This was well explained and I wish I had known this when I started playing bass. Although I wouldn’t make the player adjust to the drum if you’re using stadium hardware or carriers with a decent amount of adjustability. It’s much more uniform to adjust the drum to suit the players arms. This way, the angle from your shoulder to your elbow should be about 20 degrees outward, the angle of your elbow will be 90 degrees, and your angle from your fore arm to the mallet will be 45 degrees. Although this is just my rule, if you’re using a large bass line (6 or more basses) you will probably end up needing to break it for the chonkier drums. PS: to anyone starting on bass, don’t be afraid to ask questions and communicate with your fellow bass players! And don’t think that you’re any less cool than the snares or tenors.
Thank you so much for this, I somehow was able to pass the audition for my bass line, and while I've spent my first two high school years getting very adept at Drum Set, I have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER how bass drum or even marching works, these videos will be a great help, again, much thanks!
Thank you so much for this series. I am starting rehearsals for drumline (going for bass 2) today after having played in the front ensemble and flute section for the last 3 years and I’m trying to learn all I can before I get to start with the drum. These videos are impossibly helpful!
Idc how small your channel is it is the best bass drumming channel ive ever seen I love your videos please keep posting videos so I can watch them! I've actually seen a good UA-cam channel showing bass drum ANYTHING! I wish I had this video sooner but I'm really happy I found it!
i am a sophomore in my marching band and i currently march flute. i hope to try out for bass one or bass two for my drumline for next season. the only percussion instrument i have ever played is drum set so i have much better technique in my right hand than in my left. do you have any tips for building equal technique in both my hands?
angel Czepczynski This is fairly common for all musicians, and humans in general to have dominant and non-dominant hands. The best way to be equal with your hands is make sure you’re playing any basic one-hand rudiments (accents and taps, legato strokes, double strokes, etc.) with the right hand, then the left hand, and then with both hands at the same time matching grip, stick height, and quality of sound your producing. be critical about your playing! know when you should focus more on your left hand to get it to where the right hand is. most drumline music is written to be right hand dominant (sorry lefties) but as you get more advance it becomes important to have the ability to do some rudiments and exercises starting with the right or left hand (also known as off the right, or off the left). with bass specifically most parts are off the right, and most splits start with the right hand for ease of playing. the biggest key with bass is matching the sound you’re producing with your right vs left hand. hope this helps!!
Guys this is amazing! Great job! One small suggestion... could you tape the mallet black for future videos so we can see it's angle against the white head?
Definitely! We only realized after the fact that our camera was having some exposure issues, so from now on we'll definitely use a more visible tape. Thanks for watching!
TeeZee good rule of thumb (in my experience) would be making sure the shoulder pads are even and comfortable on the individual first. then making sure the stomach pad is positioned so the pressure created from the weight of the drum will cause the least amount of discomfort. also take into account where the j-bars (the metal bars used to hold the drum up on the harness) are at this point, but know they can be adjusted. when the drum is on the harness, for most individuals, you should be able to find the appropriate height/how much of the view in front of the individual you’re blocking based on the end of this video. set up the correct arm position, and move the drum up or down so the bead of the mallet lands in the middle of the head. with very tall or very short individuals there does need to be some give and take. I’m 6’ 1” and played bass 2 and so my drum would be a good height but i had to draw back my elbows to hit center. also with the height of the drum is where the j-bars then fall compared to your upper leg. they shouldn’t dig into your leg when marching, so adjust for that accordingly. hope this helps!!
Only think I teach differently for bass is that we use a back fulcrum. It creates a longer lever and allows for more volume production when needed. Other than that, bravo.
BASS DRUM GROUP I'm sorry I meant no disrespect! I love your videos and truly appreciate them. I'm a Drumline instructor (self-taught) in a middle school and I do have ton of beginners. I come to your channel so I get some advice ant it some of it has worked! Thank you so much for taking the time in making these vids and sharing! Much heart.
Hi I play snare drum am play for mendenhall jr high school and I want to let all the kid and more October 25 places go come to me football games that we we’ll play in an thanks you all for comeing
Great videos man. I'll be telling my students to watch them, you explain things in a well put together way.
This was well explained and I wish I had known this when I started playing bass. Although I wouldn’t make the player adjust to the drum if you’re using stadium hardware or carriers with a decent amount of adjustability. It’s much more uniform to adjust the drum to suit the players arms. This way, the angle from your shoulder to your elbow should be about 20 degrees outward, the angle of your elbow will be 90 degrees, and your angle from your fore arm to the mallet will be 45 degrees. Although this is just my rule, if you’re using a large bass line (6 or more basses) you will probably end up needing to break it for the chonkier drums. PS: to anyone starting on bass, don’t be afraid to ask questions and communicate with your fellow bass players! And don’t think that you’re any less cool than the snares or tenors.
This was super well put together. Really great!
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
This is so good. My god, I wish I had this video when I was learning bass technique for the first time.
So do I! The complete lack of bass drum information is the reason why I'm creating all this contact for new players. Thanks for watching!
Death By Applesauce I am just learning the bass technique! 😃
Thank you so much for this, I somehow was able to pass the audition for my bass line, and while I've spent my first two high school years getting very adept at Drum Set, I have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER how bass drum or even marching works, these videos will be a great help, again, much thanks!
This is incredibly informative and VERY well-edited for such a small, unknown channel. Seriously impressive stuff, great video.
Great work on these videos.
My kids do front fulcrum + wrist break but good information nonetheless.
Thank you so much for this series. I am starting rehearsals for drumline (going for bass 2) today after having played in the front ensemble and flute section for the last 3 years and I’m trying to learn all I can before I get to start with the drum. These videos are impossibly helpful!
Idc how small your channel is it is the best bass drumming channel ive ever seen I love your videos please keep posting videos so I can watch them! I've actually seen a good UA-cam channel showing bass drum ANYTHING! I wish I had this video sooner but I'm really happy I found it!
Awesome! Keep up the good work dude.
i am a sophomore in my marching band and i currently march flute. i hope to try out for bass one or bass two for my drumline for next season. the only percussion instrument i have ever played is drum set so i have much better technique in my right hand than in my left. do you have any tips for building equal technique in both my hands?
angel Czepczynski This is fairly common for all musicians, and humans in general to have dominant and non-dominant hands. The best way to be equal with your hands is make sure you’re playing any basic one-hand rudiments (accents and taps, legato strokes, double strokes, etc.) with the right hand, then the left hand, and then with both hands at the same time matching grip, stick height, and quality of sound your producing. be critical about your playing! know when you should focus more on your left hand to get it to where the right hand is.
most drumline music is written to be right hand dominant (sorry lefties) but as you get more advance it becomes important to have the ability to do some rudiments and exercises starting with the right or left hand (also known as off the right, or off the left).
with bass specifically most parts are off the right, and most splits start with the right hand for ease of playing. the biggest key with bass is matching the sound you’re producing with your right vs left hand.
hope this helps!!
Guys this is amazing! Great job! One small suggestion... could you tape the mallet black for future videos so we can see it's angle against the white head?
Definitely! We only realized after the fact that our camera was having some exposure issues, so from now on we'll definitely use a more visible tape. Thanks for watching!
Muito bom , aprendi mais Ainda !
Hey man! if you could do a video on how to correctly set up bass drums on carriers to avoid back injury that would be incredible!
TeeZee good rule of thumb (in my experience) would be making sure the shoulder pads are even and comfortable on the individual first. then making sure the stomach pad is positioned so the pressure created from the weight of the drum will cause the least amount of discomfort. also take into account where the j-bars (the metal bars used to hold the drum up on the harness) are at this point, but know they can be adjusted.
when the drum is on the harness, for most individuals, you should be able to find the appropriate height/how much of the view in front of the individual you’re blocking based on the end of this video. set up the correct arm position, and move the drum up or down so the bead of the mallet lands in the middle of the head.
with very tall or very short individuals there does need to be some give and take. I’m 6’ 1” and played bass 2 and so my drum would be a good height but i had to draw back my elbows to hit center.
also with the height of the drum is where the j-bars then fall compared to your upper leg. they shouldn’t dig into your leg when marching, so adjust for that accordingly.
hope this helps!!
Only think I teach differently for bass is that we use a back fulcrum. It creates a longer lever and allows for more volume production when needed. Other than that, bravo.
Who are you? Great stuff!
this is awesome! thank you so much guys
No problem! Thanks for watching!
The song got on my nerves I couldn't watch the whole video. Bummer I really wanted to see the why thing
Looking back, there's so many things I don't like about this video anymore. Definitely planning on re-doing it in the near future.
BASS DRUM GROUP I'm sorry I meant no disrespect! I love your videos and truly appreciate them. I'm a Drumline instructor (self-taught) in a middle school and I do have ton of beginners. I come to your channel so I get some advice ant it some of it has worked! Thank you so much for taking the time in making these vids and sharing! Much heart.
Me likey
can you guys do a Pipe Band bass drum tutorial?
Hi I play snare drum am play for mendenhall jr high school and I want to let all the kid and more October 25 places go come to me football games that we we’ll play in an thanks you all for comeing