Double Bass

[cghazarian]

Hey there everyone, I need help on playing double bass, I got it a few weeks ago and got my double kicks, now I'd like to know how to put that all together and play beats. Does anyone know any free websites where I could learn them? Please help, I need it by this week. Thanks a million.

Carl Ghazarian

[BBJones]

Well... think of your feet the same as you hands.

Practice the same things with your feet, put as much time into your feet as you do your hands. Then you will be able to play double bass.

There are no shortcuts. Think about how long it took you to learn anything with your hands... you'll need that much time with your feet.

Cheers

[.tom]

it's hard to say wut will work best for you but incorporate a couple excersizes i use;


* dbl kik all 16th notes while holding 8th note time on (same beat as ur 1 foot) hh @100bpm. do some of the excersize like that and then add in the snare snap of 4/4 and also 2/4. eventually add fills but always keep in mind this set of excersizes is about double kik. it's important to get ur strokes even so u can get faster and gain control. blast beats baby go for up to 15 mins and take a short break.

move the rate up to 110bpm n repeat all that stuff^ up there. spend 15 mins or as long as you can with each of these that is close to 15 mins each.


2) play 16th note triplets starting at 70bpm using the same hand patterns i wrote b4. get them even and add snare snap. break. move the tempo to 75bpm. 80 bpm.



c) practice 8th note dbl and switch to 16th notes while u play. practice 3 stroke triplets as bursts. this means a single stroke roll made of 3 strokes from each pedal.


just remember to keep the strokes even and work on speed too. move the beaters closer to the head too -shorten the stroke on the pedal to get speed. try it, adjust it where u like it.

[BBJones]

Originally Posted by .tom

... move the beaters closer to the head too -shorten the stroke on the pedal to get speed. try it, adjust it where u like it.

While that might work for some people I highly recommend you play around with your pedal set up a lot. I've found you need to really tweak your gear a lot if you're pushing top speeds (240+) anything under that is acheiveable on any setup with any pedals pretty much.

Your throne height and position will play a huge part in your double bass as well.

You will also very likely change your set up as you improve. When you get stronger, you won't need gear to compensate for your lack of ability as much so you may change it.

Put as much time into practicing as you can.

[.tom]

...it'll be a while b4 a beginner attempts 240bpm single strokes it's funny how we do fidget with the kit for some kind of edge to speed when really, it just takes new muscles and a year or 2 of practicing and development time to get there. cool post, welcome 2 da boards

[cghazarian]

lol, thanks a million i agree. I have been practicing a lot and have been improving. A ?. What kind of pedal do you use?

[BBJones]

I'm currently using Axis longboards primarily becuase of the eKit attachment (triggers right on the pedals woo!).

But I've used most brands of double pedals... DW's are probably still my favourite with Iron Cobras my least favourite (of the higher priced stuff).

Axis pedals take a long time to get used to. They are light (all aluminum) and direct drive. Nothing like a typical DW or Pearl.

[cghazarian]

O, i c. I got a dual chain drive PDP pedal. Not bad for 200$ Its really comfy and all, I just wanted to know how to get your leg speed up. Are there any exercise you could do to improve certain muscles of your leg?

Thnx again.
Carl Ghazarian

[BBJones]

Yes there are.

But really, the best exercises are practicing

For feet, there are 2 primary ways to play:
- Heel up where the balls of your feet stay on the pedal, your heel comes up and down, think of your knee moving up and down to drive your heel into the pedal, great for power
- Heel down where your feel lay flat on the pedal all the time. This will really burn up the front of your shin in a hurry.

Now, even if you don't play heel down, practice heel down. It is an excellent way to focus on the muscles and build control. Because you have much less power with heel down you have to use the muscles that control your ankle much more than swinging your knee up and down in the heel up method.

Practice heel down with things as simple as single stroke rolls at any tempo you can keep up for a minute.

Always use a metronome by the way, but you should be used to this from normal practice.

So practice single stroke heel down, then the same thing at the same tempo with heel up.

Then double stroke, just make sure you are focusing on control and not speed.

Most importantly, try very hard to force yourself to relax your muscles in your hips, legs and ankles. Think of trying to be as fluid as you can where the muscles are influencing the movement and flow, not forcing it.

Some drummers develop techiques where it is like you are sprinting on your pedals with every muscle from your stomach through you hips down to your toes are tight and flexed. That is really more of a controlled spastic technique. Focusing on being relaxed will allow you much more control and flexibility in terms of patterns and feel.

But, I'm sure you just want to pound out some double bass for now at least

It's just always a good idea to start off in the right direction to save yourself from having to unlearn things down the road.

Play some basic rolls with your hands then try to do the same thing with your feet even if you have to do at half speed. Let your hands teach your feet the patterns.

Again practicing heel down and heel up.

As speeds increase it is all about efficiency. Same thing with your hands really. Play a single stroke roll with your hands, bring up the speed and notice your strokes get shorter and shorter. Same thing with your feet. As speeds increase you move less and less.

It might help to know what BPM or style you're working towards. But all the same basics apply.

[cghazarian]

Dude thanks so much! I've tryed a few of the things u said, and my legs already hurt. Awsome advice! Thanks soo much!

- Carl Ghazarian