Online Drum Magazine

This lesson is inspired by Virgil Donati. After seeing him in clinic and hearing him discuss some double bass ideas, he mentioned how he always likes to alternate the feet no matter where in the beat. This was interesting to me because growing up all the books had the right foot on the downbeats, and the left on the e’s and a’s. Since seeing Virgil live I have been shedding this, and I have noticed some great improvements in my foot speed and control (he has the ability to make you want to practice a lot). In this first part we will go through basic combinations of 3 and 5 single strokes in an alternating pattern. Remember to start slow, stay balanced, and have fun.