single pedal technique

yjb63

Senior Member
does anybody know a good single pedal technique aside from heel toe? I can allready do fast doubles but I want to get my triples and other stuff down too.
 
does anybody know a good single pedal technique aside from heel toe? I can allready do fast doubles but I want to get my triples and other stuff down too.

How and when do you articularte notes with your foot, as opposed to relying on rebound? that's key to single pedal work.

I think this is the first thread I have noticed on single pedal technique. There is a new one on double pedal every day. This is refreshing.
 
i heard of this technique only last week, its called the bounce triplet, kinda like heel toe, its all about spring tension tho, gotta have it tweaked right, one stroke tho, you just kinda drop your heel back, then let the pedal do the rest.
 
I cannot emphasise the development of dynamics enough either. Most guys these days forget that the foot is capable of different levels of volume, just as the hands are. As well as the aforementioned, remember that crescendo and diminuendo are good exercise techniques as well as developing dynamic independence of the limbs individually. Rather than learning to play notes, learn how to play those notes. Beater into the head, beater off the head, loud, soft and everything in between and you'll manage to develop expressive single-pedal technique. Heel up and heel down are both critical techniques and you should learn them both and use them appropriately.

Sadly, I think the art of subtlety on the bass drum has largely been lost. Ghost notes on the bass are a great way of adding some spice into a mix. We do it with the snare, why not with the bass? The same goes for the hi hat control foot - different dynamic levels can apply. Learn to incorporate all these into your single-pedal playing and you'll discover you have a considerable expressive edge over other drummers.
 
The constant release is a great technique to work on, since it develops both your heel up and heel down playing musculature, and learning the motion makes playing fast groups of three (or more) a lot easier.
 
I cannot emphasise the development of dynamics enough either. Most guys these days forget that the foot is capable of different levels of volume, just as the hands are. As well as the aforementioned, remember that crescendo and diminuendo are good exercise techniques as well as developing dynamic independence of the limbs individually. Rather than learning to play notes, learn how to play those notes. Beater into the head, beater off the head, loud, soft and everything in between and you'll manage to develop expressive single-pedal technique. Heel up and heel down are both critical techniques and you should learn them both and use them appropriately.

Sadly, I think the art of subtlety on the bass drum has largely been lost. Ghost notes on the bass are a great way of adding some spice into a mix. We do it with the snare, why not with the bass? The same goes for the hi hat control foot - different dynamic levels can apply. Learn to incorporate all these into your single-pedal playing and you'll discover you have a considerable expressive edge over other drummers.

yes in that we can all do what we want with this stuff whenever we want it
however
in various settings (we all know which) its just not appropriate...look at stanger - so many of those kick beats would have soudned right with studio gating and even dynamic playing
 
I honestly feel that too many drummers worry about advanced bass drum skills long before they are solid with the fundamentals. For me, the fundamentals are single strokes and double strokes.

We take these 2 strokes for granted, but very few people can actually do them well. I have taught about 300 private students, including drummers in signed bands and a world famous drumming icon. Through all of this, I have only encountered ONE student who could do clean singles and doubles with no difficulty...and it wasn't the famous drummer! It was an unknown Broadway player!

If you're skeptical about the rarity of clean singles and doubles, just watch any of today's popular drum DVD's. These DVD's feature the greatest drummers in the world. BUT...when the camera zooms in on the foot, you can easily spot the beater making all sorts of extra taps and buzzes against the head! I cringe when I see that. When I'm in the same room with someone doing that, I can also hear it.

So...for anyone interested in one-footed triplets, alternate versions of "heel/toe," or even the advanced techniques that I demonstrate in the second half of my own DVD...I would urge you to first be honest with yourself about your ability with basic singles and doubles. After all, those 2 strokes are all that we will need for 99% of the music in the world.

Matt Ritter
Bass Drum Techniques For Today's Drummer
www.UnBuryingTheBeater.com
 
Good advice from MFB (as usual) and from DMC and MattRitter. I agree that it is great to see some focus on single pedal technique. Check out this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeP4WDCnadc (sorry Bernhard) from NAMM in 2006. And no - contrary to the comments below the video - John does not use heel toe. If you have ever seen him play you will realize that his technique on one pedal is actually much better than the example here because he is playing on a strange kit. On his kit he has the spring about as tight as you can get it. Look out for his new DVD (out next month) which has a section on his single pedal technique!

Paul
 
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