Thursday, August 16, 2012

Newk The Bass Drum Part 2

St. Thomas appreciated here!
St. Thomas appreciation week
It is apparently St. Thomas appreciation week here at the Melodic Drummer.  Today's post features a video example of me playing the first part of the bass drum exercise from the previous post in all its soul-crushing glory!




Preparing the bass drum mentally
I have spent a great deal of time practicing and thinking about the importance of preparing notes with my hands, but much less dealing with the issue of preparing my feet.  While practicing this truly difficult (to me) exercise, I re-discovered just how important preparing notes on the bass drum really is.  Doing something as simple as focusing on relaxing my foot and mentally anticipating/hearing the melody line was usually the decisive factor in a successful play through.  Quick quote from the bard that sums up my point nicely:


"All things are ready, if our minds be so" 
-Shakespeare

5 comments:

  1. I have often thought about playing some kind of sequence with my hands while playing the exercises in "syncopation." Just thought about, mind you. There are so may things to learn, even after all these yeas of playing. it just hasn't bubbled up to the top yet. But it's getting there - I have recently taken great in melodic drumming.

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    1. Thanks for checking out the article, and for the excellent feedback. Doing this kind of exercise has greatly benefited my playing and I definitely think it is worth your time and energy to try some of these out!

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  2. thanks for your video. that is most helpful information

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  3. It's great to see so many younger drummers lately thinking about melody rather than just 'fast hands'.
    Keep up the good work Andrew.

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