double-bass-drumming-training-manual

R&L Ch. 9—The Blues

Skeleton sheet. This chapter has the metadata block and Core / Rotation / Reference tables but has not yet been rewritten to the shape of chapter-01.md and chapter-02.md—no first-session walkthrough, no worked advancement example, no per-exercise rationale. See chapter-template.md for the shape this sheet will take when filled, and DEVELOPMENT.md “Things to do later” for the outstanding propagation work.

Session role: focus block.

Every session opens with warm-up on the current R&L Ch. 1 exercises before you work this chapter. Baseline 30-min session: ~7–8 min warm-up (Ch. 1) → ~15 min focus (this chapter) → ~5–6 min application → ~2 min cool-down. Full detail in approach.md §6.

How to use this sheet

Application chapter (Stage 5 in approach.md §5). R&L is upfront that this chapter is difficult but worth the effort—do not open it until your Stage 2 core beats hold ~90 bpm cleanly. This is not a punishment rule; it is that the swung-16th feel here is hard to place accurately when the underlying 16th-note coordination is still shaky.

Two specific R&L cues drive how you work this chapter. First, swing all the 16th notes—the chapter is written straight but is meant to be played swung. Second, practise in twelve-measure phrases; the traditional blues form is the point of the material, and a 12-bar loop is the right length for a clean pass here rather than a bare minute.

Some of the beats and fills are not printed strong-foot lead. R&L says to play them as written and then experiment—treat the printed footing as the starting point.

The bpm defaults come from the 16th-note beats row of approach.md §4 (start 50 bpm, target ~110 bpm). Because everything is swung, the real feel-target is often 10–20 bpm lower than the equivalent straight-16th chapter.

Core (most sessions)

Ex. Section Role Start Target
1 Warm-Ups Alternating swung 16ths 50 bpm 110 bpm
4 Warm-Ups Alternates naturally when repeated 50 bpm 110 bpm
11 Beats First blues beat with swung 16th feet 50 bpm 110 bpm
15 Beats Blues groove variant 50 bpm 110 bpm
21 Beats Beat with printed triplet placement 50 bpm 110 bpm

Rotation (some sessions)

Ex. Section Role Start Target
3 Warm-Ups Extended alternating swung 16ths 50 bpm 110 bpm
7 Warm-Ups Denser swung pattern 50 bpm 110 bpm
13 Beats Blues groove variant 50 bpm 110 bpm
25 Beats Blues beat with more triplet content 50 bpm 110 bpm
37 Fills Blues fill 50 bpm 110 bpm

Reference (discretionary)

Warm-Ups 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 build density on top of the core patterns. Beats 12, 14, 16–20, 22–36 are groove variants—pick one when your ear points at a specific feel. Fills 38–52 are the fill library; treat them as phrasing examples, not a checklist.

Practice notes

Log line format

Log this chapter’s work with the exercise number prefixed by 9.—for example 9.11 70 bpm 5 min pass swung. See approach.md §8.