Heel Up

When playing drums, there are various different foot techniques and positions we can use, to be able to control the pedals of the drum kit effectively. By learning how to control these pedals, we can then use them to be able to play the foot-based components of the drum kit. These mainly consist of the bass drum and the hihat, but some drummers also like to use other individual percussive instruments, to play on with the feet, like cowbells, which are probably the most common example.

The heel up foot position, as the name suggests, is where the foot is placed on the pedal, with the heel up, above the pedal. So instead of having the whole foot resting on top of the pedal, like how is done in the heel down position, for playing using heel up, just the toes and the balls of the feet rest on the pedal, having physical contact with it, whilst the rest of the foot is raised up, off the pedal, so that the heel sits in the air, making the foot slope downwards, away from your sitting position. Try to centre your foot on the pedal as much as possible, from moving side to side, so that your foot doesn't hang off the sides of the pedal, as this would reduce the amount of physical contact that you have with the pedal. The placement how far up/down the pedal, where your foot rests and has contact with it, will move and vary as you play, depending on what techniques you use. Bearing this in mind, the ball of your foot should still be located at least half way, if not further up the foot-board of the pedal, in the direction of the beater, going away from you. Experiment with this foot position, and try to find the most natural and comfortable placement up/down the pedal for you, where the ball of your foot (as well as your toes) can rest at.

From this position, to then actually play the pedal, you have to push/press downwards with your foot, pushing the pedal down, which pulls the beater into contact with the drum head, or other playing surface, or pulls the cymbals together, if you are playing on the pedal of a hihat stand. You should be moving your foot, by bending it up and down from the ankle joint. When pushing down, you are using your calf muscle, and when pulling up, you are using the muscle along the front of the lower half of your leg. In the heel up foot position, the ankle movement is also used in conjunction with the movement of the whole leg. This limb should move up and down, working from the hip joint, which also will move the position of the heel up and down. The knee joint can also be used to bend the lower half of your leg forwards, or backwards, moving your foot forwards/backwards up/down the pedal.



There is quite a lot of movement involved in using the heel up foot position, when playing drums, in comparison to the amount of movement involved, when playing, using the heel down foot position. Due to this, with more movement, you can apply more force with more ease to the pedal, so it is easier to play at louder dynamics. On top of this, due to the characteristics of the heel up foot position, as well as the amount of joints and motions that can be used to play in this way, there are various, different techniques that can be achieved, allowing for more technical versatility in your playing.