Top 10 Grooves to Build Your Bass Drum Co-ordination

21Sep/090

Top 10 Grooves to Build Your Bass Drum Co-ordination

Like I say in the video there are so many things you can practice to increase your bass drum co-ordination. But if you were to put a gun to my head and tell me I could only pick 10 then these would be the ones I would pick.

Download the written version of these grooves.

Practice these really slowly to a click (40-70 BPM is ideal) and make absolutely certain that your bass drums are falling in exactly the right places.

1-4

These all involve moving single bass drums around the hi hat pattern in the groove. 1 and 2 are on hi hats, 3 and 4 are in between.

5-8

These are doubles on the bass drum. Again they are moved around the groove. The bass drum doubles in 5 and 7 start on the hi hat, where as in 6 and 8 they start on an offbeat.

9 and 10

9 has bass drums on every hi hat. And the last groove, 10, has bass drums played on all the offbeats. To really work your co-ordination, make sure those bass drums are all exactly in between the hi hats.

What's Next?

Once you get familiar with these grooves, you can try moving your right hand to the ride and maybe even try to get your left foot moving on the hi hat. If you're feeling adventurous then you can try accenting the right hand pattern or even changing it to 1/16s. Be certain that you're still playing the proper grooves on the bass drum though.

So, I hope you enjoy these grooves! Were they helpful to you? Do you like the framing of the video? ...and one final question: Where were you at 9am this Monday morning? I was drinking tea and making this video. Being a drummer is cool.

Leave your answers in the comments below.

Have fun, think big and keep practicing!
Alex.