Best way to play the bass pedal?

[GroZZleR]

Hey all,

I'm workin' through the drums on Medium and Hard now. I get cocky and play on Hard, then get humbled after a song or two and go back to Medium to build up my skills. I'm mainly losing because of the bass pedal. What's the best way to play it? The tutorial talks about using my calf to play it, but I don't even know what that means.

What I do is: rest my heel on the ground with the ball of my foot on the pedal, then simply press down through the ankle. This seems to tighten up a lot of muscles and eventually even my knee gets sore.

Do I just have girly muscles or is there something I'm missing?

[Sanctaphrax]

Rest your foot on the pedal then step when you need to use it.

[FatalisticDread]

i move the pedal to the right of the whole drum set...not "hooked" on the bars...this lets me play the pedal at about 45 degrees instead of the recommended 90 degrees...helps a lot with the "cramping" and seems a bit more controllable

[Apples]

The switch for the pedal appears to trigger when the pedal hits the full extent of its downward motion.

The best technique I've found is either 1- stomp pretty forcefully, 2- only release the pedal about half way up between stomps to minimize the time and motion to make hits.

[mind_in_rewind]

I keep the pedal held down all the time, and lift it slightly and stomp when the notes come. Works well. It's what drummers do, and what the game suggests.

[ZkDotNet]

There's two approaches to the pedal in drumming: heel up or heel down. Sounds like you're playing heel down (your heel is resting on the ground). I find it hard to play like that with quick kicks... not to mention it uses muscles you don't normally use.

I personally play heel up. I rest my foot on the pedal (with my heel off the ground) in a spot where it's mostly depressed, but not completely. That helps me with the quick kicks.

(I'm not a real drummer, but I'm progressing pretty decently on RB... also playing on hard now.)

[CENACHAINGANG54]

I keep the pedal held down all the time, and lift it slightly and stomp when the notes come. Works well. It's what drummers do, and what the game suggests.

As a drummer the above is also my advice. Also learn to use the whole leg and not just the foot as this will minimize the cramping and pain. If you ever watch a drummer play his whole leg is going up and down along with the foot. This is also the same thing with using the wrist when drumming versus the whole arm. So try what Mind suggested as like I said as a drummer this is the way to do it.

[deepbluevibes]

As a drummer the above is also my advice. Also learn to use the whole leg and not just the foot as this will minimize the cramping and pain. If you ever watch a drummer play his whole leg is going up and down along with the foot. This is also the same thing with using the wrist when drumming versus the whole arm. So try what Mind suggested as like I said as a drummer this is the way to do it.

I second all of this, except if you're really light like me, and your foot's light, resting your foot on the pedal actually isn't enough *to keep it down* so you get repeated double hits off one hit if you try to rest your foot on the pedal.

If anyone else is as light as me and has trouble keeping the pedal down, you can try what I do, which is after I hit, I raise my heel up, but keep my toe slightly above the highest part of the pedal. Basically, my foot is horizontal in the air, and makes sort of a triangle shape in relation to the bass pedal when i'm not using it, if you know what I mean.

I'd also like to note that if you're not strong in your legs or in your feet or don't have much experience with **** that makes you have to hold your legs in positions that cause strain (gymnastics, wrestling, martial arts, DDR lol) that this technique is a really bad idea, but it's about all I can do on this super springy pedal.

[PhatRabb1t]

I found it the easiest to keep the pedal pressed down the entire time, directly under your dominant foot. Your leg will be at a 90 degree angle. To play the bass note, just simple lift your leg and put it back down. I discovered this was the easiest when I started playing Hard mode when you get the double bass notes.

[roxperch]

Yeah, the only part(s) of your foot touching the pedal should be your toes and the "balls" of your foot (heel up off the ground). Then keep the pedal pressed down until needed.

[Tarzanman]

Here you go. All the opinions and info on proper kick technique you'll ever need:

http://www.drummercafe.com/content/view/11/28/
http://www.vdrums.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-15472.html
http://www.drums-and-drum-sets.com/bass-pedal-technique.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_drum

Personally, I play with my entire foot upon the whole pedal. I tried toe-up style (very tiring on your calves after 2-3 songs), heel up style (less tiring, but slower speed and less precision for rapid hits), and decided on the style I currently use (requires practice, but allows you the most freedom to switch around if you have to).

I should note.... I never played the drums before rock band... but starting out on hard (and trudging through the first two tiers) is teaching me plenty.

[AdamWill]

for what it's worth, I play with what is generally considered terrible technique (I stomp from about half a foot in the air for simple beats, and tense my calf and nudge with my toe for fast or complex sections) and that works fine for me because I'm used to it. if you're starting you may as well use a 'correct' technique, but honestly, technique is not the most important thing, practice is. Whatever technique you pick, after you practice long enough, it'll feel normal, and trying anything else will be odd (I've tried a few times to play with 'correct' technique - holding the pedal down till needed - and just can't do it at all).

[knightofgotham]

Soo ive noticed that im alone so far in how I play the Bass Pedal.. and as much as i want to learn how to drum (and this is how im learning), im starting off wrong, I know. But I actually have the Bass Pedal turned around backwards.. so my foot rests flat on it: toes down, heel up. And when the notes come up i just push my heel down. Its so easy, and if i ever do become a drummer, ill have to make a rig to make that work cuz i find it very easy! :)and when I get a faster song and the pedal starts sliding away from me, I actually tuck the extended plastic piece under the first bar of the drum stand and it stays secured. Whats really good about this is, Ive found that im naturally good at this with my left foot, and im learning with my right, that way if one leg gets tired, i can just switch. I play on medium for now. Expert on guitar and bass, and not sure about vocals, that is just hard. lol. But yeah, thats how I use the bass pedal. Credit goes to my 16 year old brother for that. lol. what a genious, cuz heel down toes up hurts like a mofo, and im not coordinated enough to hold my foot up for the "heel up" position...

[Formica]

But I actually have the Bass Pedal turned around backwards.. so my foot rests flat on it: toes down, heel up. And when the notes come up i just push my heel down. Its so easy, and if i ever do become a drummer, ill have to make a rig to make that work cuz i find it very easy! :)and when I get a faster song and the pedal starts sliding away from me, I actually tuck the extended plastic piece under the first bar of the drum stand and it stays secured.

I was just about to suggest this. Ergonomically, turning the pedal around just feels better all around for me. Moreover it's not exactly bad technique - I was reading up on drum ergonomics and found that there are real bass drum pedals for sale that work this way (though they aren't that common).

The problem with this method is the connecting cord for the bass pedal - it's tight and curly and can get in the way. Fortunately our friends at Harmonix made it VERY easy to fix this. The bass pedal is connected to the main set by a standard 3.5mm (1/8") mono headphone jack, also called a TS jack. You can get an extension cord for this, or if you're feeling saucy, you can strip the wires on a mono cable with the right plug and wrap the correct leads around the plug off the bass pedal and connect it. I am going to make a little faq with some pictures on how to do this, it's really easy but it's hard to explain with just words. I did it with a pocket knife and some duct tape in about 5 minutes.

[Frederf]

Smart thinking!

In the beginning I found the bass pedal was trouble because my leg muscle/tendons were acting up and twitching.

Try sitting on a high bar stool and resting the balls of your feet on something solid with your heel in mid air. Also this would happen to me a lot in the old high-school desks. If you notice that it's really easy for your leg to start shaking on its own and bouncing rapidly almost with a mind of it own...

... yeah, that's a good way not to play the bass pedal. Putting my foot down, relaxing it, and making sure it didn't do that crazy jitter bounce on its own... and then making sure to use that position with the game has made my leg motions far less jittery, relaxed, and confident.

[Jamer Vicpul]

As a drummer the above is also my advice. Also learn to use the whole leg and not just the foot as this will minimize the cramping and pain. If you ever watch a drummer play his whole leg is going up and down along with the foot. This is also the same thing with using the wrist when drumming versus the whole arm. So try what Mind suggested as like I said as a drummer this is the way to do it.

As a drummer myself, I've was taking lessons from a guy who had been playing since he was 16(so like 40 somehthing years of playing gigs covering everything), the above is my advice, but I would like to add, that playing on the ball of your foot(heel up) is how I play when I'm druming, it is what they mean when they say use your calf. Its also how I play RB. I rest my toes on the pedal right over where the orange line is so the end of my toes are at the end of the pedal. It feels pretty much like playing a real kick, excpet for its not as heavy.

As a side note: you know how there are two bars that suporrt the drum kit along the floor? I took the first one off so I could move the pedal back further under the drums, feels more natural.

[Pellakin]

and when I get a faster song and the pedal starts sliding away from me, I actually tuck the extended plastic piece under the first bar of the drum stand and it stays secured.

I tried doing something similar, but the plastic is about 1/16-1/8" too thick to fit under the cross bar for me, and the whole drum stand ends up leaning backwards from having it propped under the front like that.

I eventually gave up on the reverse pedaling and went with more of a standard "foot down until the beat is needed" technique.

Now that I think about it...that plastic part could probably be Dremeled pretty easily to create a little "trough" across the whole pedal about an inch down from the end for it to "notch" under the bar, thus removing the imbalance issue AND make it harder to slip out from underneath the set. Of course, you couldn't send it back if (when?) it breaks, so...beware. :)

[knightofgotham]

True Dat. lol. I guess it doesnt lean back that much for me cuz my parents have a thick carpet, so it doesnt lean back but jst a little. But I like ur idea. And the cord never really gets in my way, i mean yeah it tightens up, but it never like hinders me from performing.. BTW... I think that they should issue out a second foot pedal and allow us to use 2 for double bass kicks. Thatd make the game a little easier for the people who are good im sure. and i think it be more fun, and itd be awesome for the drum fills and big rock endings too.

[Rogue42]

But I actually have the Bass Pedal turned around backwards.. so my foot rests flat on it: toes down, heel up.

I've actually spun mine around this way, as well. Since the cable is a standard 1/8 jack, I happened to have an extension cord lying around, which lets me move the pedal to a comfortable reverse position, and I just keep my leg semi-propped up on my toes. It took me a few songs to get used to it this way, but my ankles aren't sore after an extended period of playing anymore.

[e1duke]

Toe down, heels up, good for those double bass beats.

Inside thigh is sore though

[scuzme]

Toe down, heels up, good for those double bass beats.

Inside thigh is sore though

I tried the heel up approach yesterday. It makes kicking fast easier but I found it more tiring during rest. Probably because I'm really light weight so it's hard for me to hold down the pedal with the ball of my foot.

What I find easier is to raise my heel really high, as in the bottom half of my foot is in the same straight line as my leg, kind of like a ballerina, only that i don't point my foot. So I guess real drummer with heel up style will have a 100 degree angle at the ankle, and I'm more like 180 degrees during rest. I go back to about 100 degrees during active kicking.

I don't know if that'll cause any long-term fatigue or injury. Any advice?

[Admiralwiggin]

another issue im finding with the heel up method the plastic pedal seems to give more then with the heel down pedal