Techniques for Using Bass Drum Pedals

Video Transcript

"PETER VAN DYCK: Now, we're going to talk about bass-drum technique. Here's the bass drum and here's the pedal for which we play it. There's really many techniques to playing the bass drum, and it's really about what you find most comfortable. So I'll go over all of them. First, heel-down technique. Notice the heel stays down. And notice I don't jam the thumper into the head. It bounces off. Not this, but this. Another technique used in more heavier styles of drumming, like rock and roll, is heel up. This is when we're hitting the pedal more with the middle of our foot than with the top and we also allow our heel to come off the pedal. It's a lot just like stomping. And notice the thumper still bounces off the head. It doesn't get stuck on it. Not this, but this. This allows us to be more prepared to strike the bass drum once again. And this is bass-drum technique."