Developing Hip Hop Grooves with Hi-Hats

In this next hip hop section, we're going to look at developing our grooves even more by incorporating regular 8th note hi-hats.

Playing the Hi-Hats

Now, we're going to try and play the hi-hats as evenly as possible, just while we get used to them. You have a choice:

• Tip of the Stick: This method gives a lighter sound.
• Shaft of the Stick: If you want a little bit more weight to your playing, you can use the shaft of the stick. This part contacts more on the side of the hi-hats.

Stick Height

Do try to think about the stick height.

• If you're playing, what’s quite common is to accent beat one.
• If you find yourself playing like this, you might want to reassess and, at this stage, try and play them as evenly as you can.

Incorporating Accents

In reality, if I'm playing with different people and different styles, I like to incorporate some accents on my hi-hat.

• You might choose to emphasize the quarter note pulse like this:
• This can be more challenging, especially when you're adding bass, drums, and snares.

I often like to accent the ands—like this.

"Now I'm exaggerating slightly just so that you can clearly hear that."

Bringing in the Rest of the Kit

At this stage, I thought it might be worth bringing in the rest of the kit, just by playing some kind of hip hop-inspired groove that includes the toms.

• Although we're not teaching that at this stage, I'm aware that in hip hop, if you see Tony Royster Jr.—who plays with Jay Z sometimes—he'll have a massive drum kit and a sampling pad as well. That's a whole other world. It’s a very exciting world that you can get into!

Demonstrating Hi-Hat Sounds

I thought it would be worth demonstrating the different hi-hat sounds you can get. Once you've developed a consistent approach, you can then mix things up.

So, I'm going to play one example of a groove where I accent the hi-hats on the numbers:

• 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and.

Then, I'll try accenting the hi-hats on all the ands and see how it feels really different.

"Here we go."

Now, I'll shift the hi-hat accent to the end, and it’ll feel pretty different.

"Felt different, didn’t it?"

But I don't want to confuse anyone.

• I'm just saying that we don't forever have to play the hi-hats in a really even manner.
• However, I really recommend when you're starting out to go for a consistent hi-hat sound—whether you choose to play with the tip of the stick or the shaft of the stick, which has a heavier, weightier sound.