double bassin it

[jakelwilliams]

Hey, im 13, and i just got my first double bass petal. Its a very nice petal, pulse, and i am having lots of fun goofin on it. I have only had it for 2 days, but i am VERY fustrated w/ my left foot. I feel like my left foot is soooo weak. Any excercises you guys got that will help me get my left leg up to speed? thanks alot, JAKE PS. if you want to email me, jakelwilliams@yahoo.com

[morgenthaler]

Hey Jake,- You are right on that special place where anything can happen!
If you start practicing seriously with your new pedal, I am sure you will progress very fast,- your age taken into consideration. My first recomendation to you would be to tray to play all your regular standard grooves, songs etc. with your LEFT foot playing the bassdrum! This way you will pick up endurance, which you will need to start practicing real doublebassdrumming in a little while. There are some good books on the subject,- but really your imagination is the key to improvement!!

Also basic 4's 8's and 16's combinations alone or over a simple beat will be the obvious place to set off. Let us know how you are doing in about a months time.

Let me leave you with 2 quotes from the master himself:

Regarding practicing, and always feeling you are short of a mark: "Patience grows out of it"!!

&

"Don't close your mind to great possibilities"!

[vdreignsuponus1]

starting double bass was also a new world of exploration. my first double pedals were dw4000s, and they were very good for my first pedal! now ive got my pearl eliminators and..heh..have been lovin' em ever since!:)

anyway, ur left foot is really expected to be weak, as a beginner to double bass playing. when practicing, always make sure ur left foot gets just as much attention as ur right! this is something a lot of beginner double bass players should know because it ends up showing in the future! with ur right foot ALWAYS being the stronger foot, massively! and u dont want that! u want everything to be solid and even, just like ur hands! if there's ever a time when u feel that ur left foot is just NOT advancing, try playing all of ur normal grooves with ur left foot and practice that way. it only takes practice my friend and im glad to know uve got an influence like virgil donati at ur age! terrific!:)

practice practice practice man! o, and it wont hurt to throw this quote out there for u..

"a metronome will save u!";)

talk to me on AIM sometime man!

[jakelwilliams]

Hey Jake,- You are right on that special place where anything can happen!
If you start practicing seriously with your new pedal, I am sure you will progress very fast,- your age taken into consideration. My first recomendation to you would be to tray to play all your regular standard grooves, songs etc. with your LEFT foot playing the bassdrum! This way you will pick up endurance, which you will need to start practicing real doublebassdrumming in a little while. There are some good books on the subject,- but really your imagination is the key to improvement!!

Also basic 4's 8's and 16's combinations alone or over a simple beat will be the obvious place to set off. Let us know how you are doing in about a months time.

Let me leave you with 2 quotes from the master himself:

Regarding practicing, and always feeling you are short of a mark: "Patience grows out of it"!!

&

"Don't close your mind to great possibilities"!

hey, i am so far, learning pretty good, i have learned a few beats, and i am now going to start to try and use your guys' advice and switch to using my left foot in normal beats and stuff, should i just play with my hi hat closed? or should i switch to like a lefty's way for a little while? thanks JAKE

[johngregson]

I suppose if you switch to a 'lefty's' way for a bit, that'll exercise your left hand in addition to your left foot. Everyone's a winner!
I believe Mike Mangini used to practice for 8 hours a day, 4 hours right-handed, 4 hours left-handed [can someone correct me on this?]
Good luck with your playing!
John.
P.S. Just to add to the little motivational mantra above:
"Practice [perfectly] Practice [perfectly] Practice [perfectly]!"

[jakelwilliams]

I suppose if you switch to a 'lefty's' way for a bit, that'll exercise your left hand in addition to your left foot. Everyone's a winner!
I believe Mike Mangini used to practice for 8 hours a day, 4 hours right-handed, 4 hours left-handed [can someone correct me on this?]
Good luck with your playing!
John.
P.S. Just to add to the little motivational mantra above:
"Practice [perfectly] Practice [perfectly] Practice [perfectly]!"
That is a good idea, but 1, i dont practice 4 hours a day anyways, (as much as i would like to) and when i switch to the lefty's way, does that mean i have to flip around my entire drumset? my toms, snare, the hi hat, the cymbols....thats alot of moving stuff around for alittle practice, or would i leave it like that? w/e, you guys are the pros lol thanks, if any other of you guys have info, please submit! im lookin for anyway to learn to drum! the more ways to learn, the better you become....and i have my own little phrase i saw in modern drummer...i really liked it it was : Play wrong. the more you try to play right, the more tension you have, so let it go you have to make a mistake to be right: Ben Riley P. 82, Febuary 2005, Mag. MD>

[johngregson]

No, you don't have to switch your whole kit around to play lefty, what I meant was just have your left hand on the hi-hat, so you're playing in an 'open' style [arms not crossing over]. There's no need to go to the hassle of kit-swapping every day.
Oh, and I didn't mean you had to practice for 8 hours a day! I certainly wouldn't be able to hack that - it's only in rare cases that people are able to sustain productive practice for that sort of time. Practice for as long as you can stay motivated and enjoy it!
John.

P.S. I like the Ben Riley quote - in other words, don't put pressure on yourself to learn things perfectly. Good advice!

[jakelwilliams]

No, you don't have to switch your whole kit around to play lefty, what I meant was just have your left hand on the hi-hat, so you're playing in an 'open' style [arms not crossing over]. There's no need to go to the hassle of kit-swapping every day.
Oh, and I didn't mean you had to practice for 8 hours a day! I certainly wouldn't be able to hack that - it's only in rare cases that people are able to sustain productive practice for that sort of time. Practice for as long as you can stay motivated and enjoy it!
John.

P.S. I like the Ben Riley quote - in other words, don't put pressure on yourself to learn things perfectly. Good advice!
Gotcha, thanks!