Drum set players are special musicians. We have to use four limbs to play our instrument to its fullest potential. So the better we are at playing with hands and feet, the better drummers we'll subsequently be. The problem with this is that many drummers focus almost exclusively on the hands. With time, they develop great dexterity with their hands - great speed, power and dynamic control - while the feet get left behind. This is obviously a big problem since you'll lose a ton of musical possibilities by having underdeveloped feet. This is especially true if you take in consideration that foot technique is one of the fields of drumming that has seen more developments over the past few decades. That's why we've put together the Bass Drum Lessons section of DrumLessons.com. Here, you'll get access to a large array of free drum lessons on bass drum techniques; exercises for developing speed, power, endurance, and control with single and double pedal; and double bass drum beats and drum fills. Watch the free drum lesson "Essential Bass Drum Techniques" to get started.
The free drum lesson on essential bass drum techniques teaches you how to play the bass drum using heel-up and heel-down. These two techniques are the ones behind most of the strokes you'll ever play on the bass drum and with the hi-hat foot pedal. Knowing how to perform these techniques is one thing, knowing how to develop them is another. The free drum lessons "Bass Drum Independence Etude" and "Beginner Single Pedal Bass Drum Speed" have exercises for developing foot independence, speed, power, endurance and control with both techniques. These exercises can be used with your weaker foot as well, for improving your double pedal (double bass drum pedal, two bass drums, or a single bass drum pedal/hi-hat pedal combination) chops.
Much like with the hands, you're not limited to playing single strokes with the feet. Double and even triple strokes are pretty common in the world of bass drumming. The free drum lesson "Intermediate Single Pedal Bass Drum Speed" and "Advanced Single Pedal Bass Drum Speed" provide effective exercises for improving your ability to play consistent sounding double and triple strokes with the feet. You'll eventually hit speed thresholds which are not possible to overcome with the use of heel-up or heel-down. The best way to go about this is to learn how to play the heel-toe technique or how to play the slide technique.
Players from different genres of music have instilled double bass drumming into their music and drumming over the last few decades. This has made of double bass drumming a very important aspect of drum set playing. Because of the technical facilities one gains from developing both feet, it enables for richer sounding rhythmic patterns on the bass drum and the ability to spread strokes between all kinds of pedal-operated instruments. To help you develop your feet properly, we've put together a free drum lesson on "Double Bass Warm-Ups". These exercises can be used to improve your coordination, speed, and endurance as well. Speed and endurance are probably the biggest concerns double bass drummers have. To learn more about how to get more speed and stamina, check the free drum lessons "Double Bass Speed Tips" and "Flat Foot Technique".
Practicing double bass speed, power, control, coordination and endurance is something you should strive for and work on daily. But ultimately, having great technical facilities will mean nothing if you don't use them somewhere. Drum solos are great for you to play around with double bass drumming. If you're more interested in using your double bass chops in actual music, go through the free drum lessons "Double Bass Drum Beats", "Beginner Double Bass Drum Fills." and "Intermediate Double Bass Drum Fills".
