Foundation

Bass Drum Doubles

Two kicks in one beat — three ways to do it

Duration · 25 min Focus · Foot Technique
Prerequisites

One foot, two kicks in the time you usually play one — that's the bass-drum double. It's the technique behind every "boom-boom-bap" hip-hop kick, every "ka-ka-snare" rock fill, and the rapid kicks under a metal verse before the second pedal comes out. There are three popular ways to produce it, and you don't need to master all three — pick the one that feels least awkward and develop it.

The heel-toe (rocker) technique pivots the foot like a rocker: the heel drives the first stroke (foot tilted back, ball of the foot up); the toe/ball drives the second (heel rises, ball drops). Two strokes per pivot, controlled but limited in volume.

The slide technique starts with the ball of the foot near the heel of the pedal board; the first stroke is played there, and as the beater rebounds the foot slides forward toward the toe end. The second stroke comes from the now-forward position, where the leverage is greater. Slides feel slightly awkward at first but produce two equally loud, equally clear strokes.

The swivel technique uses a side-to-side rotation of the leg: the first stroke from one angle, the foot pivots around the heel a few degrees, the second stroke from the new angle. Less common today but still used by metal drummers for sustained doubles.

Pick one. Frame the others as alternatives you'll come back to. The exercises here are agnostic about technique — they just ask for two evenly-spaced kicks in places where you used to play one.

1 — 16th-Note Doubles on the Kick (Slow)
4/4 · ♩ = 70
On every beat: two fast kicks (the 1 and the e), then nothing for the rest of the beat. Each pair is your double. The two strokes must be evenly spaced — equal in time, equal in volume. Whichever technique you're using, the second kick should not feel like an afterthought.
2 — One Kick Double Per Bar (on Beat 4)
4/4 · ♩ = 85
Basic backbeat with one new gesture: the kick on beat 4 is now a double. Snare on 2 and 4, kicks on 1, 3, and the 4-e. The hat 8ths must not flinch when the foot doubles — that's the whole exercise. If the hat slows down or gets uneven on beat 4, isolate the kicks again before re-adding the hands.
3 — Doubles Before Each Backbeat
4/4 · ♩ = 80
Two kick doubles per bar, both on counts 1 and 3 — the kick still happens on the same beats as before, but each is now a double. The doubled kick acts as a lead-in to the snare on the next beat. Listen for the relationship: boom-boom · CRACK · boom-boom · CRACK.
4 — Kick-Double-Snare Groove
4/4 · ♩ = 80
The canonical kick-kick-snare figure: two kicks then a snare, twice per bar. Said out loud: doom-doom-CRACK · doom-doom-CRACK. This is the kick figure under 'We Will Rock You', half of hip-hop, and any number of stadium-rock anthems. Your foot is doing the rhythmic work; the snare just punctuates.
Move on when
  • 16th-note kick doubles (Ex 1) at ♩=70 are evenly spaced — no rushed second note in any pair
  • Single-double-per-bar groove (Ex 2) at ♩=85 keeps the hi-hat hand steady while the foot doubles up
  • Kick-double-snare pattern (Ex 4) at ♩=80 holds for 1 minute without the snare getting pulled forward by the kicks