Sixteenth Notes On The Bass Drum
We are now going to start putting bass drums on 16th note off-beats too. As before, make sure you can feel the rhythm first, then play this very slowly until you start to feel more comfortable with it.
Try to play the bass drum on 2a a little softer than the others, so the accent is still very much on beat 3. This may actually help you play this pattern faster - when you have two bass drums in quick succession it is often easier to play the first with power from your ankle and then the second with power from your leg, so the large, slower muscles can bring out the two strokes in one sweeping movement. Again, a good teacher can help you immensely with techniques like this.
Listen to Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt by DJ Shadow from his 1996 album Endtroducing… – a great track built entirely from an eclectic array of samples from older records. On this groove, the right hand plays the bell of the ride cymbal.
Here are a couple of two bar grooves which make use of 16th notes on the bass drum in various positions within the bar. As with earlier exercises, it is useful to practice the bass drum with just the hi-hats and also with just the snare drum before putting all three parts together. It is also useful to play the examples and sing each of the parts as you play.
16 Positions for Sixteenth Notes
In a bar of sixteenth notes in * time, there are 16 different positions for notes within the bar.
The first beat is 1, the second note of the first group of four is called the "e of one" the third note of the first group is called the "and of one", and the fourth note of the first group is called the "a of one",.
As with other subdivisions of the beat, the system then continues through the bar - 2, e of 2, and of 2, a of 2, etc. As with other subdivisions It is worth practicing your bass drum and also your snare drum on each of these positions until you can do them at will.
