Jojo Mayer foot technique?

King Of Drums

Senior Member
Hey fellow drummers I'm new here, wassup!? Anyways I really like single pedal and probably want to stick to it. I always thought it would be cool to be able to play double bass patterns with one foot. But... I had no idea someone had it down as good as jojo mayer.

He does ridiculously fast patterns with his single foot including quads while also doing some nice stuff with his hi-hat! Does anyone have any idea what his technique is for the pedal? Could someone explain it to me like step by step...? Or do you know any dvd's of his that do? I really can't see what he does myself because it is so fast. I think it looks like he's got a heel toe in there and some sliding maybe... If anyone could help I'd much appreciate it!!
 
I learned this technique directly from Jojo Mayer, I'm not THAT fast and precise but hey, his level is untouchable...!!

my max speed with my right foot is 16th notes at 140 bpm, too bad I don't have a quality video about this stuff, I'll try to make it smthn very soon!

Basically it is a bit modified heel-toe
Jojo:
''The basic idea is to generate the first "down"- stroke launched from your heel up position, generated from your knee, not your toes (important!).Followed by a 2nd " up"- stroke, generated by the calf. So your leg goes :
up-down, up-down,(bam-bam, bam-bam..).

It LOOKS's like a heel toe action but really it is kne (heel) -toe. That's the secret !''

There's also a nice video of Tim Waterson explaining it similar to what Jojo does
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tzXH4lXHmwM

I could be a bit wrong, but Jojo does a motion on every stroke, not like usual heel-toe - two strokes out of one motion, that gives more controll, it's easyer to strighten it out to 16th notes and also you get more definition out of every stroke!

You can also look at it as a continued Moeller pull-out

Experiment and practice, you'll find your way! It took me a year to really got it down, I'm using this technique for about three years and I still have some troubles doing 5 or 7 strokes in a row, with the heel-toe it's easyer to do 2, 4, 6, 8...etc strokes 3, 5, 7, 9... etc is a bit trickyer!
 
I learned this technique directly from Jojo Mayer, I'm not THAT fast and precise but hey, his level is untouchable...!!

my max speed with my right foot is 16th notes at 140 bpm, too bad I don't have a quality video about this stuff, I'll try to make it smthn very soon!

Basically it is a bit modified heel-toe
Jojo:
''The basic idea is to generate the first "down"- stroke launched from your heel up position, generated from your knee, not your toes (important!).Followed by a 2nd " up"- stroke, generated by the calf. So your leg goes :
up-down, up-down,(bam-bam, bam-bam..).

It LOOKS's like a heel toe action but really it is kne (heel) -toe. That's the secret !''

There's also a nice video of Tim Waterson explaining it similar to what Jojo does
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tzXH4lXHmwM

I could be a bit wrong, but Jojo does a motion on every stroke, not like usual heel-toe - two strokes out of one motion, that gives more controll, it's easyer to strighten it out to 16th notes and also you get more definition out of every stroke!

You can also look at it as a continued Moeller pull-out

Experiment and practice, you'll find your way! It took me a year to really got it down, I'm using this technique for about three years and I still have some troubles doing 5 or 7 strokes in a row, with the heel-toe it's easyer to do 2, 4, 6, 8...etc strokes 3, 5, 7, 9... etc is a bit trickyer!

when you say the second stroke is generated from the calf do you mean that your foot travels down ( with the motion coming from you thigh/knee vs your toes) and then lands flat on the pedal and then you just do a heel DOWN depresssion? or is it more of your foot lifting back UP from the calf movement.... i think i understand the first movement properly but not the second stroke as you described. thanks
 
when you say the second stroke is generated from the calf do you mean that your foot travels down ( with the motion coming from you thigh/knee vs your toes) and then lands flat on the pedal and then you just do a heel DOWN depresssion? or is it more of your foot lifting back UP from the calf movement.... i think i understand the first movement properly but not the second stroke as you described. thanks
you can start however you want, whether with the heel stroke or the toe stroke, that's depending on the sound you want

the heel stroke is more like a toe downstroke, you drop your heel, but the stroke still is generated with your toe
the toe stroke is kind of similar if you would like to jump in the air while standing on a flat surface, you lift your leg up by the toe and ''bam'' - here's your toe stroke!

I kind of modified it my way, I slide a bit back when doing the toe stroke and slide a bit into the pedal when doing the heel stroke, I like the fact that my foot moves back and forward, for me it gives a more inertia, so I can execute all the strokes with more definition and power

good luck!
 
Lessee if I got it right...

1) Strike the drum with the whole leg
2) Accept the beater rebound by moving your foot from the ankle down -- don't lift your leg
3) Strike the drum using a motion similar to a heel down stroke (i.e. from the ankle down, but keep the heel off the pedal board) and accept the beater rebound by lifting your whole leg back up.
 
Lessee if I got it right...

1) Strike the drum with the whole leg
2) Accept the beater rebound by moving your foot from the ankle down -- don't lift your leg
3) Strike the drum using a motion similar to a heel down stroke (i.e. from the ankle down, but keep the heel off the pedal board) and accept the beater rebound by lifting your whole leg back up.
1) you drop down your leg, that's the heel stroke, but still, the toe is in contact with the pedal not the heel, it works more like a balance point
2) LIFT your leg up (with the toe) while accepting the rebound :)
3) and now you're to the heel up position, ready for the heel stroke!

what you described is another modification of the heel-toe technique, I'm not saying it is wrong, there are plenty of variations, but this is what I learned from Jojo and then modified it my way!

I hope I'll have the time next week to film something! I have access to pro cameras so it could turn out pretty nice!
 
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Pick up a Sonor Giant Step Double Effects pedal. You can really take advantage of your heel.
 
Thanks for the replies! I can imagine that it is a hard technique to get down! But I am definitely prepared to woodshed this one cause this isn't something most drummers can do! I agree with you that it kind of does look like he does 4 separate motions. I guess I will end up creating my own variation of this. Thanks!
 
Thanks for the video

If you could also post the same video with in real motion that would be fine to realize the effect

John
 
I can hold it for about 30 seconds, since it is my max speed! but I never use it just as stright 16ths I don't need that, what I like about it is being able to pull off some accented patterns of 4,5,6 or more strokes!
I'm still working on the sound and solidness. the technique is what we are talking here - Jojo Mayer's heel-toe
 
I can hold it for about 30 seconds, since it is my max speed! but I never use it just as stright 16ths I don't need that, what I like about it is being able to pull off some accented patterns of 4,5,6 or more strokes!
I'm still working on the sound and solidness. the technique is what we are talking here - Jojo Mayer's heel-toe

Jojo's technique is best used the way Jojo uses it - tasteful patterns in grooves!!!

Like you use it Raymond, Im sure, judging by your D+B project.

So, when did you learn this from Jojo?
 
So, when did you learn this from Jojo?
3 years ago when I had the opportunity to be in a clinic with Jojo, sitting 4 feet next to him :) I have a talent of copying everything I see (movements, positions etc), so hand and feet technique comes easy for me

But still, it took me a while to get it down, after ~4 months I was able to do it slowly!
 
Hi there!
Thats my first post so.. I'm Adam and I i live in Polnad. I've been playing drums for about 1,5 years.

Few weeks ago i was in Jojo Mayer's clinic in Wroclaw ( Poland)
I recorded some of his solos and explenations about technique.
Please check out a youtube
http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=2v5uyDmn4oA theres my film (in the end Jojo explaining his Bass techniqe), enjoy
grreets from Poland // well... UK now :)
 
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