Increasing your foot speed on the bass drum is a crucial skill for any drummer. It allows you to play faster and more complex patterns, and can greatly enhance your overall drumming ability. But going for speed exclusively, you won’t be able to play different styles and more interesting grooves. When practicing, it’s important to combine speed exercises with different patterns.
Speed Warmup
This exercise helps you get faster with your bass drum by starting with slow, simple patterns and gradually moving to faster but still continuous beats.
Bass Drum Speed Build
Begins with quarter notes and ends with steady sixteenth notes to build speed and endurance.
Open Bass Drum Speed Build in the Beat Note app to change the tempo
Now that we’re warmed up on the kick, let’s warm up the hands as well. The following exercise is one I received from my drum teacher early on and I keep coming back to it again and again, increasing the tempo and adding other elements:
Rotating Double Stroke on Kick and Snare
The pattern for this exercise ist to play three measures alternating linear double strokes between Snare and Kick drum, followed by one measure alternating single strokes. Then you shift the doubles by a sixteenth note and repeat. Do that 4 times and find yourself at the beginning.
Open Rotating Double Stroke on Kick and Snare in the Beat Note app to change the tempo
In addition to practicing speed, you exercise your mental timing muscles since you have to count and notice when a new measure starts. This exercise gets even more fun with an additional element targeting limb independence. For example, you could add either of:
- eighth notes on the ride
- eighth notes on the ride where you hit the ride bell on one of the notes.
- fourth notes on the Foot Hi-Hat on 2 and 4.
The sky is the limit! But I digress; we’re working on foot speed here, so let’s start applying it to some more musical grooves:
Versatile Groove Workout
It’s important not to practice the same beat all the time because it can lead to muscle memory that is too specific and not adaptable to different musical contexts. The following exercise is geared towards developing versatile foot speed and control across various drumming styles:
Bass Drum Workout
This exercise is designed to alternate between 16th notes and triplets.
Open Bass Drum Workout in the Beat Note app to change the tempo
Application To Different Styles
The goal of this exercise is to enhance your bass drum speed and control in both jazz and rock styles.
Bass Drum Speed In Jazz And Rock
Start by practicing basic swung shuffle with a triplet pattern on the ride cymbal. Next, incorporate kick drum triplets beneath this swing pattern, maintaining a smooth beater motion and avoiding burying the beater. Begin at not more than 70 beats per minute, concentrating on precision and control. The tempo for the recording is at 68 bpm.
Open Bass Drum Speed In Jazz And Rock in the Beat Note app to change the tempo
If shuffles are interesting to you, Beat Note content creator Zak has put together a whole lot more Shuffle Grooves for you to discover.
General Tips For Faster Foot Speed
Finally, here are some more tips to help you improve your foot speed:
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Practice with a metronome: Start slow and gradually increase the speed as you become more comfortable. This will help you develop a consistent and accurate foot technique. The exercises above are all available as exercises in the Beat Note app, where you can adjust the tempo and add a metronome click.
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Use the heel-toe technique: This technique involves using both your heel and toe to strike the bass drum pedal. It can help you play faster and more efficiently.
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Focus on your technique: Make sure you’re using the right muscles and not tensing up. This will help you play for longer periods without getting tired.