I have been playing a double bass drum pedal since late 1994. I am pretty fast with it, and I can do a lot of things with my hands independent of doing steady 16th-notes on the bass drum. I was reading Rod Morganstien`s article in Modern Drummer this month and I realized that I have a major weakness. While I can play the typical alternating right-left-right-left 16th note with my feet very quickly, I have a very difficult replacing a beat using my right foot with my right hand or with a rest. This exercise also made me painfully aware of my lack of right hand, left foot coordination. I finally could do it, but the beats still lack fluidity and do not appear to be effortless. After I was finished, my left leg felt a little painful because this exercise was essentially one that causes you to keep your left foot going while occasionally stopping your right foot. Which, for right-handed players, is the opposite of the typical scenario.

I started thinking about the whole exercise some more and realized there are likely thousands of exotic coordinations that I have not even happened upon yet. I think this is probably what separates my good drumming from Rod Morganstein`s great drumming. That, and the fact that I spend eleventy hours a day slaving over a hot keyboard.