double-bass-drumming-training-manual

R&L Ch. 16—Feet Only

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

Second chapter of Stage 6 (approach.md §5). R&L introduces this chapter as the natural next step after the Ch. 15 starters: it is designed to help you drop 32nd-note doubles into a 16th-note single-bass groove. The material is entirely feet—hands are not part of these exercises.

Two specific R&L cues shape how you work this chapter. First, double strokes tend to sound lower in volume than single strokes; play them with power so the second stroke is not swallowed. Second, the printed footing is a suggestion. R&L says the rhythm matters more than which foot goes first—if the printed R feels wrong, try leading with L.

R&L also warns that the exercises get harder as the chapter goes on. That is the reason the sheet picks earlier exercises as core and treats the later ones as reference.

The bpm defaults come from the feet-only row of approach.md §4 (start 60 bpm, target ~120 bpm). When 32nd-note doubles appear (deeper into the chapter), expect the real starting bpm to be lower.

Core (most sessions)

Ex. Role Start Target
1 First feet-only pattern 60 bpm 120 bpm
3 Feet-only pattern, second placement 60 bpm 120 bpm
7 32nd-note doubles dropped into 16th feel 50 bpm 110 bpm
11 Longer feet-only phrase 50 bpm 110 bpm

Rotation (some sessions)

Ex. Role Start Target
5 Feet-only pattern variant 60 bpm 120 bpm
9 32nd-note doubles variant 50 bpm 110 bpm
15 Denser feet-only phrase 50 bpm 110 bpm
19 Feet-only pattern with displaced doubles 50 bpm 110 bpm

Reference (discretionary)

Exercises 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12–14, 16–18, 20–30 are further feet-only patterns of increasing difficulty. R&L is explicit that the later exercises get harder—do not chase them until the earlier material is clean. Sample when the core list feels stale.

Practice notes

Log line format

Log this chapter’s work with the exercise number prefixed by 16.—for example 16.1 76 bpm 15 min pass power-doubles. See approach.md §8.