Hands and Feet Coordination Exercise
Want to feel more comfortable using both your bass drum and high-hat pedals while playing different rhythms with your hands?
The following exercise uses different rhythmic subdivisions on the snare with alternating kicks and high-hats to help build coordination between your hands and feet.
TIPS AND TRICKS
Repetition is key: Play through each exercise at least four times.
Metronome practice: Start with your metronome at about 65-80 beats per minute. This will help you keep solid time!
Aim for precision: Really focus on making your snare hits line up perfectly with your bass drum or high-hat pedal. The goal is for them to sound like one unified note.
Sticking patterns: This exercise primarily uses a "RLRL" sticking pattern. For the triplets, the pattern is "RLR LRL RLR LRL". Feel free to experiment with different sticking patterns to advance the exercise.
Hope that helps! Make sure you download the full PDF below the image.
Great exercise for developing coordination and, especially, consistency between the hands and feet. Starting around 65–80 BPM is a smart approach because it gives drummers enough time to focus on precision before increasing the speed. Gradually testing different tempos can also make practice more challenging without sacrificing timing. I’ve found BPM Tapper useful for quickly checking and experimenting with BPM during rhythm practice