My Left Foot Hi-Hat Foot Technique

by Doug | No Comments

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Before he won an Academy Award for

playing U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, English actor Daniel Day-Lewis won an Academy
Award for his portrayal of Christy Brown in the 1989 drama film, My Left Foot. The movie
tells the true story of an Irishman born with cerebral palsy, a devastating physical condition
that left Brown with the ability to control only his left foot. Making the best of his disability,
Brown used his left foot to become a successful painter, novelist, poet and playwright.
After seeing the movie, I had a typical drummer thought: What if my left foot could do even
10% of what Christys could do? I could use my left foot to lock in the time while my other
limbs were free to play drum beats and fills. Or I could use my left foot to play hi-hat notes
as part of the beats and fills.
I could use my left foot along with my right foot to play awesomely powerful double bass
drum beats. Or I could use my left foot to play a cowbell, tambourine or wood block hooked
up to a gajate mount. The possibilities were endless!
I had already noticed how jazz drumming great Tony Williams with Miles Davis played the hihat with his foot (Seven Steps To Heaven - triplets between left hand and hi-hat at 2:36 and
5:40). Christys story inspired me to explore all the left foot possibilities and more. So I
started with focusing on good hi-hat technique.
Background
Recently I posted an article about how to relax while playing the drum set (RelaxIts Just a
Drum Set!). In that blog post, there are 5 tips to help with relaxation. The tips are so
important that I decided to write a detailed post for each one. Here are the first four posts:
Ill Practice Drums on the Weekend! (Get on a Regular Practice Schedule).
How Whale Blubber Improved My Drumming Posture (Sit up straight and put weight on your
butt).
Speed, Power, Control, Endurance by Jim Chapin (Work on your hand technique).
Bass Drum Foot Technique How My Feet Have Evolved (Work on bass drum foot
technique).
This is the fifth post. The tips for this post are: Work on your hi-hat foot technique. Do foot
and leg exercises regularly.

Hi-Hat: Left Foot Heel/Toe

My left foot evolved much in the same way as my right foot did. My first drum teacher, Chic
Colburn, taught me to rock my left foot back and forth on the hi-hat pedal while counting a 4
beat measure. I tap my heel on the count of 1 and press the ball of my foot into the pedal
on the count of 2, heel on 3 and ball of my foot on 4. The hi-hat cymbals make a nice, clean
chick sound as they come together.
This works great for playing jazz (or rock) when Im playing the ride cymbal with my right
hand. My beats really lock in because my left foot is keeping quarter note time while my
other limbs have the freedom to play complex patterns.
However, the heel/toe method doesnt work when Im playing a rock beat on a closed hi-hat
because putting weight on my heel opens the hi-hat. Therefore, I modified the technique to
tap my left heel (without lifting the ball of my foot or my leg) whenever I want to hit
the closed hi-hat cymbals with a stick. That way my left heel continues to keep a steady
quarter note or eighth note beat without opening the hi-hat cymbals.
Heel Up Hi-Hat Technique
When I started playing heel up on the bass drum to get louder, I naturally started playing
heel up on the hi-hat. This method amounts to pressing down on the hi-hat with the ball of
my left foot while lightly tapping my left heel or just bouncing my left leg in time with the
music.
The first time I saw Chicago (the band) drummer Danny Seraphine I was amazed at how
relaxed he was when he played. Hed play these monster fills and make it look so easy!
One of the things I noticed is that he played eighth notes on his hi-hat with his foot, almost
constantly. If he did a fill, his left foot was playing his hi-hat throughout. If he was playing
his ride cymbal, his left foot was playing eighth notes.
After seeing Danny, I understood why, when I listened to Tower of Power drummer David
Garibaldi, I could hear a hi-hat being played during his fills and when he played the ride
cymbal.
It was a true ah-ha moment for a young drummer! It took some work but I finally trained
my left leg and foot to play eighth notes in time with the music. And, boy, did it help my
timekeeping! It was easier to play a constant tempo and it sounded so funky to have the hihat playing during my fills.
There are times when Im playing heel up when I need to open the hi-hat. In order to do
that I use one of the following techniques:
Quickly lift and lower my leg for a loud, percussive chick sound,
Quickly lift my leg, hit the hi-hat cymbals with my right or left stick, and quickly lower my
leg to get a really cool splash sound,
Rest my heel on the hi-hat foot board, slight raising the ball of my foot so the hi-hat
cymbals are still together and can be played for that Ringo bag of coins type sound, or
Rest my heel and raise the ball of my foot all the way up so the hi-hat cymbals are apart
and play the top cymbal as I would a regular ride or crash cymbal.
How to Improve Your Drum Foot Technique
Now that you know the different techniques for playing with your feet, its time to take some
action. Here are some tips to help improve your foot technique.
1. Do Foot and Leg Exercises Regularly
The great drummer and teacher, Mel Brown, showed me this. Sit in a chair and lift the ball of
each foot in the air at the same time, leaving your heels on the ground. Drop the balls of
your feet and repeat. I do about 50 of these each day. Try alternating feet: First the right
foot then the left, then the right and so on.
Next, while still sitting in a chair, lift your heels while leaving the balls of your feet on the
ground. Let your heels drop and repeat. I do about 50 of these each day, too. I also
alternate my feet: Right, Left, Right, etc.
The last exercise is for your legs and starts by raising your heels off the ground. Then
quickly lift your legs so the balls of your feet are off the ground and drop them back down
without having your heels touch the ground. Repeat about 50 times. Then try alternating
between your right and left legs.
2. Warm Up Your Feet and Legs Before A Gig
Before you play a gig, find a place (maybe its on stage sitting at your drums) to do the

exercises described above. It will help you warm up and help prepare you mentally to keep
steady time.
3. Work on Your Foot Technique
There have been many good books and DVDs created about drum set foot
technique. However, I have not seen a DVD that covers foot technique in the way
that Speed, Power, Control, Enduranceby Jim Chapin covers hand technique.
The closest thing Ive seen is this YouTube video that does a really nice job of breaking down
the technique for the right, bass drum foot. Take a look and let me know what you think.
Make sure that you are always working on having the best foot technique possible. Its easy
to get into bad habits that lead to being tense, playing unevenly and decreasing your speed.
4. Practice!

The more you practice good foot technique,

the less likely you are to adopt bad habits. Here are some exercise books that Ive found
helpful to improve my foot technique:
Ultimate Realistic Rock Drum Method by Carmine Appice A great beginning rock book.
Advanced Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Vol. 1 by Jim Chapin This is the bible for
beginning jazz drumming.
Double Bass Drumming by Joe Franco Good introduction to double bass playing.
Bass Drum Control by Colin Bailey This is a great book for jazz and rock players.
I hope that your feet get the respect they deserve and that they evolve to the point where
they are on par with your hands. It really makes a difference in your playing. And it will help
you relax and have fun playing the drums!
I always think these blog posts are going to be a few paragraphs with several sentences in
each paragraph. But Im so interested in teaching you all that I know about a subject that
the articles end up being much longer! And there is so much more to tell you about playing
with your feet but this is a good stopping spot for now. I hope you find this information
helpful. Come back and review it many times.

Bass Drum Foot Technique How My Feet Have

Evolved
by Doug | No Comments

Feet. They get a bad rap from the general

public. Nobody blames shoes for smelling; its always the feets fault. You never swear at
your fingers when you stub them in the dark. When was the last time you washed your feet
to get rid of germs? And what about that little toe? Do you even need it?
Within the general population, feet are mostly ignored until they hurt or smell.
But to us drummers, feet are sacred. We talk about our foot technique as if we were talking
about religion. Heel down, heel up, to mash or not to mash (the bass drum beater, that is).
In fact, we work hard to train our feet to act like hands. Our feet are an important part of
how we express ourselves on the drum set. They provide a foundation for the music we
play. Thats why we should spend as much time and effort on foot technique as we spend on
developing our hands.
Learning good foot technique is also a key to relaxing while playing the drum set. In order
to play the bass drum and hi-hat fluidly, you must have good posture and good balance
which makes it easier to loosen up.
Background
Recently I posted an article about how to relax while playing the drum set (RelaxIts Just a
Drum Set!). In that blog post, there are 5 tips to help with relaxation. The tips are so
important that I decided to write a detailed post for each one. Here are the first three posts:
1. Ill Practice Drums on the Weekend! (Get on a Regular Practice Schedule).
2. How Whale Blubber Improved My Drumming Posture (Sit up straight and put weight on your
butt).
3. Speed, Power, Control, Endurance by Jim Chapin (Work on your hand technique).

This is the fourth post in the series. The tip for this post is: Work on bass drum foot
technique.
How My Feet Evolved
In the beginning, (that is, when I first learned to play drums) my feet were like clubs. I
couldnt get them to do anything right. They seemed to have a mind of their own. And they
for sure didnt want to work together with my hands.
I would try to play the bass drum with my right foot and it would either freeze up at the
ankle or come down so hard on the pedal it felt like the beater was going right through the
bass drum head.
My left foot was so uncoordinated it would not even move. Id almost fall off my drum
throne trying to get it to work. And when it did, the hi-hat cymbals would crash together out
of time, sounding like a train wreck.
As a beginning drummer, I focused mostly on my hands and ignored my feet. I had enough
trouble getting my hands to work together so I ended up playing simple patterns with my
feet.

But then I starting hearing these cool bass

drum licks by 2 of my favorite drummers: John Bonham of Led Zeppelin (Good Times, Bad
Times - single pedal triplets!) and Don Brewer from Grand Funk Railroad (T.N.U.C. - triplets
between hands and bass drum at 4:48 6:40). And then I started noticing how jazz
drumming great Tony Williams with Miles Davis played the hi-hat with his foot (Seven Steps
To Heaven - triplets between left hand and hi-hat at 2:36 and 5:40). Thats when I started
focusing on improving my foot technique, playing more complex drum beats and
incorporating my feet into drum fills.
Right Foot Heel Down
My first drum teacher, Portland great Chic Colburn, taught me to play with my right heel
down and my foot flat on the bass drum pedal foot board, pivoting at the ankle. The focus
was on playing each stroke in time with my hands and with a consistent volume.
I learned some basic rock, jazz and Latin beats. I got pretty good at playing the bass drum
in time with my hands, especially my right hand as it kept a steady beat on the hi-hat or ride
cymbal. This bass drum technique served me well when I played in the high school jazz band
and with a soft country music trio at a local bar.
Bass Drum Heel Up
But then I started playing in a rock band and my right foot technique had to
change. Keeping my right foot flat on the foot board did not produce a loud enough sound to
keep up with the volume of the band. I learned to play the bass drum with my right heel up,
the ball of my foot on the foot board, and lifting and lowering my leg to get more power.
The heel up technique worked great for loud rock music. The heel down technique worked
great for soft bands. But as I got more experienced and played in different musical
situations, I had a need for a medium volume bass drum technique that had the power of the
heel up method but did not mash the beater into the bass drum head. Thats when I
discovered the heel/toe method.
Heel/Toe Bass Drum Technique
The heel/toe technique starts by slightly lifting the right leg. When the leg is lowered, the
heel touches the foot board first and the rest of the foot follows immediately afterward,
rotating at the ankle. The pressure on the ball of the foot is released immediately so the
bass drum beater does not mash into the head (also known as burying the beater).

Its similar to the motion your wrist and hand make when hitting a drum with a stick. Its
almost like a whipping motion with the foot.
The heel/toe technique has not been easy for me to learn but I continue to work on it. I still
revert back to heel down for soft music and heel up for loud. I may even use all 3
techniques in the same song!
In the next post well explore the techniques for the left foot and provide some suggestions
for foot and leg exercises. There will also be some suggestions for drum books and DVDs
that specialize on improving your foot technique. In the meantime, keep evolving your feet!