LearnGospelMusic.com Community
Gospel Instruments => Gospel Drummers => Topic started by: ladydrummer on March 17, 2005, 10:23:07 AM
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As a female drummer I feel that my foot power is very low compared to my colleages. I would like to know what does one have to do to obtain this foot power to be able to do doubles, tripples etc. I have been drumming for 4 1/2 years now not long as some of you young veterans but I would like some insight on this matters as an inspiring female drummer :)
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well i usually get on a lot of peoples nerves doin dis but i jus sit around and do double bass on da floor jus tapping my foot :D trust me it helps :!:
out :wink:
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Im not sure what type of pedal you use but Try the Pearl eliminator pedal it is awsome and with the interchangable camsyou can get different feels to give that power for the hard hit or change the cam to get that good feel for doing triplets and what not. It is an awsome pedal well worth the money ($119)
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Hey lady, try this excersises:with your heel down(planted on the pedal)play continuosly a bar of quarter notes,a bar of 8-notes,a bar of triplets and a bar of sixteens.do this for 15 minutes(or more) a day,at a COMFORTABLE tempo(the use of a metronome is more than suggested).it is important to stay relaxed and not force things(remember, it is not a race you are trying to build muscles).
After a small break start playing quarter notes(without metronome)again at a comfortable speed.slowly and gradually start accelerating and also increasing volume. go back and forth for a while and then stay at a relatively fast and loud level for as long as you can.Now,some say that when your foot starts burning you should stop.Some say that this is the time to push more because this is where you build stamina and power.The middle solution works for me the best.when your foot starts burnin' back off a little bit(both in speed and volume).
No matter how you play you should practice these excersises heel down because there are important muscles to be built.you can also try'em heel up but you ARE gonna see an improvement anyway.Good Luck
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if your talking about "power" then playing with your heel off the pedal increases the power.
if your talking about "speed" then you could do what dwdrummer said thats what i did. after awhile of doing it you will feel pain in your lower leg but that just means your working that muscle. this also helps with your endurance.
something that john blackwell suggested in his dvd was to use the ball of your foot instead of your toes if you play with your heel up.
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i have to insit on the heel down practicing.although i play heel up 95% of the time i do some heel down practicing because its important to work on muscles AND control that way.and while they are minority there are some players that get huge power playing heel down, like studio giant John"JR"Robinson.and YES tapping your legs is practicing and IT IS beneficial.