Growing up playing drums in the church, Rashid Williams wasn’t allowed to have a double pedal. So he had to learn how to play quickly using just one foot. Watch this short video to pick up some of Rashid’s tips to playing crazy fast on a single pedal!

His technique involves playing with his toes (or ‘heel up’) and a higher pedal tension so the pedal moves with him and achieves better rebound when he’s playing at higher speeds. Rashid describes the motion for a triple stroke as similar to what you’d do with a double stroke, but getting your foot to ‘throw’ the third hit by using the pedal’s rebound.

So play a double stroke, and instead of pushing the beater into the head at the end of the second hit (‘burying the beater’), let the beater bounce back naturally. Then hit it again.

Once you get the motion down, practice this foot technique with just a kick, snare, and hi-hat. You can try exercises like repeating triplets on your foot (RRR RRR or RRR RRR RRR RRRRRR) while keeping the snare going on the 2 and 4. Don’t forget your metronome!

Did you enjoy this quick tip? Check out Rashid’s other lessons on Drumeo!

Looking for other lessons on improving your foot speed?

Triple Your Foot Speed In One Day (Russ Miller)
Beginner’s Bass Drum Boot Camp (Dave Atkinson)
How To Build A Better, Stronger, Faster Single Kick (Stan Bicknell)

It’s his attention to detail that landed Rashid Williams the gig with John Legend – and his polished playing has been largely responsible for him earning his other gigs, too.

If you want to take your drumming and sound to the next level, watch this lesson on how to tighten up and add that polish. You’ll learn how to identify and focus on the intricate points of drumming, sound smoother, and make your playing crisp and clean.

By problem solving (like identifying a weak left hand, or noticing that you aren’t hitting the center of the drum head), you’ll be able to upgrade your drumming more quickly than you think.

“Confidence is the difference between polished, and not.”

Lesson Index:
0:00 – SONG: “Yoshi 11” by Rashid Williams
7:30 – Introduction
11:30 – SONG: “Rock Out” by Rashid Williams
16:10 – Tuning up your left hand
21:00 – Hi-hat dynamics
27:11 – Accuracy around the drum set
30:55 – Why less is more
37:29 – How this applies to beginners
43:06 – SONG: “Speak To Me” by Rashid Williams

About Rashid:
Rashid began playing the drums at the age of three and professionally for churches and choirs at the age of seven. He currently tours with multi-platinum and nine time Grammy Award-winning artist John Legend. He has also toured with Eric Roberson, Goapele, N.E.R.D., Diddy Dirty Money, JCole, Alicia Keys, Jill Scott and K. Michelle. To add to his credits, Rashid is listed among Cirque du Soleil’s roster of producers and drummers, and has been featured in Drumhead and Modern Drummer Magazines.

Rashid plays:
Mapex Drums
Zildjian Drumsticks
Evans Drumheads
Vic Firth Drumsticks

Follow Rashid:
Instagram

Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to sit down behind the kit and play along to any song?

Watch this video to see how Rashid Williams was able to learn a new song and write the drum part in just 15 minutes!

Listen carefully

Rashid listens to the song section by section, mapping out the structure in his head (you can write it down if it helps). The intro is sparse, so he decides to have no drums in this part. The vocals come in in the next section, which isn’t too built up yet, so he labels it the verse. Then the horns and backing vocals build up the chorus. After another verse and chorus, the song ends with an outro. Listen carefully for repeating sections where you can use the same beat or feel.

Interpret the style

Since this song has a ‘trap vibe’, Rashid busts out some of the trap beats he already knows. He plays by the ‘rules’ of the style, like matching the kick with the bass. He also writes a ‘bigger’ sounding drum part in the chorus and outro to match how those parts are built up in the rest of the composition.

Go back for details

After getting the general feel and structure, he went back to fine-tune the parts (“going back to get the minor details that make a major difference”). Rashid noticed something unique near the end of the second verse – a slight ‘push’ he wants to accent on the drums. He skipped to that part and practiced the section to make sure he could nail it, then ran through the entire song again.

Bonus: Learn the vocabulary

Rashid was able to write quickly because he already has the vocabulary for this style of music: he can pull out trap beats and hip-hop beats he already knows. The more you’re familiar with the ‘rules’ of a style, the more quickly you’ll be able to write drum parts in that style.

Check out some of the genre guides available on the Drumeo Beat:

A Drummer’s Guide To Funk
A Drummer’s Guide To Rock
A Drummer’s Guide To Prog
A Drummer’s Guide To Metal

If you’re looking for more awesome tips for learning or writing drum parts, check out how to chart a song on drums and an even longer lesson on how to learn songs quickly.

Are you a Drumeo Edge member? Want to try this song yourself? “My Guy” by Bernhard Lackner is available as a playalong track in the Members area.

Rashid plays:
Mapex Drums
Zildjian Drumsticks
Evans Drumheads
Vic Firth Drumsticks

Follow Rashid:
Instagram