My Foot Technique (The Slide Technique) | Drum Lesson by Dex Star 

If anyone is struggling with slide technique but feels like they have the motion down and it just isnt happening smoothly then this might help. Ill try to keep this short and to the point. Ive always played heel toe since it came very very naturally and easily compared to slide. Ive wanted to also have a good slide technique though because i feel like there are things that slide is better at. But for the life of me i couldnt get fast slide doubles or slide doubles in quick secession. It always felt too stiff. So as obvious as this may seem now i found that if i really backed off the tension i could finally get a good slide double. With heel toe i liked having as much tension as i could get even though i didnt need it. It just felt right with heel toe. But with slide im finding you need a really fast agile setup that only has enough tension to respond fast enough. In other words you dont want to feel like its fighting you but working with you. So if you are struggling to get good slides I recommend going back to your pedal and try tweaking the setup a little looser than youve tried previously. Do whatever it takes to get your pedal to feel loose but still very responsive. And if your pedal is stiff and you cant loosen it for some reason then dont be too hard on yourself cause im finding that with slide a proper setup is very important. With heel toe i can pretty much get away with any setup so i assumed it was supposed to be like that with the slide technique as well but apparently its not. Anyways i hope that helps someone!

Struggling to get doubles using slide technique. Saw your video and within 10 minutes I was able to pull it off and do it. Straight to the point and very concise breakdown of the technique. Thank you very much

I can't believe that this technique came out to ne naturally since i'm just 14 yrs old and i don't have a drum teacher(i'm self taught) when i'm trying to play fast on the bass drum my foor naturally did this and i just figured out now that it's a drum technique that alot of drummers use

Really like your lessons and approach to teaching. Your videos are short, to the point, relevant and well executed. Many thanks for taking the time to put them together and sharing. Jojo Mayer also teaches this method. There are two basic kick drum techniques - heel up and heel down. To get the combined method to work where you are doing a heel down followed by a heel up takes a lot of practice, but it is worth persevering as it improves speed, volume and control. It also makes playing complex grooves a lot less tiring. One of the exercises Jojo teaches is to do 4 beats heel down then 4 beats heel up. Once that is perfected with consistent beats, reduce that to 3 then 2 and then 1, focusing on the transition between heel down and heel up. It's the transition that takes practice, but once your foot learns the motion you can progress more quickly. Playing with a metronome helps ensure consistency as well as a way of monitoring your progress. The other piece of advice is to keep the beater off the drum head at the start and end of each stroke as this gives better resonance rather than 'burying' the beater on the head. It also allows you to re-use the rebound energy as the beater leaves the head.

1 movement, complete relaxation. No tension in the leg at the end of the stroke. That will bring the beater back off the drum.

Great explanation of this technique. Thank you lad

Great breakdown of this technique! Thanks

This is one of the best lessons I've found on this. What is the best spring tension for this technique?

That is as crazy as it gets! Great job, great video!

Best explanation! Lots of good info out there but this is very good visual information!! I’ll practice this today! Thanks!

Best explainantion of this ever ... i mean I know what to do,.. wether to slide or double tab .... it's more this "muscle memopry thing" I gues ... lotsa motorical training nescessarry - even for me playing for 27 years now :)

Excellent

Thanks Idubbz

Thanks! This helps alot!

Dex, you're the best!

Nice 😀

NEW SUBSCRIBER HERE!!! THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO!!! THIS WILL HELP A LOT!!!

ヤバい！That's awesome. I'm motivated. I `ll stick it！

I'm gonna give this slide technique a try

Excellente vidéo ! très bonnes explications détaillées de la technique. Merci pour ce tuto très utile !

Dex.. I kind of find a "Heel toe Tec" working for me I'm learning though. But surprisingly I tend to use both heel toe & slide technique. Which I found it amazing as I'm still strengthening my muscles

I want to learn this really bad

Great one there young man

I want to learn this so bad

Many thanks! Really helpful explanation

Class explanation mate

Thanks for your help clear and to the point ☝️ as helped me a lot thanks am looking forward to seeing more of your video's your the best top shelf in showing how to so easy you slowly go through the part and then speed it up so very helpful thanks 🙏

You're a great teacher, start your own Academy, it will be great!! Cheers!! ps: we found you by accident, we were looking for some bass drum :))

Super

Great lesson

Love the video. Been trying this for months can't get it fast or consistent...

goddd this is exactly what ive been looking for

Thank you for this amazing video. Just a quick question. For the first stroke, when you tap on the pedal, won’t there be a tap sound? Is that ok?

Thanks!

Awsome and thanks 🤘

What hand technique are you using at 0:16? Are these singles?

Hey DeX, I Dig the Foot Slide but I have a lil problem, I had the Toe next to my Big Toe amputated and it's still a little tender and hurts sometimes...should heel good soon! But I'm not going to let it slow me down! When does one get to earn the Title of Drummer? Thank's for the Great Teaching...You Rock! Todd

Molto bello, grazie!

The Stevie T of drums.

Hey DeX, I have some help coming...I ordered Ludwig Double Bass Pedal so I can Kick Bass alot faster! Keep up the Great Teaching! Todd

Man I was hoping you'd teach this technique, thanks for this :)

Great Lesson! Like it! :-)

hello, thanks for the advice, it's ok for the slide motion, BUT my real problem is when I have to do two double strokes, one after the other, for example : RL KK RL KK etc etc. Does it mean that your calf must go back to initiate the slide motion, or is it the fact that the raise of the foot (the first stroke with your ankle), makes automatically the foot going back at the center of the pedal. Sorry it's difficult to explain. Thanks a lot.

thx so much :)

Thanks A Lot

Men I dont have drums but i like drum and i learn does stroke frim you thnx to you

great lessons :-)

Your playing is super awesome!!! I have a quick question that I hope you can help me with. I’m new to this technique and often when I execute it, there’s always the sound of my shoe hitting the pedal board. Is that normal?

Good lesson. When you play fast, I see a bit of side slide too, am I wrong?

Hi thanks for the wonderful video!!! Your doubles are fast!!! When I practise my slide, I encounter a few issues. It’s really tough to practise slow. There seems to be ‘friction’ on the board preventing me to hit the send note. And sometimes my beater, on the back rebound, hits the top of my feet. I really need help!

I have a question that no one has answered for me yet. So I have an older Slingerland set, from the 70's. It has open back/bottom heads on kick and toms. Is the open head making this technique harder for me? In terms of rebound or something like that??

Great vid. But what about spring tension settings?......

I've just recently managed to get heel-toe working for me. Is slide kind of like toe-heel?

Good lesson. Thanks. Can you do this in any shoes?

Just wondering if you have adjusted the angle of the foot board to slope higher up.

Supar technical drums.all drums bet haihat technical uplod.

so if i wanted to use the slide technique on double pedal, would it be better to do right foot, right foot, left foot left foot or right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot? would the RLRL be too slow since this works off the quick rebound?

I suppose you can use the same technique if you play heel up too.

I rather take time with it cause I can feel it coming and I like the slide technique better

Hello Dex! I have been playing the drums for about 2 years now and I am trying to learn this technique but i find it very exhausting for my leg. Is this normal?

so you don't bury the beater?

2:50

Didn't know Stevie T also plays drums

Do you have any grooves or beats you use that can help build this technique?

How important is shoe selection for a smooth slide?

I noticed fast single pedal guys tend to have a pretty high footboard

Is it possible to do this technique to do 32nd notes using both feet?

Question ... I find that sometimes my foot sticks on the slide when I wear shoes, so I've been wearing socks only (on my right foot). Is this "sticking" something that can be fixed with technique? Very nice lesson.

FKN SEEEECK

不错

Is it easier with an elevated footboard?

A question Dex Star is normal that when you’re practicing the slide technique your uncle hurts please answer because I fell a lot of pain in my uncle thanks

10q Bro

what's the distance between the beater and the head ? also the spring tension? I seem to be firmly in the stomp catergory. I need a good pedal but don't want to do too much bad practice with wrong techniques. when I try and get a stroke high up the pedal my foot ends up touching the chain. Also what's availability of lessons like? maybe earlyish 2017. I live in Burton so not far. cheers.

Thank you sir...... ram ram

Tension is low or tight?

I find im getting a lot of pain in the groin have been a heel down player all my life ?.

I can do the slide technique perfectly while standing up. But when I sit down, my foot turns to lead..

Hey man ... how tight is your spring?

What brand and model of pedal do you use?

Hu this is a hard practice

I tried this and it feels like I'mma Break the pedal cuz my shoe won't slide

:)

You have to get used to wearing shoes... can't you?

No offense Dex, but you're using way too much energy moving your leg so much. You don't have to wail it to make the drum WHACK you need. I don't know what your pedal is (is it a DW-9000?), but my DW-9000 has plenty of punch with half the foot/knee/leg movement and 50% less slide than you use. Much more efficient. Not to detract from your awesome foot gymnastics, but you don't need to use so much energy and movement. ---- But then again, I was a bicycle courier 40 hours a week for 10+ years as a younger man, and my knees are shot, so I couldn't do that like you do if I wanted to, so I have compensated greatly.

Excellent