One thing I started working on again is foot patterns. Mostly for double bass drumming.
The amount of time I can put into practicing is, unfortunately, not really a whole lot. With some work and being a single dad of 1 my time ends up being filled up. And my kit is sometimes not setup in my practice space in between gigs…. just because there is practically no time.
But a couple of days ago I got to spend some time with my kit. One thing I usually do in practice is play some kind of pattern between my feet. Something simple, like maybe 2 bass drum beats (right foot) and 1 hi-hat (left foot) played as a triplet. Once I’m warmed up a bit I usually variate my left foot so that ever second hi-hat beat is open… so it really gives the effect of open/close hi-hat in the pattern.
And over that pattern I’ll play some pattern with one hand while I improvise with the other.
What I thought I’d do a couple of days ago was try and play a few patterns with my bass drums and play over. Since I’m not used to doing this too much it gets challenging fast.
One of the simplest things I’m hoping to accomplish in these practice session is to really get comfortable in playing a double stroke double bass beat at varying tempos.
After watching this video of Dave Mackintosh of DragonForce, I noticed that he plays double strokes with his feet alot and I started thinking about it. Playing at very fast tempos would just be so much easier with this approach. So playing various beats and improvisation over the double stroke bass drum beats is in my practice regiment. (Video at end of post)
Another thing I’ve been trying to practice is kind of a shuffle feel double bass pattern, adding a double stroke with either the right foot or the left foot. I was always inspired by Vinnie Paul or Pantera and an example of what I mean is their song “Psycho Holiday” from their Cowboys from Hell album.
I’ve just started trying to build some muscle memory with a couple of these patterns, mirroring my right and left hand with my right and left foot…. and then playing a simple “4″ on ride/hi-hat and 2-4 with the snare.
Progress after a short time!
Here’s the Dave Mackintosh video. Peace all!