Jason Bittner Breaks It Down

Originally published in DRUM! Magazine’s January 2007 Issue

Double-bass technique requires a great deal of stamina, power, and dexterity, and the following exercises will demonstrate how you can develop these skills for your own double-kick playing. We’ll start with basic endurance exercises and gradually increase into more complex patterns. Please remember the two most important things when doing these exercises – start off slowly and use a metronome.

Basic Sixteenth-Note Patterns
When I first started playing two bass drums I was initially inspired by guys like Neil Peart and Ginger Baker, who were known for having two kicks but didn’t necessarily play them in a constant sixteenth-note rolling pattern. Later on, I became immersed in Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer, and wanted to have a barrage of constant kick drums at my disposal. Mind you – this was the early ’80s and I was just coming out of my John Bonham, Clive Burr, and Nicko McBrain phase. My right foot was pretty solid so my main challenge was to develop my left, which was far from solid. The following exercises got me started.

Ex. 1. Let’s start with a straight sixteenth-note double kick pattern without integrating your hand, just to get the feel of using both feet. We will play this two ways: RLRL RLRL RLRL RLRL and LRLR LRLR LRLR.

Ex. 2. Now we’ll incorporate basic hand patterns. Start with a RLRL pattern on kicks, the snare on 2 and 4, and the ride (or closed hat) on 1&2&3&4&. Play the bass drum pattern using right and left foot lead. Left foot lead might be a little awkward at first – well at least it was for me (and still is). If you take these patterns and practice them over and over for extended time periods with a metronome, your endurance and stamina will improve greatly.

Ex. 3-13. After you become comfortable with Ex. 1 and 2, we’ll add another level of difficulty with 11 other ride patterns, ranging from straight quarter-notes to straight sixteenth-notes. Once you are able to play these comfortably and want to further challenge yourself, try Ex. 3-13 exercises with these footings.

RRLL RRLL RRLL RRLL
LLRR LLRR LLRR LLRR

Basic Triplet Patterns

Now let’s look at eighth- and sixteenth-note triplet patterns. The main thing to point out here is to clearly separate the triplet pattern 1-2-3, 2-2-3, etc. or trip-a-let, trip-a-let from the previous straight sixteenth-note patterns (1e&ah, 2e&ah)

Ex. 14. Play the snare on the 2 and 4, ride on the 1, 2, 3, 4
Ex. 15. Move the snare to 1 and 3.
Ex. 16. Move snare to 3 only.
Ex. 17. Play the straight triplet ride pattern over the hand/foot patterns of Ex.14-16.

Sixteenth-Note Triplets
Ex. 18. Here we have an eighth-note ride pattern, 2 and 4 on the snare, and sixteenth-note triplets with the feet.
Ex. 19. Play eighth-note triplets with the hands, and sixteenth-note triplets with the feet. Sixteenth-Note Patterns.

Now that you’ve mastered continuous sixteenth-note patterns, let’s start breaking them up. We’ll approach these in three different ways: right foot lead playing a constant eighth-note pattern while the left foot fills in the appropriate e or &ah; left foot lead filling in e’s and &ah’s with the right foot, and alternating footing.

Ex. 20. Here’s the constant 1 &a pattern (right foot lead)
Ex. 21. The same pattern with a left foot lead.
Ex. 22. Now let’s try alternating footing RLR, LRL, RLR, LRL.
Ex. 23. This is the constant 1 e& pattern with a right foot lead.
Ex. 24. Here’s the same pattern as Ex. 23 with a left foot lead.
Ex. 25. Now let’s try alternating footing
Ex. 26. This is an exercise that Steve Smith showed me, which can help you get the feel of alternate footing with the e& groove.
Ex. 27. If you want to challenge yourself further, try playing your feet on the e& pattern, while the right hand plays the &ah pattern, with the snare on 2 and 4.
Ex. 28. Another tricky one where the feet play &ah’s, as the right hand plays e&’s and the snare plays the &’s.

Triplet Shuffles
Since we have the full triplet down, let’s take out a few notes and work with a double bass shuffle beat. The main thing to remember here is to keep the triplet feel. Think 1-2-3, 2-2-3 just like we did for the initial triplet patterns, except this time don’t play the 2’s.

Ex. 29. Here’s the basic pattern just to get the feel of the kicks.
Ex. 30. Now ride on quarter-notes with the snare on 2 and 4.
EX. 31. Here the ride matches the kick pattern.
Ex. 27. This is essentially the same as Ex. 30, except that the shuffle is played RR, LL, RR, LL.

Sixteenth-Note Combination Patterns
Ex. 33-36. These are combination patterns that are meant to be played four different ways: Right foot lead and fill &ah’s and e&’s with left foot; left foot lead and fill with right foot; RLR LRL RLR LRL; and LRL RLR LRL RLR. We will use 2 and 4 on the snare, and eighths on the ride, but feel free to experiment with the hand patterns. Listen to guys like Raymond Herrera from Fear Factory and Matt McDonough from Mudvayne to hear great examples of these types of combination patterns.

Adding Thirty-Second Notes

Ex. 37-40. Play these as written.
Mirrored Triplet Patterns
Let’s use the shuffle again for the following “mirrored” patterns.
Ex. 41. A four-bar phrase that is essentially two two-bar phrases put together. Notice that the initial pattern starts over at the third bar, only with the opposite foot.
Ex. 42. Here is a two-bar pattern that reverses at the second bar - think Vinnie Paul on Pantera’s song “Psycho Holiday.”
Ex. 43. Now we have a two-handed ride pattern placed over the constant triplet feel. If you don’t have two rides just use your hi-hat.
Ex. 44. Finally, let’s go back to shuffle in Ex. 31 and throw in some ghost strokes on the snare drum to spice things up a bit.

Advanced Ideas

“Shifting Gears” is a term I use for having the ability to maneuver between eighths, sixteenths, thirty-seconds, and triplets with ease and comfort. Listen to Mike Portnoy, who has the ability to do this at varying tempos with the utmost of ease.
Ex. 45. Thirty-seconds, eighths, and sixteenths.
EX. 46. Sixteenth note triplets and sixteenths.
EX. 47. Eighth and sixteenth note triplets.
EX. 48-49. Non-stop thirty-seconds and sixteenths.
To challenge yourself even more, go back and play the last four examples while substituting double-strokes for any alternating sixteenth-note patterns.

Four-Stroke Ruffs

These can be challenging at first but once you get them down, they can really add another color to your playing. Charlie Benante from Anthrax is a master at these.
Ex. 50-51. Play as written.

Gallop Endurance Exercis

Here’s a four-bar exercise that can help build your speed and endurance with constant sixteenths. Start by playing a “gallop” beat and ease into the steady sixteenths. This is very effective at fast tempos (a la Benante). Ex. 52. Play as written.

The Blast Beat In closing we’ll touch upon a style of double-kick drumming that is predominant in the death/black metal genres. These beats are generally played at extreme tempos (180-240 bpm) and require a great amount of speed, skill, and endurance. If you want to check out the masters of this genre, I suggest listening to Nick Barker, Pete Sandoval, Gene Hoglan, Derek Roddy, and Flo Mounier.

Ex. 53. Sixteenth-note “grind” beat – both hands play the same thing.
Ex. 54-55. Blast beats with alternating hands.
Ex. 56 Sixteenth-note triplet blast.

Well, that finally concludes our double-kick drum tutorial. A few things to keep in mind – most of these exercises were written using a basic straight eighth ride and 2 and 4 on the snare. I could have written other hand patterns out as well, but we simply don’t have enough space. It’s up to you to try different snare/ride combinations and come up with your own interesting beats. Double bass is something that takes practice and patience, so start out slowly and make every note count.

Jason Bittner is the Grammy-nominated drummer for the band Shadows Fall. They are currently finishing up work on their new album Threads Of Life, which is due out in March 2007 on Atlantic Records.