When practicing double bass on drums....?

Question

Do my heels need to be on the floor raising my toes? or do I raise my knees to lift my feet off the ground?

Answer 1

I've just never been able to get much power using the heel down technique. It is normal for your legs to get sore playing heel up, but that will go away with time and practice. I rarely see a rock drummer play heel down.

Answer 2

It really depends on what works best for you.Try Heel-Up hitting the pedal's with the balls of your feet, lifting your knees, kinda like riding a bike.  Another thing to consider is how high your drum throne is from the ground.Too low and you could injure yourself playing heel up; Too high and heel down becomes impossible. Most fast  players (not all) play heel up. Find  which one is most comfortable for you and stick with it. It would suck if you spent alot of time playing heel down only to find out a year from now you play faster heel up, then you have to re-learn some of you technique. Why waste your time?

Answer 3

andrew k is right, i totally agree. Give him best answer.

Answer 4

both

Answer 5

Hey Zao

First, practice with the heels on the floor to get the feel of it.

The secret of double-bass is to try different techiques and see where you are omfortable.

Try this...

Put your feet flat on the floor, raise your heel, now,, try to tap with your feet as if you are following a beat.

It gives the impression that you are pushing your leg up in the air and you should feel the impact on the floor.

By combining a little leg lift with this exercise, you should get the rhythm when you start using both feet.

Answer 6

It depends on how experienced you are.

If you are just starting out, then i recommend you start with your heels down. It tends to give you a little bit more control of how fast you move your feet.

If you already have quite a bit of control and can play moderately fast, then i recommend that you lift your heels up and "bounce" your knees.