play only the double bass I can probably reach 95 percent of the correct speed). Now I was playing it wrong for a while, I was playing R L RR which for some reason I was able to play cleaner and basically at the same speed until I saw this girl in YouTube showing how she did it which is RLR L or at least that sound correct and it is much easier to wrap my head around.. Don't be like me, see the professionals advice instead before you end up practicing the wrong pattern.

He can play it wrong and we won't care:

 

[Stroman]

Looking for a "technique" seems to be the modern way. When I learned to play, the approach was, "this is the part. Figure out how to play it."

All the modern techniques are just means to an end. Make the sound you want to hear.

I don't mean to sound snide. It's just that, there is no single approach. Whatever technique works for you is the one you should use.

PS - heel up.

 

[doggyd69b]

PS - heel up.

I also suggested heel up, but if for some reason heel down works for you then DO THAT! drumming is not a one size fits all thing, some techniques might work great for me but not so much for you. The other thing that has not been mentioned, (to the OP of course) You should play very relaxed even when the parts are fast once you start tensing up you are going to work harder and be less accurate. My suggestion is to slow the song down to a tempo that you can execute without gassing out (The whole song) then start speeding it up every day by 6 to 10 bpm until you get to the actual speed, then don't stop there, play it at maybe 20bpm faster, get used to that, then when you finally go back to the actual speed, it will feel way too easy.

 

[Stroman]

I also suggested heel up, but if for some reason heel down works for you then DO THAT! drumming is not a one size fits all thing, some techniques might work great for me but not so much for you. The other thing that has not been mentioned, (to the OP of course) You should play very relaxed even when the parts are fast once you start tensing up you are going to work harder and be less accurate. My suggestion is to slow the song down to a tempo that you can execute without gassing out (The whole song) then start speeding it up every day by 6 to 10 bpm until you get to the actual speed, then don't stop there, play it at maybe 20bpm faster, get used to that, then when you finally go back to the actual speed, it will feel way too easy.

For sure. I'm not pedantic about technique. As I said in my original post, just figure out how to make the sound you want.