I’m so glad when I was little and First learning drums, I was taught to play, heal down and not to bury the beater in the head. Obviously it works great for lighter music and things like jazz, but it also works just as well for hard rock and heavy metal stuff.
From my perspective heel down is the foundational technique that gives you the muscle and neuron connectivity to actually play in time. Also the foundational technique that all further techniques are built from.
Grew up as a heel up rock drummer but spending all my free time now working on jazz chops. That includes reducing my Slingerland 7-piece down to a 4 piece and breaking out the old Ludwig Speed king to work heel down technique. So a timely video. Thanks for posting!
Awesome! Let me know if you want to chat about your jazz education. I’d love to help you out! Sounds like my Jazz Drummer’s Blueprint may be a good fit for you. Hope to talk soon!
I have played for a long time heel up and I'm using the slide double stroke technique, but now I'm starting to use heel down also because I find it better playing quietly and relaxed with good control. So I find myself using some sort of hybrid technique when playing jazz
Nice lesson Tim! I agree that the technique is often dictated by the setup. Most of my life, I’ve played heel down. In recent years, I started trying to focus more on heel up (playing different music, wanting to try something different etc), and I definitely have to at up slightly differently. Being 6’ 1”, a lot of it is in the seat height. Mechanics aside, I’ve never understood why there is so much debate on it. What works for one is deeply personal. I can feather both ways, although it’s a little more muscle memory heel down. Whatever works best for someone!
I mostly use heel down when I want to be talking volume quiet. I use this and cross-stick to give time to the band if we’re songwriting and they are quietly figuring chords out. For louder playing I do like to use the leg weight. Saying that, I also experimented with heel down and removing the pedal spring , that was a very loud and nice sound I must say. You are then completely relying on bounce of course and cannot bury the beater.
A very cool exercise I do for dynamics is to play like a brazilian surdo. First note open (not burying the beater), second note muffled (burying the beater)
Great explanation of seat position and relaxed movements. Maybe u should mention that u r using a direct drive pedal and a pretty tense batter head. This way it works quite well
Always heel down...far better balance and control 😊...feels like reso snare must always be table top tight. Not true. Easy there is no right or wrong. Always learned from my parents R. I. P stay with your feed on the ground so feet on the pedal 😊65 years old now and still learning 😀👍
Nice clip Tim. I grew up listening to Bonham, Baker, Moon, etc...all the guys who were adapting to having to compete with electric guitar volume. In fact, just to hear the bass drum over the snare and cymbals, many drummers instinctively raised the leg and slammed the beater (buried) it into the head. Heel down is ergonomically superior for balance, no doubt and probably a better way to play if volume can be achieved. What about the natural quick fatigue of those anterior shin muscles when relying solely on the ankle with heel down? Any suggestions on that? Do you find that they can be strengthened/conditioned? Thanks for the clip!
I haven't played heel up since I was a rock drummer in the 60's. In the 70's, I learned jazz and how to play musically. I've played heel down, ever since. Likewise, my hi hat foot is heel down for soft playing. However, for louder jazz, my heel is down on the "1" and "3" in 4/4 time, but this is primarily for keeping my inner metronome steady. .
I appreciate all the great heel-up drummers, but here’s something I can never understand: How do they not topple over? Whenever I try to play heel up, I end up completely losing my balance. I feel like I'd have to sit on a steeply backward inclined chair just so as not to slide off of it.
That bass drum is super small! It sounds like a rack tom, it should be minimum 22 x 14" Inches, perfect is 26 x 14" and the vintage is 28 x 14". For Classic jazz, it should be 22 x 14", for vintage jazz it should be 28 x 14" and for versatyle it should be 26 x 14"
I’m so glad when I was little and First learning drums, I was taught to play, heal down and not to bury the beater in the head. Obviously it works great for lighter music and things like jazz, but it also works just as well for hard rock and heavy metal stuff.
Nice lesson Tim! My personal rule for bass drum technique is heel up for everything except feathering. But I appreciate this perspective. Cheers!
That’s super interesting. I do a bit of a hybrid at times as well. Really depends on what the music needs. Love your videos man!
big fan of heel down and not burying the beater
From my perspective heel down is the foundational technique that gives you the muscle and neuron connectivity to actually play in time. Also the foundational technique that all further techniques are built from.
Grew up as a heel up rock drummer but spending all my free time now working on jazz chops. That includes reducing my Slingerland 7-piece down to a 4 piece and breaking out the old Ludwig Speed king to work heel down technique. So a timely video. Thanks for posting!
Awesome! Let me know if you want to chat about your jazz education. I’d love to help you out! Sounds like my Jazz Drummer’s Blueprint may be a good fit for you. Hope to talk soon!
Great lesson and demo. Thanks Tim! I'm always going back and forth on this. Great to see how much speed and control you can get to with heel down.
I have played for a long time heel up and I'm using the slide double stroke technique, but now I'm starting to use heel down also because I find it better playing quietly and relaxed with good control. So I find myself using some sort of hybrid technique when playing jazz
Nice lesson Tim! I agree that the technique is often dictated by the setup. Most of my life, I’ve played heel down. In recent years, I started trying to focus more on heel up (playing different music, wanting to try something different etc), and I definitely have to at up slightly differently. Being 6’ 1”, a lot of it is in the seat height.
Mechanics aside, I’ve never understood why there is so much debate on it. What works for one is deeply personal. I can feather both ways, although it’s a little more muscle memory heel down. Whatever works best for someone!
I always use Heel down, i have always used that
treasure.. thank you so much master!
You’re so welcome!
I mostly use heel down when I want to be talking volume quiet. I use this and cross-stick to give time to the band if we’re songwriting and they are quietly figuring chords out. For louder playing I do like to use the leg weight. Saying that, I also experimented with heel down and removing the pedal spring , that was a very loud and nice sound I must say. You are then completely relying on bounce of course and cannot bury the beater.
A very cool exercise I do for dynamics is to play like a brazilian surdo. First note open (not burying the beater), second note muffled (burying the beater)
Heel down player because i loose balance when my two heels are "in the air".
Great explanation of seat position and relaxed movements. Maybe u should mention that u r using a direct drive pedal and a pretty tense batter head. This way it works quite well
My pedal is a stick dw 9000 chain drive. True tuning may have something to do with speed. Might have to experiment…
@@TimMetz okay, thanks for the Info, Jeep on swingin'.
Always heel down...far better balance and control 😊...feels like reso snare must always be table top tight. Not true. Easy there is no right or wrong. Always learned from my parents R. I. P stay with your feed on the ground so feet on the pedal 😊65 years old now and still learning 😀👍
I always practice heel down but for some reason, when I play I do heel up… I’ve discovered myself doing that and I don’t know why
Nice clip Tim. I grew up listening to Bonham, Baker, Moon, etc...all the guys who were adapting to having to compete with electric guitar volume. In fact, just to hear the bass drum over the snare and cymbals, many drummers instinctively raised the leg and slammed the beater (buried) it into the head. Heel down is ergonomically superior for balance, no doubt and probably a better way to play if volume can be achieved. What about the natural quick fatigue of those anterior shin muscles when relying solely on the ankle with heel down? Any suggestions on that? Do you find that they can be strengthened/conditioned? Thanks for the clip!
I'm more of the "classic" heel down, dynamics and control guy. Don't even care about the "extreme" speed thing.
I haven't played heel up since I was a rock drummer in the 60's. In the 70's, I learned jazz and how to play musically. I've played heel down, ever since.
Likewise, my hi hat foot is heel down for soft playing. However, for louder jazz, my heel is down on the "1" and "3" in 4/4 time, but this is primarily for keeping my inner metronome steady. .
Heel up can be faster, and louder. Simply put
Let's Go
I appreciate all the great heel-up drummers, but here’s something I can never understand: How do they not topple over? Whenever I try to play heel up, I end up completely losing my balance. I feel like I'd have to sit on a steeply backward inclined chair just so as not to slide off of it.
My take is it’s a seating position thing. As a mostly heel down player, I sit further back than most heel up players.
I come down on the opposite side of this. Want to discuss on my podcast?
I was thinking of you when I said some will disagree. lol! Yes I’d love to!
That bass drum is super small! It sounds like a rack tom, it should be minimum 22 x 14" Inches, perfect is 26 x 14" and the vintage is 28 x 14". For Classic jazz, it should be 22 x 14", for vintage jazz it should be 28 x 14" and for versatyle it should be 26 x 14"
Cool.
@@TimMetz besides that, it's a very Nice video