Muting the Bass Drum with Double Pedal

Hey folks!

I recently acquired a double pedal for my bass drum after many years without one.
As well as practicing single strokes between the feet (yes I know it's a serious cliche, but it's the most logical place to start ) I found that if I did the "normal" things with my left foot as if I was playing hi-hat I could mute the bass drum. In other words, if I keep the left foot pedal resting against the head I can mute and raise the pitch of the bass drum, which creates some interesting possibilities.......

Try this foot pattern with any bossa or samba beat. (Note: I've written the left side pedal on the hi-hat space.)



In the second example, which also works well with Brazilian style beats, the left foot is muting on beats 1 and 2, resulting in a quasi-surdo feel. Remember not to flam beat 1.

(Although you should work on foot flams as well.)                            





Example 3 is the same as example 1 except now we're swinging the 8th notes. I once heard Steve Gadd play this underneath a shuffle (during a shout section with a big band no less!)

       

Finally, example 4isusing quarter note triplets in the same shuffle setting.              Have Fun!