This free drum lesson continues on from the previous free double bass drum lesson entitled Learn How To Play Double Bass Drum – Double Bass Drum Beats & Grooves where I introduced you to the concept of playing double bass drum.
In this previous drum lesson we looked at all of the various subdivisions (or ways to split up each beat of the bar) that can be played with the double bass drum. This previous free double bass drum lesson also looked at the most popular double bass drum grooves as well as exercises that can be used to build your own double bass drum patterns.
In this free double bass drum lesson we will focus on sixteenth note double bass drum groove patterns as this is the most popular and common subdivisions played with the double bass drum.
This free drum lesson is not for the beginner and I highly recommend that you look at the first lesson here before trying the following drum beat exercises. This double bass drum lesson will be looking at syncopated and complicated sixteenth note double bass drum beats that although sound super cool are not for the faint hearted…this doesn’t mean that you can’t have a go for fun though!
Syncopated Sixteenth Note Double Bass Drum Beats
All of the double bass drum exercises found in this lesson are given as two bar examples. The first bar shows how to play the double bass drum pattern whilst playing eighth notes with the right hand (played on hi-hat or ride for example) while the second bar shows exactly the same double bass drum pattern but played with quarter notes on the right hand.
It’s important that as a drummer you learn how to play different bass drum and snare drum patterns along with different right hand patterns. Eighth notes and quarter notes are two of THE most popular right hand patterns to play so this lesson will teach you both.
You don’t have to play the two bars one after each other but it can certainly be a good goal to aim for. When first practicing these drum beats try to play each on it’s own many times before trying to combine the two bars. Playing each bar individually at various speeds is a far better skill than being able to swap between different right hand patterns in my opinion.
This free double bass drum lesson will be looking at ideas taken from the “Syncopation With Three Note Sixteenth Patterns” section of the the Learn How To Play Double Bass Drum – Double Bass Drum Beats & Grooves free drum lesson.
These double bass drum ideas mostly involve three notes or more in a row and will move in and around the beats of the bar. Sometimes starting on the eighth notes (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +) and sometimes starting on the sixteenth note upbeats (‘e’ & ‘a’).
All of the exercises in this free drum lesson are variations on this idea and some are a lot harder and easier than others. Find the ones that you find the hardest and work on these the most.
It is recommended that you use the suggested footing pattern for each double bass drum beat. The right foot (left for left handed…err, footed players) plays the notes written in between the lines of the stave while the left foot (other foot for left-ies) plays the notes notated on the lines.
By using the suggested footing examples you will develop a sense of evenness with your playing. When grooving or improvising you will find that your feet (eventually) automatically know which foot to start on based on where in the beat the double bass drum pattern starts.
For the sake of clarity though this is what you need to be aware of when playing the double bass drum pattern. For all right handed players (reverse if left handed)…
Any bass drum starting on the eighth note (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +) is played with the RIGHT foot.
Any bass drum starting on the sixteenth note upbeat (‘e’ or ‘a’) is played with the LEFT foot.
OK, lets crack on with the grooves…
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 1
This double bass drum groove involves three bass drum notes starting on the + of beat 2 followed by two bass drum notes on the + of beat 3. Ordinarily you would probably play these two notes with the single bass drum pedal but for the sake of developing double bass drum technique try using both bass drum feet.
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 2
This drum beat is the same as the previous only has an extra bass drum note at the end of the bar on the ‘a’ of beat 4 thus creating another three note patten starting on the + of beat 4 and resolving on beat 1.
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 3
Three bass drum notes starting on beat 1 of the bar with five notes starting on the + of beat 2 and resolving on the + of beat 3 creating a solid and grounded sounding double bass drum groove.
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 4
Some more groups of three starting on the eight notes for this double bass drum idea. Look out for the fact that when the bar repeats the last two bass drum notes of the bar loop into the first three bass drum notes of the bar creating a five note pattern.
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 5
This is the first of the more syncopated and cool sounding groove ideas. Due to their increased difficulty you don’t hear these ideas played very often.
Three bass drum notes are played starting on the ‘e’ of beat 2 and ending on the ‘a’ of beat 2. This creates a cool effect with the bass drum notes starting and ending on the sixteenth note upbeats.
Remember that the suggested footing means that these three bass drum notes start with the left foot.
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 6
This continues on from the previous exercise with one of my favourite double bass drum patterns. The feel and sound of the two groups of three, both starting on the ‘e’s of the beat, creates a wonderfully strange effect.
This double bass drum beat can be hard to play correctly so take your time and listen out for even sounding bass drum.
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 7
For this double bass drum pattern we move the three bass drum notes to the ‘a’ of beat 2. This sounds less quirky than our previous exercise but still gives a very syncopated feel.
Look out for the group of four bass drum notes that start on the ‘a’ of beat 4 that then loop back to the beginning, ending on the + of beat 1.
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 8
Here we see two groups of five both starting the ‘a’ of beat 2 and the ‘a’ of beat 4 respectively. As both groups of bass drum move into the snare drum backbeat on beats 2 and 4 this double bass drum pattern sounds grounded and resolved. Play it to see what I mean.
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 9
This is the first double bass drum example with a group of bass drum notes that resolve on the ‘e’ of the beat. The four bass drum notes start on the + of beat 2 and end on the ‘e’ of beat 3.
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 10
A lot of drummers (including myself) find playing syncopated double bass drum patterns that move underneath the snare drum backbeat quite tricky. This exercise will hopefully go to resolve this difficulty.
Four bass drum notes start on the ‘a’ of beat 1, play with the snare drum on beat 2 and then resolve on the + of beat 2. Make sure that the bass drum, snare drum and hi-hat all get played at exactly the same time and do not flam.
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 11
This drum groove can be quite tricky too as there is a single bass drum foot played on the ‘a’ of beat 1 with the left foot followed by a group of three, again played with the left foot, starting on the ‘e’ of beat 2.
Starting and stopping on the left foot is tricky and requires a surprising amount of concentration so be careful with this one. It’s harder than it looks!
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 12
A nice combination of bass drum patterns ending on the ‘e’ and and starting on the ‘a’.
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 13
Just a sweet and simple double bass drum groove after the previous head scratchers. This is included here as its one of my favourites to play and one that could be used in many musical situations. The bass drums starting on the ‘a’ and ending on the + give it nice forward momentum while grounding the groove nicely at the end.
Syncopated Double Bass Drum Beat 14
Finally, we have another example of a double bass drum beat that starts on the ‘e’ of beat 3, stops for the snare drum on beat 4 and then continues with the left for the two more notes on the ‘e’ of beat 4.
