double-bass-drumming-training-manual

R&L Ch. 15—Starters—Double Strokes

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

First chapter of Stage 6 (approach.md §5). Stage 6 opens the Rondinelli-authored additions to the revised edition, and this chapter is the on-ramp to feet-only double-stroke work—the same shape as Ch. 1’s single-stroke starters, but with doubles between the feet as the target unit.

R&L is explicit that this chapter is aimed at beginning double bass drummers when played at slow tempos—the wording mirrors Ch. 10 exactly. Do not push bpm here. R&L also lists three foot techniques worth trying—heel/toe, toe/toe, and heel-down—and suggests using a double bass practice pad, or tapping the pattern on the floor away from the kit, as valid practice.

The 13 exercises walk through different double-stroke footings: RRLL, RLLR, RLRR-LL, and various displaced permutations. Pick 3 as core, rotate the rest.

The bpm defaults come from the feet-only row of approach.md §4 (start 60 bpm, target ~120 bpm). Because doubles between the feet cost more than singles, the real starting bpm will often be lower—drop until the second stroke of each double sounds as full as the first.

Core (most sessions)

Ex. Role Start Target
1 RRLL / LLRR foundation 60 bpm 120 bpm
3 Extended RLRL-with-doubles pattern 60 bpm 120 bpm
9 Continuous 16th-note doubles 50 bpm 110 bpm

Rotation (some sessions)

Exercises 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 are the remaining starter footings. Pick one per session and hold it for the 1-minute clean pass. Rotate systematically—do not pile several into one session.

Ex. Role Start Target
2 Displaced double pattern 60 bpm 120 bpm
5 Double-stroke variant with lead swap 60 bpm 120 bpm
11 8th-note triplet doubles 50 bpm 110 bpm
13 Continuous 16th-note doubles (dense) 50 bpm 110 bpm

Practice notes

Log line format

Log this chapter’s work with the exercise number prefixed by 15.—for example 15.1 70 bpm 15 min pass even-doubles. See approach.md §8.