At The Double

It was sad to hear of the death of Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor – renowned for a number of things, but also for being one of the pioneers of the double bass drumming style that has become ubiquitous in the worlds of metal.

Double bass drumming may look easy - but it isn't. You're asking your left (or hi-hat) foot to do something that it isn't used to doing. And in effect you're asking your whole body to play differently.

Louie Bellson was the man who started it in jazz... and Ginger Baker was the first to bring it to rock... closely followed by Keith Moon and Jon Hiseman.

There are a small number of good books on the subject. There is an excellent primer by Joe Franco called "Double Bass Drumming". And I would also now recommend "Double Bass Drumming and Power Fills Workout" by Matt Sorum and Sam Aliano.

At first I thought this book was just about speed and flash, but it actually leads you into some really interesting experimentations with all the (often simple but still tricky) combinations of two hands and two feet playing drums.

Learning to play two bass drums takes you back to basics, not only in terms of simplicity but also because it can give you that same feeling of excitement you had when you first discovered the drums. Try it!