Heel Toe Technique Double Bass - A Beginners Guide

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Learning how to play the heel toe double bass technique on drums can be really frustrating. This video will show you what not to do, and more specifically what to do and why you do it.
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#heeltoedoublebasstechnique

[@CameronFleury]

2X You Double Bass Drumming Control & Speed. My gift to you academy.cameronfleury.com

[@willwozniak2826]

I just can't seem to get this.....very frustrating. you explained it the BEST out of most other videos i have seen.....Good Job Bro.

[@TonyT007]

Try dropping ur heel while playing singles

[@CameronFleury]

Which part?

[@raviolijesus6181]

same I think I have played too long with just the top palm of my foot...using my heel feels very unnatural but we all start building muscle memory somewhere...even if it's very very slow and focused..because there's no way I'll ever be able to play the speeds I want to with just my foot..I need this technique

[@warrenranstrom4462]

Does your seat have to be higher than normal so your knees are below your thigh?

[@J87Visuals]

I'm suuuper uncoordinated with heel toe. Always played heel doen

[@TrailsJunkie]

I haven't played drums in over 12 years, I recently bought an Alesis mech kit to get back into it, these tutorials are super helpful Cam !

[@CameronFleury]

Wonderful! Glad to be of any help 🤘

[@HamsteroidOver]

Did pretty much the same. Got a Nitro Mesh but instead of buying the lame expansion kit I went a step further and bought another complete kit to combine both together. Here's a tutorial on how to get it done in case you wanna do the same. ;) m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/fWTMqaqjfr6DmZo

[@CameronFleury]

That's great! Thanks so much for sharing.

[@HamsteroidOver]

@@CameronFleury btw, all the splitters aren't necessary at all if you have 2 modules and link them together via MIDI etc...

[@godsfinalpleaministries]

Wow, thank you for posting this. I was unaware of this technique and will be practicing this till I get it down. Thanks.

[@nickalves6428]

Just wanted to pop in and say thank you for these videos by watching them and implementing the techniques in practice I’ve seen a huge improvement! Keep it metal cam🤘

[@CameronFleury]

You are so welcome!

[@KeikoFXDesigns]

Im a returning drummer after a long hiatus... Was in a Thrash grind, punk band back in the 90s called MindSweep... Song called Sober Cell and this exercise will help me get right back to where I need to be. Other stuff I got it covered, but, the double kicks I suck. I keep beating my ownself up way too many times. I kept telling myself I should have never quit but, shit happens. Now I am coming back with a Vengence. Thanx for the tips Cameron! Will join your course in the nearest future!

[@the_terrorizer]

I’ve been practicing for a week, I can now do the heel toe double stroke on my left foot (been doing it on my right foot for years without knowing what it was called). However, putting them together into a consistent double bass bar, that is proving quite difficult lmao

[@oscarrusso3432]

thanks for the free lesson and pdf downloads.

[@CameronFleury]

You are welcome!

[@un4given830]

I dont think it was mentioned in the video but this technique benefits tremendously from the usage of triggers on the kicks as the 2nd stroke per foot will often not have enough time to rebound fully at high tempos

[@JAMLIKELY666]

Thanks 🙏 nc content! it helps me a lot. Watching from Philippines! 👌

[@CameronFleury]

Happy to help!

[@rondeangelis7384]

Great vid cameron👌 What beaters are they?

[@KeikoFXDesigns]

Do you have any recommendations of Practice bass drum pads for Axis longboards? None of my practice pedal pads work with these pedals. But, they do work with my Tama Dynasync.

[@dcfromthev]

4:33 subscribing because of this. haha love it!

[@MegaMikeDrummerYT]

Sharing this video to someone who doesn't understand the concept. Thanks for the great video brother

[@CameronFleury]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Nmdixon-cu7vm]

This is good info. You should have millions of subs. 👍

[@CameronFleury]

Wow, thanks!

[@anteoinas4545]

Awesome video

[@CameronFleury]

Thanks!

[@antoniomoreno6680]

i need to write in spanish because my english is very bad ,ou are the best bro ¡¡¡ soy apasionado de la batería de metal creia que hacia dobles pero no¡¡¡ hacia simples rapidos¡¡¡¡quería saber como configurar el pedal y mil cosas mas que nunca pensé encontrar hasta hoy¡¡¡¡ realmente eres el mejor me acabas de abrir un mundo ahora voy a aprender de tiii muchooooooooooooooooooooooo¡¡¡¡¡ :) muchas graciassssss

[@CameronFleury]

You're very welcome!

[@mynameisIE123]

Are there 2 strokes per foot or they are alternated strokes?

[@tomwest_uk]

Yo bro you got any workouts for developing the left foot doubles? I do use the slide technique on a single pedal atm and I've been fine the past ten plus years, just wanna master the doubles on the left foot, cheers and peace from Manchester UK...

[@CameronFleury]

If you download the exercise PDF you can just switch the lead foot from Right Foot to Left Foot.

[@jonathanbarberet2905]

Hi great work! Thanks ! When you plays 16notes do you play RRLL or RLRL, with heel toe of course??

[@CameronFleury]

RRLL when playing heel toe. 🤘

[@jonathanbarberet2905]

@@CameronFleury thanks so much!

[@brandtjs]

Hi Cameron. I enjoy your approach to this area of drumming. I have a question, however. My application of these techniques is not in the metal vein but, rather, more often in World music, mostly Brazilian, where I have multiple pedals in play. I am not able to tighten down the bass head to the extreme that metal players do and, triggers are not an option. What changes, if any, would you make to the technique if you were forced to remove the triggers from the kick and release the tension on the batter head so that the sound of the kick dropped into the normal range of the kick drum in other musical genres?

[@CameronFleury]

I've got one question for you about that. How fast do you need to able to play? When you remove those two elements (batter head tension, and triggers) hearing double strokes becomes much more difficult. You can still use this technique and make it audible, to a degree. I'd suggest looking into the foot sliding technique or just simply play the heel toe motion on the footboard. Hopefully this helps you on your journey!

[@brandtjs]

@@CameronFleury Thanks. That makes sense. I am probably not operating above 16th-notes at around 160bpm and it is almost never a steady stream. Mostly groupings of 16ths, etc., within the groove or fill.

[@SKDrumming]

Heel toe ... one of the very first techniques I've learned in the music school ... widely used in Jazz ... but how about playing heel toe as singles resulting in the double speed of what you demonstrated ? I plan to get started again with those and need to overcome to a friction that my left pedal in my cobra has ...

[@CameronFleury]

I'm not sure what you mean?

[@SKDrumming]

@@CameronFleury pretty simple brother in drums, assuming that you have four beats two from your right foot and two from your left, You did so far 1 and 2 from your right foot and 3 and 4 from your left. What would happen if with the same technique you give 1 and 3 from your right foot and 2 and 4 from your right foot ? Assuming of course that the speed of the doubles is the same ... pretty much what Jazz drummers do with the push pull technique to play incredibly fast singles ... the result with a simple math is the double speed ...

[@SKDrumming]

@@CameronFleury imagine four soldiers standing and having in between them a distance of 1 meter. The first two wear red suits and the last two green. These are the four beats I mention ... what I mean is to take the first green soldier and place it in between the two red soldiers right in the middle and the last green soldier to be placed again at 50 cm from the last red soldier ... This will result optically in one red one green one red and one green also occupying way less space. Now technically imagine this footage: Right foot start to do the heel stroke, while it retreats for the toe stroke your left right in the middle gives it's heel stroke, then it comes the toe from your right and then the toe from your left in the speed you already was doing one double with your right foot, so as with the soldiers example we reduced the space and in notes this mean higher speed ...

[@throwdown47]

If you watch Wanja’s channel, he does a heel toe -ish motion for single strokes

[@austinkeller481]

So im having trouble getting a consistent 16th note using heel toe

[@Jeffmd2020]

Could you possibly do this same video on a short board double pedal?? I have the DW 9002 till tax time when I can get the trick pro1-v Bigfoot direct drive pedal. But for now I’m having a good amount of difficulty getting a kick on the heel drop unless I have my foot all the way up on the board where my toes are damn near touching the chain. I’m still doing some spring adjustments and stuff like that for now to try and find the perfect balance to where I can have my foot a couple inches off the board and get a good sounding consistent kick with the heel and toe

[@ryancollison6536]

I feel the same way. I have a 9002 pedal and size 11 feet. I cannot get anything usable withe the heel toe method. I recently tried a cheap Pearl 932 longboard double pedal and I definitely could get some of the movement going. Obviously, that pedal was a step down overall from the 9002, but I felt like between the heel-less design and longer pedal it was more advantageous for double strokes.

[@noonewillsaveyou]

Those Motorhead socks doe. Strong!

[@user-ch7tb5hy5p]

Fuckin' good explanation I'll work on it and I'll come back again to let you know how your technique helped me to be able to play things which I've never ever expected

[@Evixus-gr1dm]

I got my axis pedals yesterday and I really don't understand how the heel down part works. In the demonstration on the floor he put the heel on the floor, but that just doesn't make sense to me. What are some things you can recommend?

[@pcbw75]

Love it!!! Can that technique be applied easily to other pedals?

[@CameronFleury]

Absolutely!

[@andireza9786]

If You use chains pedal You must find the pedals setting because its difficult use heel toe technique not using direct pedal board

[@brettwilliams370]

This works for me. Feels like I’m walking backwards.

[@stevehunt914]

Hey mate, great vid. just wondering,... how different is it for you playing without shoes? does the technique become more difficult, or can you still blast without any difference?

[@stevehunt914]

oh ALSO,... when you do double strokes,.. does each foot complete a double stroke before the other foot starts, or are the double strokes integrated... does that make sense?

[@CameronFleury]

Without shoes it might hurt a little bit because of the force you're using onto the pedal. The technique might have to be adjusted slightly because of the difference in feel without the shoes. Try it out for yourself and pay attention to the subtleties and changes with and without shoes on. When you do double strokes, each foot plays two consecutive notes. Much like when you're playing double strokes with your hands. Hand 1 plays two notes, then hand 2 plays two notes. Hopefully that makes sense!

[@mtyzsw6549]

Nicko McBrain is great example of using that technique .... Up the Irons !!!! 💪💪💪

[@nathaniel_cook]

bruh i always thought heel toe was like a special type a pedal, gonna practice this later today thank you

[@CameronFleury]

Happy to help!

[@chrisclark3836]

which pedal are you using? I can't wait to try this. I've learned some baaaad habits.

[@CameronFleury]

Axis longboards

[@stanleyipkiss3806]

I play heel toe, and I always am so baffled when I see this variation of the technique. I don’t understand it haha, the way that you don’t even have your heel on the footboard yet somehow it’s working. Lots of guys do it this way. When I do it, I have to have longboard pedal, and my entire foot is on the pedal, my toes are almost all the way to the front of the pedal, and my foot basically gallops on the pedal. Different strokes for different blokes

[@CameronFleury]

Glad to hear you found what works best for you. This way isn't for everyone, and of course we all have different ways of playing something that ironically provides us with mostly the same result. Thanks for the insightful comment!

[@josearellano3268]

I think It also has to do with the pedals. I have iron cobras and I still can’t get the heal toe technique..

[@ScottWrath89]

What’s your settings in the TM-2 back there? I use foot blasters too 🤘🏻

[@CameronFleury]

I'll have to make a video on that for all of you with a similar setup!

[@jakehaslam3138]

​@@CameronFleurydid you ever do this? Would also be interested

[@user-ch7tb5hy5p]

Nice shocks

[@BN-pr2ud]

very nice

[@CameronFleury]

Thanks

[@BN-pr2ud]

@@CameronFleury this video is dope, helped me alot with learning Double strokes and nowdays I can go 270bpm. So good shit 😎🤙

[@krzysztofka2219]

hi, excellent video! how long does it take to learn play heel toe? :-)

[@TeamWinnieRacing]

1,000,000 years.

[@CameronFleury]

Everyone is different! Depends how much time you put into it. :)

[@Onieromancer]

Optimal spring tension for this technique?

[@CameronFleury]

Just did a video on this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2Kmdmdsn51-n7M

[@strangledbyintestines]

Hey Cameron! I can do the heel toe off the pedal, but when i apply it to the kit, the hit with the heel doesn't do anythint

[@CameronFleury]

You're going to need to sign up for my free mini course then: academy.cameronfleury.com

[@redfin382]

Man I just can't get the initial hit. It just doesnt make sense to me how your heel hits the ground but also hits the pedal? Maybe my pedal isnt long enough?

[@jefflockhart1486]

How tight is your bass drum head and what is stuffed inside and how much

[@CameronFleury]

It's pretty tight! Bunch of blankets are inside of it. Helps with triggering accurately.

[@brazenmmabrazilianjiu-jits8488]

So I can get the double stroke if I hit the end of the pedal and then drop my toe for the 2nd hit...but it looks like your foot is really far back off the pedal. When I try this with my heel off the pedal I can't seem to get a hit. What is hitting when you drop your heel and how are you getting a hit on that 1st heel drop?

[@CameronFleury]

My foot / balls of my toes. Basically pushing straight down.

[@brazenmmabrazilianjiu-jits8488]

Got it!! Great video!! Thanks!!

[@MadZprod23]

My feet are just to big to do the heel toe technique, have I been playing with a kick drum that’s too small all my drumming life or can you get pedals for bigger foot people ?

[@AlexG-wk3nh]

The way some of these tutorials are worded can be confusing, you dont need your heel to touch the pedal at all so your foot size is irrelevant

[@MadZprod23]

@@AlexG-wk3nh thank you

[@CrashSiteZERO]

What kick pedal are you using?

[@CameronFleury]

They're the axis AL 2's!

[@jdraven7125]

It looks more like you’re hitting that more with the ball of your foot, then your heel. Trying to figure this out on an Iron Cobra and this is confusing. Lol. I’m a beginner, obviously.

[@Carriesaglock]

Whst beaters are those you’re using?

[@CameronFleury]

They're Low Boy Beaters - Lightweight bass drum beaters.

[@Stixxyyyy]

As a fellow drummer named Cam I approve this message

[@CameronFleury]

Thanks so much!

[@rlbigfish]

Man, every time I've heard bands like Dimmu Borgir play stuff like that I always thought it was fake.

[@gravity4514]

Try listening to Slaughter to prevail!

[@uptheirons726]

When doing this technique with both feet is it like heel heel toe toe or heel toe heel toe?

[@CameronFleury]

Heel Toe Heel toe. Mind you, a lot of drummers play different variations of this technique, so there's no right or wrong way technically speaking.

[@uptheirons726]

@@CameronFleury Gotcha. But playing at speed 16th notes you should play doubles with each foot. RRLLRRLLRRLL.

[@davegoodwin1848]

What pedal is this? Thanks!

[@Evixus-gr1dm]

I think axis longboard

[@Drunkinninja]

My pedal doesn’t hit when I keep my heal down. Not sure what I’m doing with this style

[@fabianblast]

You can try to play with socks first to feel the motion... Also, check spring tension (70 to 80%) and the distance between the kick drums and the beaters. They should go around 35-45 degrees. Play around and see how you feel. It's important to learn the technique but also the pedal setup.

[@Zantrop64]

The thing is, I'm also big into cars, so I was a bit weirded out when i saw what channel this was

[@CameronFleury]

Thanks for the heads up!

[@Zantrop64]

@@CameronFleury wait you changed the title and thumbnail ?

[@avecaesar5052]

🖤

[@CameronFleury]

🙌

[@philb4462]

That kick drum sounds more like a click that a bass drum.

[@codyodom4587]

God dammit I want some Axis pedals so bad!

[@mariano21004]

👌⚡⚡🔥🔥

[@CameronFleury]

Thanks for watching!

[@samueldelagarza4837]

Samuel

[@EnjoyTheChaos]

I see a lot of heel toe kickers swinging their heels left to right. Why is that?

[@mrc25381]

Just their technique.

[@andrewfields8556]

I heard that if you do this technique wrong that you can seriously screw up your leg muscles to where you can't do that technique anymore.

[@CameronFleury]

You might be thinking of the swivel technique!

[@dbmdrums1105]

I have leaned a little forward when I increase tempos (well atleast for me from 140 to 160 BPM) . Things definitely get a little tricky . I wanted to ask if there is a way to get clean 16th note triplets ?

[@raviolijesus6181]

@@dbmdrums1105 learn heel toe

[@mikey_noir]

I’ve tried getting this down for a few years now and honestly I just can’t get it down. Oh well.

[@CameronFleury]

Have you tried my no-cost mini course? Here give this a try: academy.cameronfleury.com

[@antondubkov]

It's much easier to do this without shoes, also much better precision

[@CameronFleury]

I've tried. You don't find it to be hard on your feet?

[@antondubkov]

@@CameronFleury no, don't have any issues. Although when I used a Roland KD-10 kick pad in the beginning - I did get some bruising on my heels (slamming against edges of the pedals), especially when I played a lot... so I guess it's possible... Pedals (rough edges, etc), settings and technique probably affect things, as well as how much / how intense you are playing. Also the surface - I have a soft carpet and some extra padding underneath for noise isolation -- maybe it helps as well.

[@ricardooliveira2258]

Again, another drummer calling triplets to HERTAS. Other than that, cool video and cool explanation. ;)

[@stevenross196]

No matter how hard I try I can’t get this shit down at all !!! :(

[@CameronFleury]

Here, have this free heel toe mini course: academy.cameronfleury.com Let me know how it goes!

[@michaelhembree4167]

if your into speed this is for you..not me

[@CameronFleury]

Of course! Not intended for everyone 🤓

[@mklschwrtz2]

This is basically a drum tutorial for Pantera - Psycho Holiday

[@TheKasholkin]

Как будто горох рассыпали

[@eugeniovasquez3780]

Free Britney ... Wtf?

[@Karasike]

My god, those triggers sound absolutely horrendous. How do people play with that shit?

[@drakausdromgatti58]

Yeah tight bass drum heads are lame

[@CameronFleury]

If you could share your experience with of all us that would be great!

[@codegreen5213]

I feel like the triggered bass drum makes it sound too precise, in reality the dynamics do not sound like in this video - Don't feel discouraged by this