Beginner Drum Lessons

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in this video lesson we’re going to review the two most popular techniques used when playing the bass drum they are the heels down method and the heels up let’s start with the heels down here you

simply rest the heel of your foot at the base of the pedal at all times each stroke you play from this position uses a simple ankle motion now this primarily uses the muscles on the front of your

leg this may be difficult when first starting out as these shin muscles are typically underdeveloped however the advantage is that you really don’t have to use many leg muscles to control this

motion some of the benefits to this technique include the ability to control the volume of each stroke and the fact that the beater naturally rebounds off the drum head this gives excellent tone

and is especially valuable in jazz drumming the second and perhaps more popular method is the heels up here you use your entire leg to perform each stroke this takes the load off the shin

muscles but requires that you use more energy overall now some drummers will burry the beater with each stroke like this this method provides a lot of power but

can limit the tone of the bass drum you can also choose to rest the heel back a little bit between strokes now there still uses a leg for more power but also rest a leg while allowing the beater to

rebound naturally from the drum head let me demonstrate this it’s important to realize with both methods that you need to keep your foot in contact with the pedal at all times if you just stomp on

the pedal and remove your foot too fast you’ll have difficulty controlling each stroke especially when you begin playing complex bass drum patterns within a beat watch as I play heels down once again

and now heels up if you don’t keep in contact with the foot board you allow the beaters momentum to bounce against the springs and you can really lose a lot of control now some drummers will

ask which method is best which one should I learn I would say if you’re first starting to learn focus on the one that is easiest for you don’t let a simple technique choice slow down your

progress however in the long run it is best to learn both methods each option has various benefits for different styles of drumming and neither should be ignored heels up is great for a variety

of rock drumming styles while heels down is best for jazz and many world styles ultimately drumming is the most fun when you have options learning both techniques will give you those options

so take what you’ve learned here to the kit and have fun with it