practicing the foot...

I hope you can help me with my practice...

I've been practicing my right foot lately
for double kick drum patterns, because I
think its too slow.

my question is, what technique do you use
to play faster strokes... if on the hands
we use the fingers to play faster notes,
what about the feet?

and any kick & hand pattenrs that you can
suggest?

thanks and hope to hear from you guys... [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

There are so many methods it's rediculous. Here's my rediculous method. I generally play with my heel down and can play a decent double bounce. When I need extra pop I hold my leg up and pivot my ankle. It's the exact same motion as heel down (my knee does not go up and down). I literally throw the pedal board down with an ankle pivot and bounce it like bouncing a ball close to the ground. It helps to have the pedal tension loose. It's good for doubles and foot rolls. But, it's not good for long periods of time because you have to hold your leg up to do it, which gets tiring and can be a bit of a balance problem.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 21, 2005 12:24 AM: Message edited by: Henry II ]</font>

Ya I'd say heel-up for fast and powerful double strokes. Just practice them a lot. Play to grooves that use them (like that one tune of off blue matter with the last two triplets on the bass drum). Samba patterns and shuffle patterns (with the bd on shuffling) also really help.

thanks for the help..

I use heel down method when practicing the single
stroke roll on hands & foot (don't have a double ped)

well i generally play heel up because of it's solid
sound... how about the tension of the pedals as you
guys mentioned, if I play heel up, would I tighten
or loosen my pedal tension? what works best?

thanks again... [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

Teacher, teacher, teacher. Get a teacher! It is really impossible to describe such things on here acurately. If you have a good technical teacher, then you'll be fine. It is best to have good advice, IN PERSON advice, to begin with so you don't have to unlearn bad habits. It pays off to pay someone to sit there and see exactly what you are doing right and wrong and have them be able to show you how to fix it, to have their undivided attention on your technique.

Trust me [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

Check out the Steve Smith's newest DVD. He covers this topic.

yeah matrics...

I agree with you about getting an instructor, BUT,
unless that instructor has studied in a US
percussion school, i won't even bother...

drummers here (even professionals) are mostly
self taught, even if they did go to school my
friend told me they were never given a lesson
on technique, kinda like "what's suites you"...

and it's from a known music school here [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]

if I would find an instructor here who studied w/
Weckl, Smith or even Steve Holmes, i'll never pass
the opportunity and get lessons from him...

Try playing slow, loud and very accurately heel up. Try to absolutely nail the timing (with a metronome). I'd suggest basic rock beats out of a book. The variety can help keep you interested. Then go a little faster. As your speed gradually increases, over the next few months, use less power, but don't sacrifice your accuracy. Most people that struggle to play fast have both speed and accuracy issues. One helps the other, IMHO.

Try also developing your Samba foot pattern:
(R-LRR-LRR-LRR-LR), since that can help your doubles too. Once again start very slow, so it's about the timing and playing solidly. Good luck!

thanks for the tips... as always, it's great getting
good info here [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

Try finding a Bass-drum pattern which you love to hear on records etc. and practice that on your own, make it feel comfortable. Practice Music. [img]wink.gif[/img]