Build Your Double Bass Drum Chops
Part 2
In Part 1 of Build Your Double Bass Chops (see Sidebar) I gave you some exercises to develop your feet first, followed by hands against feet. In this segment I share some advanced exercises from my book, DoubleDrum: A Double Bass Drum Text. These exercises make great four-way coordination and independence studies for the single Bass Drummer too, simply by substituting the Hi-Hat in place of the second Bass Drum.
Triplet Combinations
The following exercises will help develop your coordination and use of the second bass drum using eighth and
sixteenth note triplet combinations. See Excerpts 1 and 2.
Excerpt 1
Excerpt 2
Play each exercise slowly at first. After you can play each exercise cleanly and evenly, increase the speed. Try to be as relaxed when playing your feet as you are with your hands. If your hands are not relaxed, see my Building Monster Chops lesson series (in the Sidebar).
Jazz Application
Excerpt 3 is an example of how you can apply the second Bass Drum in the Jazz vein.
Excerpt 3
In Excerpt 3 above, the cymbal is playing a straight swing pattern for practice purposes. In actual use, you should vary the cymbal pattern as you would when playing any Jazz tune.
Rock Application
Excerpt 4 shows the use of a second Bass Drum in a more familiar application - Rock. Make sure that you play
the accents on the Snare Drum on the beats of 2 and 4 in the first 2 bars of Excerpt 4.
Excerpt 4
Getting Creative
Excerpt 5 shows an example of interaction between the Snare/Toms and Double Bass Drums that can be used for
Drum fills and breaks.
Excerpt 5
Solo Ideas
The remaining exercises show some of my ideas for applying the Double Bass in a Solo framework.
Excerpt 6 is an example of playing a 2 bar ostinato (repeating) pattern on the Double Bass, against changing rhythms in the hands.
Excerpt 6
In Excerpt 7, both the Double Bass and the left hand Snare Drum patterns repeat against a varying right hand part. Practice this one while playing the right hand on various drums around the set.
Excerpt 7
When it comes to applying a second Bass Drum, creativity is the key word. Chops alone mean nothing if what you play doesn't sound good and, more important, doesn't fit the context of the song.
Experiment with my exercises and try to develop some of your own. Eventually, you will develop a style of Double Bass drumming that you can call your own. And that's where the fun really begins.
Note: All exercises in this article are from my book, DoubleDrum: A Double Bass Drum Text.
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Until next time: Stay loose.
Click the following link for Building Your Double Bass Drum Chops: Part 1!