INSIDE MY PSYCHOBOOK
Why release a book with 100 double bass exercises? For me, this is a very easy question to answer. In everything I’ve done in the past 10 years, this has been my main focus. Nowadays the double bass technique is part of the musical language of the modern drummer and is no longer an exclusive tool for heavy metal musicians.  

The evolution of ideas and techniques in this genre is always way ahead and with each passing day I realize that the study of the double bass is endless, for even novelties are always being recycled.  Since I started doing drum clinics, I always hear the same question at every event: what is the ideal exercise to increase my skill on the double bass? This method is my answer to that question. Here are 100 exercises that show my double bass style. The book contains everything from very basic exercises to other very advanced ones. 

I made a point of emphasizing the base, for without it there is no structure to be correctly developed and no means to go on exploring the study of this limitless genre.  Some exercises were played with two rides but in case you don’t have two rides in your drum set, you can tighten your left hi-hat and use it to play the exercises. After all, this was how I started to develop my left hand for grooves and began taking an interest in the second ride.   

Naturally I conduct the quaternary grooves in eighth notes, accentuating the first and the third notes using a down stroke, while the second and fourth notes I practically play as a ghost note, using an up stroke.  This is what characterizes my groove and, in this way, even though I play heavy metal, my playing isn’t stiff and mechanical. 

Before beginning the exercises, depending on the formula of the bar, the metronome will play one bar before start the exercise – with the exception of the exercises where the tempo is faster and thus I left two steady bars. Studying the exercises this way will significantly increase your familiarity with the double bass technique. As you practice, new groove ideas will arise and you will broaden your vocabulary more and more.  

Good luck and good practice to all of you!!! Take care
Aquiles Priester

AQUILES PRIESTER BIOGRAPHY
Aquiles Priester was born in a South African city called, where he lived until he was 4 years old. However, even before moving, he had his first contact with a drum set: a jazz band was performing on a TV show and the image of drums and cymbals being played established itself on the boy’s mind, as if projecting what his future would be. 

After moving to Foz do Iguaçu, in the interior of Paraná, since his adolescence Aquiles dreamt of being a musician, starting his career in a band that dubbed the group Ultraje A Rigor, then playing in wedding bands and later rock – and, more specifically, heavy metal. During a long time he faced a dilemma: whether to be a drummer or a soccer player, since his ability with the ball was considerable. Music ended up speaking louder.

After moving to Porto Alegre, Aquiles took classes with some of the best drum masters at the region, such as Mimo Aires, Thabba and Kiko Freitas. At the same time, he alternated between cover bands and groups that wrote their own material. After a pause during which the musician’s promising career was almost aborted, Aquiles founded the heavy metal band Hangar, which gave him the opportunity to open a Angra gig in Porto Alegre in 1998. The following year, Hangar would release their first album “Last Time” and from then on Aquiles would become known nationwide.

In 2001, Aquiles was announced as new drummer for the band Angra, biggest melodic heavy metal group of the country with fans all over the world. From then on his career took off. With the band the drummer recorded the albums “Rebirth” (2001), “Hunters and Prey” (EP, 2002), “Live in São Paulo” (live, 2002), “Temple of Shadows” (2004) and “Aurora Consurgens” (2006). During these years, Aquiles was elected best Brazilian heavy metal drummer many times. Magazines such as Roadie Crew, Rock Brigade and Comando Rock, some of the most important national rock magazines which annually promote polls among their readers to elect the best musicians of the genre, systematically have been pointing out Aquiles as the main heavy metal drummer of the country. Even magazines of other countries such as the renowned Burrn! of Japan, also consider Aquiles as one of the biggest musicians of the genre in the world.

Aquiles also created a drum clinic show where, using all of his equipment, he shows his insurmountable technique in detail, besides interacting in an intimate way with the public, which has been giving him both national and international recognition – to such an extent that, besides having taken his drum clinic show to other countries in South America, Europe and Asia, he was also invited to be the endorser of various renown brands. Thanks to all of his unrelenting work and irreproachable professional attitude, Aquiles became the only Brazilian drummer to have a signature instrument by the brand Mapex.

Aquiles’ drum clinic show also became a DVD. “Inside My Drums” was released in 2004 and rapidly became a bestseller. Parallel to Angra, Aquiles continued his career with Hangar, recording two more albums, “Inside Your Soul” (2001) and the recently released “The Reason Of Your Conviction”. Furthermore, in 2006 he also released the debut album of band Freakeys, his parallel instrumental rock project.

All of this made it almost an obligation for Aquiles to write an instructional book showing his exuberant double bass technique. That is what you have in hands. Inside My PsychoBook, 100 Double Bass Patterns, shows that while the world may have lost a great soccer player, that doesn’t mean that Aquiles stopped proving that he knows how to use his legs very well…

Antonio Carlos Monteiro 

Inside my PsychoBook – 100 Double Bass Patterns By Aquiles Priester

Concept | Aquiles Priester
Transcription | Pedro Jr.
Encore Software | Pedro Jr. and Luiz Cavagioni Jr.
Audio Recording, Mixing and Mastering | Heros Trench, Marcello Pompeu and Cristiano Schneider at Mr. Som Studios
Book Design | Patrícia Tarasconi Priester
Cover Artwork | Luciano Sorrentino
Text Editor | Antonio Carlos Monteiro, Susanne Conradt and Van Guedes
Photography | Ricardo Zupa
Aquiles Priester’s Representations | Peter Knorn for United Talents Management at utm@music-satellite.de

Acknowledgments: Very Special THANKS to Patrícia, Juliana, Arthur and Buzz Tarasconi Priester for accepting and supporting my life as a musician.

Thanks to Pedro Jr., Luciano Sorrentino, Heros Trench, Marcello Pompeu and Cristiano Schneider, Ricardo Zupa, Antonio Carlos Monteiro, Van Guedes, Susanne Conradt, Gustavo Sazes, Michely Sobral, Andréia Vianna and to all my family members, friends and FANS around the world.

Extra thanks to my great friends and amazing drummers for all inspiration and support: Alaor Neves, Albino Infantozzi, Amilcar Christófaro, Cláudio Infante, Cuca Teixeira, Dan Zimmermann, Dirk Bruinenberg, Douglas Las Casas, João Barone, Mark Cross, Mauricio Leite, Mike Portnoy, Roberto Sallaberry, Rod Morgenstein, Serginho Herval, Vera Figueiredo and Zé Montenegro.

Aquiles Priester would like to thank everybody at the following companies for all of their continued support: Mapex Drums, Paiste Cymbals, Evans Drum Heads, Pro-Mark Sticks, Audio-Technica Microphones, DW Pedals, Gibraltar Hardware, Zoom Effects, Staff Drum, Urban Boards PsychoShoes, Ciclotron Electronic Equipments and Shred Cases.