Need help playing 16th notes on bass drum

Question

This problem has been persistent ever since i began playing them. Whenever I play two 16th notes with the hi hat on the first it's usually completely fine, though when i play the first on the offbeat and the hi hat on the second my foot tends to stutter, most of the time not even playing the first, this problem persists even to the slowest of tempos.

This is the one thing that really discourages me to continue playing, that i'm struggling with pretty basic rhythms but i can still play more difficult things.

rhythm in question:

Answer 1

First off, you shouldn't be discouraged to continue playing over not being able to play patterns you haven't worked on before. New patterns are generally going to be very difficult at first because you haven't built up the muscle memory necessary to be able to play it effortlessly. This was true for me when I started playing drums over 20 years ago and it's still true for me today. I'm constantly coming across new patterns/beats/fills/etc that make me feel like a newbie again trying to learn them. This is completely normal. However, you can learn it with practice and eventually you will be able to play it without much effort.

I like to learn new patterns by breaking them down into very small chunks and working on the problem areas in isolation. If the problem you are having is playing two kick drums with the hihat on the second kick, then you can practice just this motion in isolation. Play two kicks while playing the hihat on the second kick. Do this motion over and over until it clicks. At this point do not worry about timing, time values, or practicing to a metronome, just get your limbs used to doing this new movement. Then try to play it faster. Keep moving the two kick drums closer together while making sure the hihat lands perfectly in line with the second kick drum.

If the speed you are trying to play eventually gets too fast for the kick drum, there are a variety of different techniques used to play fast doubles such as "slide", "heel-toe", "swivel", etc. Take each one of these terms and search for tutorials on youtube and try them out to see which one(s) you prefer to use.

Once this motion is comfortable and you can play it at different speeds, expand on it. Now add some time back into it by keeping the hihat playing nice and even while continuing to play this pattern. Again, start out slow. Think of the hihat more as quarter notes here so it's not going too fast.

Once you can do this in time the next step would be to put some additional hihats in between the double kick pattern. Start out by putting only one additional hihat between the double pattern (now think of the hihat as 8th notes). Then play this pattern every 4 hihat hits and then every 8.

Once you can play the double kick pattern every eight 8th notes, then try playing just the hihat and kick part of your beat (no snare yet). Then finally add in the snare.

This is the kind of approach I use when trying to learn new and complex patterns and it is very effective. Good luck! :)

Answer 2

Not exactly sure what the question entails, but a couple of ideas.

• Leave out the snare for now.

• Put an extra hi-hat hit with the extra bass kick.

• Try playing bass with heel down - less muscle movement.

• Play only kick parts. Play them with extra kick at the end of bar too.

• Play using these ideas ridiculously slowly, and count out loud.

• Use a metronome, first as normal, on the 4 beats, then imagine each click is actually on that off beat (tricky!!).

Answer 3

I daresay it's a good sign that this is tripping you up, because both scenarios are actually musically very different, so it shows you're not playing too mechanically. Namely, in

X:1
L:1/16
M:C
K:C
V:2 clef=perc
F4 c4 FF3 c4
%

the third kick beat is more of an echo of the second one, whereas in

X:1
L:1/16
M:C
K:C
V:2 clef=perc
F4 c3 F F4 c4
%

the second is more of a foreshadowing of the third. So if that one comes out weak, it's usually not as bad, as long as the rhythm around remains stable. In string instruments, we'd usually acknowledge this by choosing the bow directions accordingly, i.e.

X:1
L:1/16
M:C
K:C
V:2 name=Cello clef=bass
vA,,4 z3 uA,, vA,,4 z4 | vA,,4 z4 vA,,uA,,3 z4
%

I'd recommend you'd mentally do something similar on the kick drum too. How exactly to do this depends on the heel technique, but the general idea is that you'd play the anacrusis 16th as an “up stroke” where you focus on preparing the on-beat on 3, but “along the way” also add the earlier beat. Best practise this without hi-hat: set your metronome to 16ths, and try matching the feel of the kick beat with e.g. snare where this can be easier done with different hands:

X:1
L:1/16
M:C
K:C
V:2 clef=perc
|: LF3 "L"c "R"Lc3 F LF3 "L"c "R"Lc3 F | LF3 "L"c "R"Lc3 F LF3 "L"c "R"Lc3 F :|
%

Start out slow and accelerate.