Question About Double Bass Playing

I had a question come in via You Tube asking about some double bass issues...

"Hi, I have a couple of questions about drumming that I am hoping you can answer

First, I am having a hard time switching from playing heel down to playing
heel up. I cannot get control of my feet while playing double bass, I can
alternate right left right left but I can't ever keep it locked down to a straight
tempo, and I have been practicing for a long time now but I am not making any
progress. Do you have any advice that I could use?

Second, are there any workouts that work on the muscles that you use for
blasting? you know how they have calf raisers that help you with double bass
playing, I was wondering if they have a certain workout that could really help
with blasting.

please help!"


Thanks so much for the message...and I'm SUPER sorry it's taken me so long to get back with you. It usually only takes me a day or so, but I got so behind that I've been having to work through my inbox whenever I get the chance.

First question: Why are you switching? Are you wanting more power? Do you feel like heel up will make you play faster? Anytime you switch a part of your technique that's engrained in you, it's gonna be hard. So I always ask myself why I'm doing it...if you're gonna put in that much work to adjust something like technique, you want to make sure you know the reasons and can tell if you're achieving what you wanted to with the new technique. I use both techniques...I also use the slide technique on my bass drum playing. In my hands, I play traditional, matched, american, german, and french grips...all at different times depending on what the situation calls for stylistically. I learned them all so that I can incorporate them into my playing. That takes a long time though. You're just gonna have to keep putting the work in. My suggestion is to put your metronome on a comfortable tempo ad start playing eighth notes with the feet. Once you get that comfortable, move on to playing triplets with the feet (this is an alternating sticking, so it'll also help with the left foot leading on some beats). Once you've got that down, move on to 16th notes. Once you have all of those solid, start alternating them. A bar of eighth notes, a bar of triplets, a bar of 16ths, etc. Begin slow and work your way up in tempo. Make consistency, accuracy, and correct technique your goals, and not necessarily speed. The speed will come naturally. There's no easy way in this one...it's just gonna take lots of practice. But if you love playing the drums, that should be ok with you, lol!

Questino Two: Blasting is physically straining, that much you're correct on. I would suggest doing some light cardio a few of times a week (i.e. fast walking or jogging) for 30-45 minutes. Combine this with a light regimine of 3 sets of 10-12 squats, 3 sets of 10-12 lunges, and 3 sets of 15-20 calf raises. You want to build up all of the leg muscles, not just the calves. This is actually healthy to do whether you're blasting or not...it's good to keep the body in shape, especially when you're doing something as physically demanding as drumming. The best workout you can do is practice blasting. Set the timer for five minutes, set the metronome at a comfortable tempo, and get to work! Start your practice session off with this everyday. You should see dramatic improvements in accuracy, speed, and endurance within a couple of weeks.

Good luck bro...I hope you kill the double bass!

-Stephen T.

A Teacher That's Makin' It Happen

I posted two lessons a couple of weeks ago...one on single stroke rolls and one on double stroke rolls. I got into a conversation with a drum teacher, and he's putting into place some GREAT ideas and seeing fantastic results with his students. Here's the lessons and conversation we had via Facebook...





"Eddie Vallee March 28 at 11:32am Report
Great points. I like the approach and exercises.. I'm also going to make a chart for my students and get the parents involved! I think simply giving them more accountable structured system in this area is the key. A good chart will force them to slowly approach the skill with patience...and will also hold them accountable com lessons time. Thanks so much!"

-Eddie

"That's a really great idea. I've made similar charts before...I basically pit the students against each other, get a little healthy competition going on. Have a drummer of the month or something like that...anything that recognizes them excelling. I've also done a public practice chart...If they came to the lesson and didn't practice, their chart got no marks, if they had, they would get marks depending on how much improvement was made. The other players see it and then begin to have a small amount of healthy peer pressure to get in the woodshed.

Whatever gets them practicing!"

-S

Eddie Vallee April 24 at 10:19am Report
"Just wanted to drop you a note and give you a big THANK YOU for your input and lesson work regarding the double stroke rolls I asked you about a few weeks ago. I've since gotten my students fired up using your techniques....and have seen immediate results in not only their playing ...but mine too. I've also purchased a Beatnik RA800P Rhythmic Analyzer drum Pad and and am electronically monitoring each students accuracy each week on a chart. I've created a fun little "silent competition" amongst all of my students....both young and old. Again.....I very much appreciate your help and advice. Thanks Stephen! ! ! ! "
-Eddie Vallee

"Bro, I can't tell you how much that makes my day! I'm so glad you're seeing some tangible results with your students. I know how much it helps a teacher to finally see some fowards progress! And this is a huge testament to you too...they wouldn't be going anywhere without a teach leading them.

You're incorporating some great ideas and benchmarks for these guys to strive towards. Wish all teachers tried that hard. Keep me up on how they're fairing...and again, thanks!"

-S

Basic Recording Setup

Had a question from tavonentertainment

help
"i have a problem......wen i record a video and play to a song my drums is statiky and yu cnt hear da music.......wat kind of mics are yu using and how do you hook it up to your laptop....and can yu explain plz..."


To record to your computer, you're going to need a couple of things:

1. Mics
2. Interface
3. Software

1. Mics: A basic set of drum mics will do the trick, doesn't have to be fancy. You'll run the mic cables from the mics into your interface.

2. Interface: Your interface is exactly what it sounds like...it's where your mics INTERFACE with your computer. In other words, it will transmit the sound from the mic cables and put it into a form that your computer understands (this is a really basic definition of something that can be a bit technical to explain). I use a Presonus Firestudio Tube for my interface, but there are lots of good ones out there. You can get them with one input or lots of inputs, just depending on what your situation calls for. A good place to start would be one overhead condenser mic, one snare/hi-hat mic (SM-57 always works well) and one kick mic. You can expand later to add tom mics, etc.

3. Software: There are TONS of choices out there for this. Pro Tools is the industry go to standard. It by no means is the best or easiest to use, it's just the most commonly used in major studios. If you have a Mac, then it comes with Garage Band, which for what you're wanting to do would be more than enough. If you want to buy one, the majors to choose from in my book would be Inuendo, Logic, Pro Tools, and Cubase. I run Cubase on my Macbook Pro.

Once you get past the hurdle of starting, it's not that bad. Hope this helps!

-Stephen T.

Technical Practice vs. Musical Practice

Another question...musical practice vs technical practice...how to balance them...this is by no means a complete answer, but I ran out of time...Please don't hesitate to send your questions to me via email @ littlesteviedrums@yahoo.com or stephen@LoversandLiars.com...or through Twitter @ http://twitter.com/drummeretc ...or on my YouTube channel @ www.youtube.com/DrummerEtc ...or on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/#!/StephenTaylor81 ...I think that's all of them ;^)


Question:

For the longest time, I only practiced technical stuff, and about a year ago I just stopped playing technical stuff and just played music. and now i cant do technical stuff, but just musical stuff. What do you suggest I do to have a good balance?

Answer:

Ah, the age old question...technicality vs musicality...accommodating the music while satisfying your need to play a 32 note roll at 180 bpm...nice question...I can only answer things from my viewpoint and experience, and they say advice is worth what you pay for it...that being said...

I think every drummer (or musician for that matter) worth their weight struggles with this very question...how much time do I need to spend focusing on expanding my technical skills as a player and how much time should be allotted to practical and musically applicable skills. As much as we'd all love to play in a band that allows us to stretch like Mike Portnoy does in Dream Theatre (or should I say DID...in case you missed that memo, he left the band...), that's just not the reality of it. We as drummers tend to alot a large majority of our practice time to attaining what we view as impressive skills but what everyone else views as annoying occurrences. I think the whole discussion boils down to how you view your playing and music and simple prioritization.

Let's start with the prioritization part...If you want to play professionally as a drummer, you'll need to make money...to do that, you'll need a certain set of skills that allow you to survive on a gig...i.e. you need to play musically, know a wide range of material, understand what an appropriate fill for that chosen genre would sound like, etc. Basically, the nuts and bolts of what we do. So I actually try and keep a practice log...If I have 2 hours to practice, it might look something like this...

30 minutes of groove studies (practical groove studies...like Gary Chesters book, or playing along to "Brick House" until it feels danceable).

30 minutes of rudiments and trying to apply them to the drumkit.

30 minutes of coordination and facility on the drumkit work.

30 minutes of impressive, melt your face, grow 3 extra arms type of drumming.

The problem we often feel is that we're not improving enough in one area quickly enough...but I'd rather improve slowly and evenly in all areas than be able to play 5 over 4 and get fired from a gig for not knowing "Ain't To Proud To Beg"...

Which leads directly into the next discussion of how you view your playing...

I used to segment all of my playing and practicing...I had my work stuff, my technical stuff and never should the two meet. It wasn't until I realized WHY I was working on the technical stuff that things began to come into focus...

All of the time you put into advancing your technical proficiency is for one purpose and one purpose only...to serve the music. I had to stop viewing them separately. Here's how I do it nowadays...

I work on something extremely technical just for fun...after I have it down, I start to search for areas I can use this particular skill within the musical confines of the situation I'm playing in. Tony Williams was the master at doing this...some of the Miles Davis stuff sounds so smooth and musical...but once you dissect what Tony was actually doing, you begin to realize that the things he was playing were frickin' hard! He had taken the time to look into the music and see where he could use his vast vocabulary in the most musical manner possible. Vinnie does the same thing...so does Steve Smith...and so many others...

So I guess the simple answer is, prioritize your practice time to include technical as well as musical items...and begin to view your playing not as technical vs musical...but just drumming. One leads to the other and the other leads to the one...

Preparing For College Auditions

Ok, yet another question (yes, people DO actually ask these!)...This one is on college auditions and how to prepare for them...

Question:
"Are the college auditions for music courses usually very difficult? how much practice am i supposed to do a day in order to pass with flying colours? i am asking this because i am now currently very busy with school because of football season and i am having a hard time to balance my social life,having good grades and devoting my time to the drums. i usually have about an hour to practice a day, or none for some crucially busy days. is there a way to make the best use of this one hour? my practice schedule is usually just warming up with rudiments for 10-15 minutes, and working through exercises from books, and since i am reall into jazz drumming now, i just practice exercises from jazz books. is this the right way to go ? or am i supposed to balance out the genres while practicing?"


The college audition conundrum...here's the skinny from my viewpoint...

You need to find out EXACTLY what they'll be wanting to hear from you. Track the professors down and talk to them, get the sheet that they should be giving out on audition guidelines and criteria, talk to other students within the program and ask them what theirs was like...anything you can do to get as much info about the audition as possible.

Once you have that info, then you can devise a plan. I know what it's like to be impossibly busy and still have preparations that need to be made for a show or audition. Sit down with your accumulated list of what they'll want and begin to make your own list...

List 1:
Everything they're wanting you to know

List 2:
Everything they're wanting you to know in order from hardest to easiest.

List 3:
All the things you don't know that you'll need to work on for the audition.

List 4:
Al of the things you're not worried about for the audition.

Once you have those written down (yes, WRITE them down) you can start to knock them out. The thing I would always get hung up with was I would practice like I always do, just work on getting better in general...not what you need to do for this one. You need to decide on how much time you'll have to practice and then prioritize that practice time...in other words, here's a sample criteria list...

AUDITION CRITERIA:
-Know all 28 rudiments
-Have one prepared piece
-sight reading
-trade fours over a standard jazz tune of your choice.

This is a very short list...here's how I would knock it out...

Day 1: 2 hours...

-half an hour on first 2 rudiments
-first 10 measures of prepared piece learned
-sight read for 15 minutes
-all remainder of time spent on ideas for trading fours

Day 2: 1 and a half hours

-Half an hour on next two rudiments, 15 minutes reviewing old rudiments
-memorize first 10 measures of prepared piece, learn next 10 measures.
-sight read same pieces as yesterday, noting any improvements...move on to new sight reading material.
-trade fours using only the melody of the song as a guide.

So you begin to see how you're working on NOTHING but the audition material and you're being VERY specific with how and what you spend your time on. This is exactly how I prepared for my senior recital...I spent a whole semester doing exactly what I did above. And I'm happy to say that I KILLED the recital...people talked about it for weeks! I'm not tooting my own horn, I'm just saying that all of my work paid off!

Be sure and plan out your time so that you have all of the material learned a couple of weeks before hand so that by the time the auditions get there, you'll be playing the stuff in your sleep. DO NOT go into the audition and try things you're not 100% comfortable with...nerves usually get the best of you in those situations and you freeze up...I'd rather play something easier and play it well than to mess up something more complicated.

Hope this helps...if you need some more ideas, don't hesitate to let me know!

Cheers,
Stephen T.

Jazz Fills and Trading Fours

I had a question come in that I thought some other drummers might have, so I decided to post the question and the answer (As always, the person will ALWAYS remain anonymous on this site). Feel free to ask anything you'd like, or throw your two cents in on the topic...




Question:

"hey, im a drummer from singapore and have been lovin your videos!

i have a video request, can u make a lesson on how to trade fours or play jazz drum fills? i have only started learning how to do this for the past 2 months and my trouble is that i have a hard time phrasing when i solo myself, and i can only play the things that i hear on videos or written stuff. so do you have any advice or can make a lesson on how to improvise on trading fours?

Thanks"

Reply:

Thanks for droppin' me a line!

I would love to do a lesson on that topic. I actually have a degree in Jazz Studies, so I actually do have alot of knowledge and advice in that area. My wife and I will be having our 2nd child this week, so that may put me out of commission for a couple of weeks as far as new video lessons (I have 6 or 7 taped, but not on that subject...a couple on beginner left hand and right foot jazz comping though). That being said, as soon as I tape my next lessons, this one will be the first I do.

Until then...

Listen, listen, listen...you say you have trouble thinking up your own ideas, or phrasing on your own...the cool thing is, EVERYBODY has trouble with this when they first start. The thing you need to remember is that music is actually a type of LANGUAGE...you need to learn how to phrase what you say, common phrases that other drummers use, how to carry on a conversation with the other soloist when trading fours, etc. The best way to begin to learn this is to LISTEN...Max Roach, Art Blakey, and Philly Jo Jones are a few of my favorites to listen to for a more traditional and structured approach to fills and trading fours. Take some of the phrases that they use and practice them...there's nothing wrong with doing that...it's actually very common and very helpful. When you're learning to speak a new language, you study the language in books, but you also talk with other people that speak that language and see how they use the words, how they put phrases together...and then you practice using those phrases. No one has to know you're using a phrase you learned off of a Steve Smith video. So listen, transcribe the fills and soloing, and then try them yourself...over and over and over. You'll be suprised that eventually you start to add little parts here and there...and before you know it, that Art Blakey lick has turned into your own thing.

The other thing I suggest is singing. Sounds silly, but it works and is also a very common practice. Jazz drumming and playing is all about the music, the melody, and how you present it. So sit at the drums and sing a simple fill..."Bap...Doom...Bap...Doom...bidibadoom crash"...sing it on the first measure, then actually play it in the second measure. Start out very simple...I started with quarter notes (what you DON'T play is every bit as important as how many notes you play)...then progress to eighth notes, then triplets, etc. You want to focus on a melodic fill instead of a fast fill with alot of notes in it. I also listen to other no drummer jazz players and sing their fills...Miles Davis and John Coltrane are two masters of melodic phrasing. Take a short phrase that they use, memorize it, sing it to yourself, and then interpret it on the kit the way you want to. Jazz drumming is different from rock and pop drumming...you're contributing to the song melodically whether you realize it or not.

This is a short answer to an in depth question, but hopefully it'll get you started. I'll get a video shot on the topic just as soon as I can.

I really appreciate you checking the lessons out and working on the stuff...if you ever have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask!

God Bless,
Stephen T.